Martha Christian has created large-scale, woven tapestries for display at Nashville International Airport. Journey to Chickasaw maps the Mississippi River and shows the connection of her journey from her birthplace in St. Louis to her first adult home in Kansas City and then to her first southern home in Memphis. Christian says, “It directly reflects my relocations and more generally suggests the movement west by thousands of people – some searching for adventure and others fleeing in despair.” Another tapestry that can be viewed at the airport is 500 Million Years, which refers to the geologic era Ordovician when Middle Tennessee was beneath a shallow sea and in a tropical climate. These conditions allowed marine life to develop and fossilize between layers of silt that later became limestone. In her tapestries, she superimposes the shapes of these living organisms on the map of the region just as these fossil’s shapes are superimposed on the common rocks in our area.

Born in St. Louis, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Syracuse University and her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Memphis College of Art. She shows her work regularly in juried regional and national exhibitions. In addition to her studio work, she has taught weaving at Rhodes College in Memphis, Sarratt Studios of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville. She is also a long-time active member of the Tennessee Association of Craft Artists.

Shown Right - 500 Million Years (detail), 78.5" x 80" tapestry with linen warp, wool weft

Arts at the Airport receives funding for the visual arts from the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) and the Tennessee Arts Commission (TAC). Music performances are sponsored by MNAA, Delaware North Companies, Inc. and The Paradies Shops. The Flying Solo Exhibition Series is funded in part under an agreement with the TAC and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information about Arts at the Airport, please call (615)275-1614 or visit www.artsattheairport.com.