IN SESSION

Acme Feed & Seed removes Confederate flag artwork amid criticism

Joey Garrison
USA Today Network - Tennessee
This piece of artwork inside Acme Feed & Seed had come under fire but is now removed.

Nashville's Acme Feed & Seed has removed a piece of artwork that features an image of the Confederate flag amid criticism aimed at the establishment and one of its investors, mayoral candidate Charles Robert Bone.

Bone had requested its removal after an anonymous Facebook page surfaced with a photo of him doctored to appear next to the artwork at issue — a painting inside the Lower Broadway restaurant and bar that includes a cartoon caricature of a woman wearing Confederate flag bikini bottoms.

"This is offensive and should have no place in Nashville!" the Web page reads.

Acme Feed & Seed owner Tom Morales confirmed its removal in a statement to The Tennessean on Saturday.

"In light of the recent events, Acme Feed & Seed has removed the piece of artwork so as not to confuse anyone about Acme's, our investors' and our supporters' commitment to all people of Nashville," Morales said.

He called the artwork "satirical commentary on Southern culture" from a local artist Shelia B. Ware, who has "renowned 'tongue in cheek' collections" at the Ryman Auditorium, the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and the Tennessee State Museum.

"It is unfortunate the full context and story behind Sheila B.'s art is failed to be recognized in this instance," he said. "We apologize for any distress this may have caused."

Charles Robert Bone

A "Boycott Acme" Facebook page, as well as a subsequent "remove the artwork" online petition, appeared online this past week and made its first post about Bone on Friday — one day after Bone rival Bill Freeman made controversial comments at the NashForward mayoral debate on the recent shooting inside an African-American church in Charleston, S.C. Freeman later took back his comments.

"I'm an investor in this restaurant and proud of it," Bone said in a statement Friday. "We've created a lot of jobs and supported Nashville's tourism economy. Acme has over 500 artifacts in it, and I've not seen this particular one.

"Anyone who knows me knows I don't support any symbol, gesture or word that is offensive to any community. I've asked the operator to remove this one as I don't want it representing Nashville, and anyone who knows me understands that. I appreciate this being called to my attention so I can address the issue openly."

Bone, a Nashville attorney and entrepreneur, is one of multiple investors at Acme Feed & Seed, a Lower Broadway establishment that the mayoral candidate highlights in one of his television commercials.

The artist, who goes by Shelia B., issued her own statement that defended her work, which she described as "Nashville-centric" and dealing with issues and imagery primarily Southern in representation.

This particular Acme Feed & Seed piece shows a woman wearing a Confederate flag bikini bottom next to a Southern Motel sign advertising a swimming pool. It has an inscription that reads, "Every kind-hearted soul welcome! Mean folks stay away."

"Anyone that has a vision, and not a set of blinders on, can view my artwork and see that there is a message that is not divisive," she said. "I have a message of inclusion. It is social commentary, and anyone seeing my work as anything other than opposing a divisive culture is delusional and s***-stirring at best."

Bone surrogate Rev. James "Tex" Thomas, prominent African-American pastor of North Nashville's Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church, had offered a sharply worded statement the previous day accusing Freeman's campaign of being responsible for the Facebook page that targeted Bone.

"I have known Charles Robert Bone and his family for decades, I know their character and I know their heart," Thomas said.

"This accusation is obviously a misguided attempt by a flailing campaign to draw attention away from their own unfortunate, insensitive, out of touch mistakes. What is more telling is that this accusation is leveled by a Facebook group that was politicized after the Charleston massacre in attempt to capitalize on the situation. It saddens me that someone would stoop to this level instead of raising us up.

"I know that Charles Robert stands by our community, and he has proven this by his deeds over decades, and that is why I know that Charles Robert Bone is the right person to be our mayor now."

At Thursday's debate, Freeman said the Charleston massacre was "not necessarily about racial profiling" as he suggested that mental illness may have played a role as well. The next day Freeman sought to clarify his remarks, saying that the shooting was "obviously racially motivated" and that he hadn't seen the comments from the murderer when he made his original remarks.

"I stand by my statement that people with mental illnesses should not be able to walk up and buy a gun without regulation," Freeman also said.

Freeman campaign spokesman Kevin Teets said he hopes this is the end of the matter.

"The violence in Charleston should cause all of us to think about how we improve our communities, how we listen to each other and how we work for a better tomorrow," Teets said in a prepared statement.

"I know Charles Robert personally and so does Bill Freeman," he said. "We know Charles Robert to be a man of good character and someone who has open arms for everyone — no matter their color, their religion, their gender or their sexuality. Hopefully this is the end of the matter and we can get back to the issues that voters care about most deeply such as education, traffic and public safety. "