Project Overview

Moving Down the Line | Danny Thomas Eastbound Trolley Station

“The artwork chronicles the journey of blues music up Highway 61 from the Mississippi cotton fields, front porches, churches, and juke joints to Beale Street in Memphis.”

The artwork at the Danny Thomas Eastbound Trolley Station was designed by Memphis artist Carol DeForest. The artwork for this station is titled Moving Down the Line and depicts several legendary blues singers and the journey of blues music up Highway 61 from the Mississippi cotton fields, front porches, churches, and juke joints to Beale Street in Memphis. These scenes from the history of blues are depicted in stone mosaics on the floor of the trolley station on Madison Avenue. Embedded on the floor are four square mosaics with portraits of the blues musicians and singers including Ma Rainey, Bukka White, Hammy Nixon, and Mose Vinson. DeForest also used a line of music from a B.B. King song for the sculptures on the roof of the station.

About the Artist

Carol DeForest

Deforest was born in Tennessee, but she spent the first part of her life in Texas, where she was greatly influenced by Latin culture. She moved back to Tennessee to attend Rhodes College, receiving a BFA in art. She also attended Memphis College of Art where she earned a BFA in clay. She has been a working artist for almost 40 years in Memphis, TN. 

During her career as an artist, Carol DeForest has completed several works of public art with the UrbanArt Commission. DeForest frequently utilizes found objects and natural materials in her work to create abstract images that reference nature.  DeForest currently lives and works in Memphis.