Frank Fleming<\/strong><\/h1>\nAmerican, 1940-2018<\/p>\n
Gathering of Animals<\/em>, 1997-98
\nBronze
\nGift of Ann & Monroe Carell, Jr. and the 1996 Swan Ball Patrons
\n1998.3a-e<\/p>\n<\/div>![\"2.Fleming](\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2.Fleming_20200523_cheekwood_0076.jpg\")
<\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Though Frank Fleming became known for his fantastical sculptural groups of figures that combined elements from the natural world with mystical, imaginative renderings of human beings, the\u00a0Gathering of Animals<\/em>\u00a0is more straightforwardly naturalistic. Comprised of a turtle, frog, and two hares placed directly on the ground and a hawk, above in a nearby tree, the work was installed on The Carell Trail specifically with children in mind. The animals face one another, as though caught in conversation, but space is left for viewers of all ages to join their circle and interact with them in their woodland environment.<\/p>\nThe natural landscape of the Southeastern United States has always been central to Fleming\u2019s sculpture. Born on a cotton and corn farm in Bear Creek, Alabama, and working out of his studio in Birmingham from 1973 until his death, Fleming frequently drew inspiration from the flora and fauna of Alabama, dealing with the imagery of his surroundings or as he stated, \u201cwhat I grew up with and what I know.\u201d Suffering from a speech impediment that caused him to stop speaking in public during his childhood, Fleming learned how to work with clay while undergoing intensive speech therapy as a student at Florence State College (now the University of North Alabama). He went on to earn an MA and MFA in ceramics from the University of Alabama in the 1970s and continued to work in the medium throughout his career, adopting bronze as a material in his work during the early 1980s.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Though Frank Fleming became known for his fantastical sculptural groups of figures that combined elements from the natural world with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":660,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"simple-restrict-permission":[],"class_list":["post-1805","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Frank Fleming | Cheekwood Estate & Gardens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn more about Frank Fleming's Gathering of Animals, a work installed on The Carell Trail specifically with children in mind.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Frank Fleming | Cheekwood Estate & Gardens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn more about Frank Fleming's Gathering of Animals, a work installed on The Carell Trail specifically with children in mind.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cheekwood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-23T15:03:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/\",\"name\":\"Frank Fleming | Cheekwood Estate & Gardens\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-22T22:14:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-23T15:03:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn more about Frank Fleming's Gathering of Animals, a work installed on The Carell Trail specifically with children in mind.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Discover\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Ann & Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Frank Fleming\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/\",\"name\":\"Cheekwood\",\"description\":\"Cheekwood Estate & Gardens in Nashville\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Frank Fleming | Cheekwood Estate & Gardens","description":"Learn more about Frank Fleming's Gathering of Animals, a work installed on The Carell Trail specifically with children in mind.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Frank Fleming | Cheekwood Estate & Gardens","og_description":"Learn more about Frank Fleming's Gathering of Animals, a work installed on The Carell Trail specifically with children in mind.","og_url":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/","og_site_name":"Cheekwood","article_modified_time":"2022-12-23T15:03:32+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/","url":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/","name":"Frank Fleming | Cheekwood Estate & Gardens","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-12-22T22:14:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-23T15:03:32+00:00","description":"Learn more about Frank Fleming's Gathering of Animals, a work installed on The Carell Trail specifically with children in mind.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/frank-fleming\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Discover","item":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Ann & Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail","item":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/discover\/sculpture-trail\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Frank Fleming"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/","name":"Cheekwood","description":"Cheekwood Estate & Gardens in Nashville","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1805\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"simple-restrict-permission","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheekwood.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/simple-restrict-permission?post=1805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBronze
\nGift of Ann & Monroe Carell, Jr. and the 1996 Swan Ball Patrons
\n1998.3a-e<\/p>\n<\/div>
<\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Though Frank Fleming became known for his fantastical sculptural groups of figures that combined elements from the natural world with mystical, imaginative renderings of human beings, the\u00a0Gathering of Animals<\/em>\u00a0is more straightforwardly naturalistic. Comprised of a turtle, frog, and two hares placed directly on the ground and a hawk, above in a nearby tree, the work was installed on The Carell Trail specifically with children in mind. The animals face one another, as though caught in conversation, but space is left for viewers of all ages to join their circle and interact with them in their woodland environment.<\/p>\nThe natural landscape of the Southeastern United States has always been central to Fleming\u2019s sculpture. Born on a cotton and corn farm in Bear Creek, Alabama, and working out of his studio in Birmingham from 1973 until his death, Fleming frequently drew inspiration from the flora and fauna of Alabama, dealing with the imagery of his surroundings or as he stated, \u201cwhat I grew up with and what I know.\u201d Suffering from a speech impediment that caused him to stop speaking in public during his childhood, Fleming learned how to work with clay while undergoing intensive speech therapy as a student at Florence State College (now the University of North Alabama). He went on to earn an MA and MFA in ceramics from the University of Alabama in the 1970s and continued to work in the medium throughout his career, adopting bronze as a material in his work during the early 1980s.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Though Frank Fleming became known for his fantastical sculptural groups of figures that combined elements from the natural world with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":660,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"simple-restrict-permission":[],"class_list":["post-1805","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n