What Lifts You Wings Mural: Nashville's Favorite Photo Stop in The Gulch

What the Mural Actually Is

The 'What Lifts You' Wings Mural is a piece of interactive public street art painted on the exterior wall of Taziki's Mediterranean Café at 302 11th Avenue South in The Gulch. At roughly 16 feet wide and 23 feet tall, as described by the artist, the design consists of two large, intricately detailed wings rendered in black ink on white, with the space between them left deliberately blank — so the viewer standing in front becomes the body connecting the wings.

The concept is intentional. New York-based artist Kelsey Montague created the 'What Lifts You' series as an interactive global project: each mural is designed to be completed by the person posing in front of it. The Nashville version, painted in April 2016, was the first fully interactive street-art piece in The Gulch and helped establish the neighborhood as a destination for public art in Davidson County, Tennessee.

The mural fits into a broader movement of photogenic public murals that emerged across American cities in the 2010s. Nashville has leaned into this trend more than most — if you want a broader tour of the city's painted walls, the Nashville murals guide covers the full landscape of street art worth seeking out.

What to Expect When You Arrive

The mural faces onto 11th Avenue South, a relatively quiet residential-commercial street compared to the busier corridors of The Gulch. There is no gate, no ticket booth, and no formal queuing system — visitors simply line up informally on the sidewalk. On busy weekend afternoons, the wait can stretch to 15 or 20 minutes as each group takes their turn posing.

Practically speaking, the sidewalk is flat and fully paved. Wheelchair users and strollers can reach the mural without any steps or obstacles. A narrow patch of pavement in front of the wall is where photographers stand; the best full-wing framing typically requires stepping back about 10–15 feet, which puts you close to the edge of the bike lane. Be aware of passing cyclists and scooters.

The wall itself is in good condition. The black-on-white ink work is detailed — close up, you can make out fine feather textures and linework that photographs reductively as a broad sweep of feathers but rewards careful inspection. There is no plaque or formal interpretation beside the mural; the art speaks for itself.

How Light and Time of Day Change the Experience

The mural faces roughly west-northwest, meaning it sits in partial shade during morning hours and catches more direct afternoon light. For photography, overcast days produce the most even, shadow-free results — bright Tennessee sunshine creates hard shadows across the feather details that can flatten the image. Early morning on sunny days gives soft, low-angled light before direct sun hits the wall.

By midday on summer weekends (Nashville's peak tourist season), the area around the mural becomes genuinely crowded. Groups spill off the sidewalk, music drifts over from nearby bars, and the Gulch's foot traffic picks up considerably. If your goal is a clean, uncluttered shot, this is not the time to arrive. Conversely, if you enjoy the social aspect of the spot — watching others pose, overhearing conversations about where else to go in the city — the midday atmosphere has its own energy.

At night, the mural is technically accessible around the clock, and the streetlighting along 11th Avenue South provides some illumination. However, after dark the detail in the wing linework is largely lost and the area around the mural is dimly lit. Night visits are possible but not recommended for photography or solo travelers unfamiliar with the area.

The Gulch: Context for the Mural's Location

The Gulch was a former rail yard and light-industrial district just south of downtown Nashville. Its redevelopment into a mixed-use neighborhood of condominiums, restaurants, and boutique retail accelerated through the 2010s. Today it sits adjacent to The Gulch neighborhood, whose LEED-certified status as a green neighborhood made it one of the first in the American South to receive that designation — a detail worth noting as context for the area's self-conscious identity around design and creativity.

The Wings Mural arrived in 2016 at a moment when The Gulch was still establishing its cultural personality. Placed on a building wall rather than in a gallery, it was a deliberate choice to bring art into public space rather than behind a ticket counter. It has since become one of the most recognizable images associated with Nashville across social media platforms, appearing in countless travel photographs and bachelorette party posts.

Walking distance from the mural, you can find several of Nashville's more interesting independent businesses and a few well-regarded restaurants. The neighborhood is also a short walk or rideshare from the Country Music Hall of Fame and the broader downtown core, making it a practical add-on to a morning or afternoon in that area.

Photography Tips

The standard shot places the subject centered between the wings, arms slightly raised or extended, framed to include the full wingspan and as little sidewalk and street as possible. For smartphone cameras, a wide-angle lens mode (ultra-wide) often captures more of the upper wing tips but distorts the subject. A standard or slightly telephoto focal length, with the photographer standing 12–15 feet back, tends to give the most flattering proportions.

Vertical framing works better than horizontal for this mural — the wings are taller than they are wide when composed with a subject. Groups of two or three can fit in the frame comfortably; larger groups start to compress the wings visually. If you want the wings to look as large and imposing as possible, shoot from a slightly lower angle, around chest height.

The hash tag associated with the series is #WhatLiftsYou, and the artist's Instagram is active. Tagging the artwork in posts connects visitors to Kelsey Montague's broader series, which exists in cities across the world.

Honest Assessment: Is It Worth Your Time?

The Wings Mural is a 15-minute stop at most, and free. It requires no advance planning, no reservation, and minimal navigation. For travelers with a full Nashville itinerary, it fits easily into a walk through The Gulch or as a brief detour between downtown sights and a restaurant reservation.

That said, the mural is not Nashville's most culturally significant attraction, and visitors primarily interested in music history, culinary depth, or architectural substance may find it a superficial stop. It is, straightforwardly, a photo opportunity — a well-designed one, conceived by a thoughtful artist with a global interactive vision, but still primarily experienced through the lens of a phone camera.

Travelers for whom social media documentation is not a priority, or who are looking for Nashville's deeper cultural and historical layers, will find more substance at places like the Ryman Auditorium or the National Museum of African American Music. Those attractions reward longer, more attentive visits in ways the Wings Mural simply does not.

For bachelorette groups, families with children, or first-time Nashville visitors building a highlight reel of the city, the mural earns its reputation. It is accessible, photogenic, completely free, and located in a neighborhood worth wandering anyway.

Getting There and Parking

The mural is at 302 11th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203, in The Gulch. From downtown hotels and Broadway, the walk is typically 15–20 minutes on flat urban sidewalks. Rideshare drop-off is straightforward on 11th Avenue South. WeGo Public Transit buses serve nearby stops on Broadway and surrounding streets; consult the WeGo route planner for current schedules before traveling.

If driving, The Gulch has several paid surface parking lots in the immediate area. Parking availability tightens significantly on weekend afternoons and evenings. Street parking is limited and often metered. The mural itself is not inside any paid lot, so once parked, access is immediate and free.