lit a candle 23h agoNever followed his work closely, but the idea of redrawing the same skyline every four years for decades is basically an accidental historical archive. That's a genuinely useful thing to leave behind, whatever you think of watercolors.
Their story
Phil Ponder was a Nashville watercolor and pen-and-ink artist and former Metro Council member, best known for meticulously detailed prints of the city's skyline and landmark buildings. He died peacefully at his home in Hermitage, Tennessee, on 30 September 2026 at the age of 93, surrounded by his family, after…
Phil Ponder was a Nashville watercolor and pen-and-ink artist and former Metro Council member, best known for meticulously detailed prints of the city's skyline and landmark buildings. He died peacefully at his home in Hermitage, Tennessee, on 30 September 2026 at the age of 93, surrounded by his family, after entering home hospice care in mid-September.
Born and raised in Ocala, Florida, he graduated from the University of Florida in 1955, attended Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and served three years of active duty aboard a Navy minesweeper. He settled in Nashville and worked for Genesco from 1959 until retiring in 1989. Art began as a hobby around 1979. Using heavy India-ink outlines and watercolor over the top, he developed a signature look that made his limited-edition, signed and numbered prints instantly recognizable across Middle Tennessee.
From 1982 onward, roughly every four years he spent about 100 hours by hand redrawing Nashville's changing skyline, creating a running visual record of the city's growth. His work hung in homes, offices, banks and public buildings. One painting was adapted into a mural of historic Second Avenue around 1900 on the AT&T building site damaged in the 2020 Christmas Day bombing. He also painted Hermitage and other Middle Tennessee landmarks. Honors included the Tennessee Outstanding Achievement Award and a Metropolitan Historical Commission Achievement Award. The Clement Railroad Hotel Museum planned to induct him as a 2026 Legacy honoree.
Civic life ran alongside the art. He served two terms on the Nashville Metro Council for the 12th District (1995-2003), twelve years on the Metro Planning Commission, and ten years on the staff of Congressman Jim Cooper. He remained active with the Exchange Club of Donelson and Hermitage and many charitable and church groups. He married Dot on 7 June 1956 in Ocala; they celebrated 68 years together before her death on 21 August 2024. He was a father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and had earlier survived prostate cancer.
His family's statement asked memorial gifts for the Phil Ponder Memorial Foundation at St. Stephen Catholic Community, Alive Hospice, Greenways for Nashville, and the Exchange Club of Donelson-Hermitage. Tributes from Metro leaders and neighbors stressed warmth and generosity as much as the skyline prints that made him a household name.
Phil Ponder died on 30 September 2026 in Hermitage at 93. Nashville remembered an artist, veteran and public servant who spent decades capturing the places and memories of Middle Tennessee.
Biography adapted from WKRN (Brittney Baird, 30 Sep 2026); family statement via WKRN; Clement Railroad Hotel Museum statement via WKRN; The Tennessean (death report).
Photos
1by People Forever
Didn't know he did that on a schedule, that's actually kind of amazing