NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's a story about city lights and the way they illuminate downtown Nashville. It's also a story about someone sharing how that happened.
"I try to paint in such a way they never forget it," said artist Ron Sweeney, painting on a large canvas.
Sweeney's had influence on the look of Nashville himself. He painted a lot of billboards over the years. They include some of the Ernest billboards for Purity Dairies.
"It's something I can leave behind cause I know I'm not going to be around forever," Sweeney said of his work.
It was while doing that work, Sweeney met a friend with a catering business, Jack Cawthon. Cawthon's a man often in a signature hat.
"He is so Tennessee. He is so Nashville!" laughed Sweeney. "It was probably about 1983 when I first met him. From then on, I was always the one who did the portrait of Jack on the billboards."
By 1991, Cawthon became the familiar face behind a local staple, Jack's Bar-B-Que.
Cawthon was long interested in a bold sign, something neon, like what he'd seen in other cities. In the mid-90s, that just wasn't downtown Nashville. There was a lot of debate over neon signs on Broadway and if would they'd be at odds with the historic character of the area.
"One councilmember said the day [Cawthon] got a sign to hang over the sidewalk that far would be the day the pigs would fly over Broadway," Sweeney said.
Hold that thought.
It was 1996.
"Planet Hollywood had come in and put up this big sign on the corner," Sweeney remembered. "The city council decided they would just leave it."
A lot of tourists seemed to like it.
"When you've got a street like this that's so commercialized as it is already, I can't see why it's a problem," a woman told NewsChannel 5 in a 1996 interview.
Cawthon, wanting a local downtown business to get a bold sign, had a neon sign created of three pigs flying over Broadway. They each shared Cawthon's taste in hats.
"Well, it's a great day for a sign hangin'!" Cawthon said in a 1997 interview. "People can now say, 'where's Jack's?' They look for the pigs over Broadway!"
The sign passed metro's approval.
"Jack doesn't give up!" Sweeney said.
There are still two Jack's Bar-B-Que locations open. Cawthon recently sold the location downtown. Though the flying pigs are no longer there, they played an important part in the start of something.
"It created everybody's wanting a neon," Sweeney said of downtown Nashville. "It totally created the full neon look today."
In recent years, Cawthon has been going through surgeries at Vanderbilt Health for head and neck cancer. That included a total laryngectomy, a removal of the voice box.
"He shows his strength from within," Sweeney said. "He's a strong man. He has dealt with a whole lot. Most men couldn't take it, what Jack has had to deal with. He's one of the best examples of 'when a crisis comes to you, you overcome it.' We will overcome this."
Sweeney himself has always hoped people would understand what he's given his city.
"Sometimes I feel like people don't know who I am, what I've done," he explained.
Sweeney didn't want his friend Cawthon to feel that same way.
Sweeney's been working on something to tell Cawthon's story. Nobody's told Cawthon what it is.
Cawthon and a small crowd of family and friends gathered at one of the restaurants. Sweeney pulled a veil away from a large portrait. It showed Cawthon sitting inside the downtown location. The shadow of the three pigs was cast across the wall behind him.
"I love it. I love it," Cawthon said of the portrait. "I think it catches my time on Broadway. Ron's been a dear friend. It's amazing the artist he is."
Sweeney's portrait of Cawthon will now stay at the Jack's Bar-B-Que on Charlotte Ave. It's here just as Cawthon's celebrating 50 years of running businesses. The restaurants are now being run by Cawthon's son.
"Over the years, Jack has always been there," Sweeney said. "He's been the most loyalest friend and person that anyone could ever meet. We have become friends forever. That's one of the reasons I tend to consider his legacy and what he means to me, and I know one day I'm really going to miss him. We're not all going to be here. I just care deeply about him."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
Here’s a beautiful story of how one mother turned her grief journey into a gathering of gratitude… and organ donation awareness.
Robb Coles highlights a special event organized by Cari Hollis – whose 26-year old son Austin died two years ago. Austin agreed to be an organ donor – and that single gesture saved multiple lives.
Cari reached out to as many recipients she could find – several of whom traveled to Nashville for an emotional celebration in Austin’s honor. One woman – whose life was saved by receiving Austin’s lungs – put it simply: “He’s my angel”.
- Rhori Johnston
