Officially titled "Reading Mantis," this piece was sculpted from recycled metal by artist Tim Pace. The sculpture is of a large praying mantis, wearing glasses and reading a book, stands outside the Jackson Madison County Library. It is approximately 20 feet tall and is painted a pale green.

Artist Statement:

“I like to believe that the artwork I create is in some way an amalgamation of various landmarks and artifacts. A landmark is more than a simply object or place; it is a reminder of an emotion, experience, or discovery. An artifact is a clue into secrets, secrets that have resisted the affects of time, to tell old underlying stories. The landmarks and artifacts presented in my work, through material, forma, and content, investigate our shard contemporary existence as it sits teetering atop a world or accumulated beliefs, traditions, and misconceptions.”

- Chris Wubbena

The Pillars sit on top of a mound of Shirlene Mercer Walking Trail Park, constructed by artist Lee Benson, retired professor and Art Department Chair of Union University.

The Pillars represent:

Bishop Isaac Lane – In 1882, he founded a CME school in Jackson to provide education for the freedmen.

Austin Raymond Merry – He established the South Jackson School for the Colored, which was the forerunner of what would become Merry High School.

Samuel McElwee – An attorney, he was the first African American to serve three terms in the legislature and the first one to be nominated for Speaker of the House.

Miles Vandahurst Lynk – The first African American to establish a medical practice in Jackson.

Beebe Steven Lynk – She was one of the first African American women in the nation to teach chemistry at the university level.

Milmon Mitchell – Assisted then-Special Council Thurgood Marshall with the Department of Justice to expose the discriminating practices in Brownsville.

The Seventh Pillar represents:

J. Emmitt Ballard, Isaiah Savage, Myrtle Monroe, James Buchanan, W.K. Seals, Genevieve Brooks, Dr. John C. Frierson, Dr. Wesley C. McClure, Rev. Chester A. Kirkendoll, Rev. Udelle D. Lewis, A.J. Payne, Frank Walker, Dr. Isaiah L. Hildreth, Dr. Ernest Brooks Sr., and T.C. Ozier

Benson expanded upon his sculptures at Sherlene Mercer Park in 2023, installing a new piece in honor of Gene Huntspon, Dr. Kimmie Powell Davis, Mary Cunningham, David Woolfork, and Gil Scott Heron.

Artist Statement : “Jim Collins sculpture style uses silhouette figures constructed of stainless steel, brass, and painted steel. Collins was a Professor of Art at the University of Tennessee from 1966 until 1983 when he resigned that teaching position to deviate full-time to his career as a professional artist.”

An architectural sculpture was created in memory of the community’s response to the devastating tornadoes of January 1999. Union University art professors Lee Benson and Chris Nadaskay conceived and designed the centerpiece sculpture. The sculpture is sixty feet in diameter and 22 feet tall and believed to be the largest public sculpture in the Tennessee. The design incorporates free-falling water, six columns representing the six who died in the storms and a seventh column that stands for the unified spirit the community displayed during aftermath. Randomly placed stone spheres represent each location in the area where the tornadoes touched down.

This sculpture is an east-west axis and north-south axis, symbolizing that Christ will return to the east and the five stones are situated toward the east. The circle "is the greatest concept in art" and the steel circles in his sculpture represent God, light, and love.