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By ALAN BOSTICK
Staff Writer

40-foot-tall display soon to be unveiled

A four-story-tall, classically styled bronze sculpture of nude dancing figures — expected to be visible from many parts of downtown — will soon be unveiled at the entrance to Music Row.

Musica, the creation of Nashville's own Alan LeQuire, will be unveiled Oct. 11 at the traffic circle, known as the roundabout. At 40 feet tall, the piece still won't be the tallest LeQuire sculpture in Nashville — that distinction goes to Athena Parthenos, his 42-foot goddess inside the Parthenon in Centennial Park.

This $1.1 million project, which was privately funded and is being presented as a gift to the city, represents a celebration not only of music, but also of the creative spirit in general.

Featured in Musica, which backers say should rank among the largest bronze figure groups in the country, are nine dancers rising above a limestone foundation. The highest dancer holds aloft a tambourine.

Even before the work is unveiled, LeQuire is aware of potential public responses. For one thing, he anticipates at least some reaction to the full nudity of Musica's figures, which include five females and four males.

''I never expected it to be a big issue, but it is an issue for some people,'' said LeQuire, reached in Wyoming where Musica is being completed.

To create the nudes ''was never a question in my mind, because I'm a classically trained sculptor and this is a classically inspired piece.''

LeQuire, 47, said the surface of the 16-foot-tall figures will have a rough texture, so that the genitalia ''don't really grab your attention. They are semi-hidden, but they are definitely there.''

There could also be some people, LeQuire acknowledged, who may have preferred that a Nashville monument to music feature a guitar, fiddle or banjo.

''This is more universal,'' he said. ''It's meant to remind people that our music comes from a much more ancient source. It's also meant to remind people that Nashville is not just about country music.''

Jim Caden, a Music Row area businessman who supports the project, praised LeQuire's approach as ''very creative'' and termed Musica's symbolism ''wise.''

Caden, who's involved in the area's renovation, said Musica should greatly enhance the Demonbreun Street corridor, which he thinks has the poten- tial to become a ''celebrated avenue.''

LeQuire said the sculpture, in six pieces, will begin its cross-country trek next week aboard three 40-foot flatbed trucks. He said he plans to begin installing the sculpture at the Music Row site as early as next weekend.

The artist's contribution to the roundabout was originally planned as a sculpture fountain, but funding problems prompted the artist to rework the idea.

Even though the city paid nothing, Musica received the approval of the Metro Arts Commission and is being developed under oversight of the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency.

Alan Bostick writes on the fine arts and books for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 259-8038 or via e-mail at abostick@Tennessean.com.