Phil Ponder, whose regularly updated Nashville skyline paintings became treasured markers of growth in the city he dearly loved, died Sept. 30 in his Hermitage home filled with family. He was 93.
A former Nashville Metro Council member and Navy veteran who led dozens of civic organizations throughout his life, Ponder served others with a kindness, humility and consistency that deeply moved those he encountered.
"That man never lived a day putting himself first," said Jordan Huffman, the Metro Council member serving Hermitage and one of Ponder's mentees. "He put everyone and everything else before him."
"Dad’s life was defined by love for his family, deep faith, and dedication to capturing the heart, history, and community of Nashville through art,"
his four children said in a statement issued shortly after he died.
"With his landmark watercolor prints, he spent decades preserving the places and memories that make Middle Tennessee so special — but to us, his greatest masterpiece was the warmth, humor, generosity, and kindness he brought into our everyday lives."
Ponder likely is best known for those 12 Nashville skyline paintings he produced about four years apart starting in 1982 after he began working with watercolors as a hobby five years earlier. He released his last skyline painting, "Nashville Horizons," in 2025.
"His art is legendary, tracing the history of our city," Metro Council member Erin Evans said in a council video tribute, "and really being a documentarian of how our city has changed."
Ponder, in a 2025 interview, agreed with that assessment.
"It's kind of more than being an artist; I'm a historian, too," Ponder told Nashville Public Television show "Tennessee Crossroads." "I'm just extremely blessed and happy I'm able to share with people their special memory on paper."
With meticulous precision that often involved taking dozens of pictures and counting bricks on a building, Ponder also made paintings of Nashville's iconic buildings. Those include the Parthenon replica, the state Capitol, the Belle Meade Mansion, the L&C Tower, Two Rivers Mansion and various churches.
Ponder often used his art for fundraisers for nonprofits and his home church, Saint Stephen Catholic Community. As late as last year, Ponder designed murals of three Hermitage landmarks that were painted by another artist for the outside of the Metro Police Hermitage precinct.
“Phil donated hundreds of drawings to benefit charities throughout Tennessee,” said Jim Varallo, a fellow parishioner of Saint Stephen and a drone pilot who often took pictures of Nashville's skyline to help Ponder.
Former U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, for whom Ponder served as an aide for 10 years, said Ponder was "completely the embodiment of the Nashville spirit."
"Then to see Phil’s artwork everywhere. People want it on their walls. And it’s pure Nashville," Cooper said. "From the Ryman to the skyline to the street scenes to houses in Old Hickory. He could relate to everybody. It’s extraordinary the footprint that one human being could make in a community."
"We are immensely proud of the legacy he leaves behind — the history he captured through his artwork, the enduring friendships he made along the way, his service to countless organizations, and the immense impact that he had on his community," the family said in its statement.
"We are profoundly grateful to our friends, neighbors, and community for the outpouring of support and prayers during his final days."
Ponder was born in 1933 in Ocala, Florida, where he was raised by his parents, Lester and Onie Ponder. His mother lived to age 112 and was the 21st oldest person in the world when she died in 2011.
After graduating from the University of Florida in 1955, he was commissioned as a U.S. Navy officer and married to his high school sweetheart, Dot, a year later. Ponder served three years on a Navy minesweeper.
Phil and his wife moved to Nashville with their first child, Terrie, in 1960, to join a training program with nationwide shoe retailer Genesco, then called General Shoe Company.
After 30 years there, Ponder launched his own art business, Phil Ponder Prints. By then, Ponder had released the first three of his 12 Nashville skyline paintings. He partnered with Donelson-Hermitage art store Picture This to get his art, which also included paintings of iconic Nashville landmarks, to the public.
“His work not only serves as beautiful art, but also the physical evolution of Nashville and all the wonderful buildings, both historic and new and landscapes that are in it,” Bob McDonald, longtime friend longtime Nashville area banker, told The Tennessean in 2021.
After working with various civic groups and neighborhood associations, Ponder began the first of two terms on Metro Council in 1995. After leaving council, Ponder spent 10 years working for then Congressman Cooper while he also served on the Metro Planning Commission.
He also served as president for a variety of nonprofits and businesses, including the Donelson-Hermitage Chamber of Commerce, Donelson-Hermitage Exchange Club, Greenways for Nashville, Summit Medical Center, Saint Stephen's parish council and the Donelson Heart Association.
When friends and supports found out in early September he was receiving hospice care, Ponder's commitment to others unleashed waves of love and support.
Hundreds of letters, cards and messages reached Ponder's children at grandchildren at his home, and more than 50 people signed two oversized cards for Ponder at his regular neighborhood spot, the Hermitage Chick-fil-A.
“Phil Ponder proved that in Nashville, nice guys finish first," former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell said. "His art rejoiced in both the history and the success of Nashville, all of which he loved — and Nashville loved him back."
On Sept. 25, several Metro Council members turned a Metro Historic Courthouse space into the Phil Ponder Conference Room. More than 10 prints of Ponder art hang on the walls, and a plaque and Ponder's latest Nashville skyline painting hangout outside the room.
In his last days, Ponder's children and grandchildren read him well wishes from cards, letters and thousands of social media posts.
The family issued a statement Sept. 25 to tell friends and supporters that the outpouring was uplifting and a comfort.
"Dad has spent a lifetime highlighting the beauty in our local history and architecture. His treasured elements of Art were always the people behind the stories and creating memories," the statement said.
"Reading and listening to how his talent, kindness, and generosity have touched your lives reminds us of the power of community… the very thing he holds most dear. Thank you for lifting our spirits and honoring his legacy in real time. We are forever grateful."
Ponder's wife died in 2024.
Ponder is survived by his brother, Carswell Ponder, of Ocala, Florida; four children, Terrie Ponder Watch (Dan) of Acworth, Georgia, Rob Ponder (Carmen) of Duluth, Georgia, Deb Ponder of Nashville, and Stephanie Ponder Randolph (Jay) of Hermitage, Tennessee; eight grandchildren, Megan Watch, Kalie Watch Shapiro (Max), PJ Ponder, Morgan Randolph Owensby (Caleb), Riley Randolph, Quinn Watch Niemann (Daniel), Isabelle Ponder and Lucie Watch; two great-grandchildren; brother-in-law Robert Connell (Elaine); and three nephews.
The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the recently created "Phil Ponder Memorial Foundation at St. Stephen Catholic Community," hosted by his home church in Old Hickory, Tennessee.
Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com. Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'Pure Nashville.' Phil Ponder left a legacy of art, kindess
