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Folsom's Johnny Cash Trail Art Experience - Jan 27, 2016 10:22AM

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Only in Folsom could the Johnny Cash Trail Art Experience happen. Because of two Folsom prison concerts nearly 50 years ago, the city became famous and Cash’s professional life changed forever. 

The linear public art project is inspired by Cash’s performances within Folsom Prison—shows that not only propelled the musician’s career to new heights but also humanized the prisoners and brought awareness to their plight.  

Cindy Cash, one of Johnny’s five children, was an integral part of choosing the artwork that will represent the Man in Black and his music. Her insights on the personal loves and preferences of her father were invaluable. “She knew what pieces would mean something to her dad,” Robert Goss, director of Folsom’s Parks and Recreation Department, says. 

“It’s ironic that after a national call for artists, Romo Studios of Sacramento was chosen for the project,” Goss explains. “Adan Romo clearly won...but the park and legacy sculpture proposal from the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt-Amrany begged to be added to the project too, completing the art trail ‘experience.’” Romo, lead artist and designer of the trail artworks, continues: “The trail is like a song...the notes are unified and so are the works of art.” 

 Romo was born and raised in Sacramento. It was his father Jesus, a city firefighter and artist, who inspired him to embrace art. “I followed in my dad’s footsteps,” the artist says. “I started drawing and sculpting as a child.” After receiving a BA in art history from UC Berkeley, Romo studied extensively in Italy—after being named a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar—and worked under marble artisan Mirio Viviani. After, he attended the Academy of Art in Rome; on his return to the states, he received an MFA in sculpture and installation art from the San Francisco Art Institute. Romo settled in Midtown and renovated an old barn in his backyard into an art studio where, along with working on his art, he offers classes in sculpture, drawing and mosaics. 

  Romo is excited to create this art experience. “I knew of Cash’s music,” he explains, “but it was the essence of the man I was going for...pieces to move beyond the music and reflect on him.”  

Gary Tillery, who works through the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt-Amrany, designed the centerpiece that was chosen to be the focal point of the guitar-shaped plaza in Legacy Park. The multi-talented Tillery, based out of Chicago, created a unique image of a 40-foot-tall Cash, which will stand on a 10-foot granite base.  

In his long and varied career, Tillery served in the U.S. Air Force in the late ’60s, worked on an oil rig in Indonesia, co-owned a Chicago-based advertising agency for 20 years, and is also a published author and poet. He started sculpting in his early 40s and has many pieces in public settings throughout the U.S. “I took up art later in life,” Tillery admits. “I prefer to minimize details,” he explains, “...to suggest and imply rather than show.”