Unless you count the heat, the streets of Tullahoma, Tenn., have very little in common with Easter Island, a tiny spit of land off the coast of Chile. But local artist Steve Smith is doing his part to change that by creating large and unusual monuments to lure tourists to his town of about 20,000 residents.
“I wanted to do something for Tullahoma,” Smith said. “It doesn’t have a lot of things to see.”
Now, people can see his replicas of the famed Moai (Moe-eye) statues, better known as Easter Island heads. Easter Island, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is home to about 50 descendants of Polynesian natives and nearly 900 statues ranging in size from 4 to 72 feet tall. One of the most remote populated islands in the world, Easter Island is now a popular tourist destination.
Replicas of the Moai have become popular in recent years as garden fixtures and fun tiki collectibles. Smith said he was considering making some garden figures himself when he hit on the idea of making scale replicas of the Moai on Easter Island – he would eventually make six statues of varying sizes, with the tallest being 15 feet. The real Moai average 13 feet high and weigh about 14 tons each, but the largest is 72 feet high and weighs about 165 tons, according to an article on PBS.org. They were likely carved between 1100-1680 CE.
Putting Tullahoma on the roadside attraction map
Smith, who lives across the street from the installation at 103 Marbury Road, said he’s met visitors from numerous states and countries who come to see his creations.
“I’ve had people come from Africa, England, France, California and Seattle,” he said, listing just a few.
The six statues, which include a small one with a hole for children to place their faces for photo opps, stand near the L&N Railroad tracks, where Smith placed them so he can keep an eye on them. He said he got permission from the president of the railroad. The site, which Smith keeps mowed and trash-free, includes parking spaces and cameras to prevent vandalism.
Smith created the statues about four years ago, spending about $20,000 of his own money in materials. They are made of a material used to create amusement park facades, such as fake rocks.
“It’s a type of concrete with a coating,” he said. “They’re hollow inside.”
Smith said the coating is perfect for the statues because they can be easily repaired if damaged. He hoped to add to the art installation with a Stonehenge replica but he said it would be an expensive proposition, plus “I’m just worried about the vandalizing of it.” Smith thinks a Stonehenge might cost about $20,000 to build using the same material as the Moai statues.
Smith said he was planning to visit Easter Island when the Covid pandemic hit, forcing him to cancel his trip. Then, he suffered a heart attack last year and has had to curb travel. Still, he hopes to see the unusual statues someday.
“They don’t know who made them,” he said. Archeologists determined they were made by natives called the Rapa Nui, but Smith says recent studies shed doubt on that theory.
As many as 95 percent of the statues are made of solidified volcanic ash, which is easy to carve, but researchers are at a loss as to how the statues were transported and erected.
Although they are known as Easter Island “heads,” most have torsos and some are buried 20 feet beneath the ground, Smith said.
To visit Smith’s replicas, put the address 103 Marbury Road, Tullahoma, Tenn., in your GPS. It is free to visit the site.