Copperhill

Dodd’s painting shows a spent copper mine in southern Tennessee’s Ducktown mining district. In 1907, Georgia residents sued the Tennessee Copper Co. for damages that smelters were causing to their land and livestock. The case went to the US Supreme Court, which shut down the mines. The dark sky and stormy background reference the toxic fog and acid rain that ravaged the landscape. A series of electrical poles stand like grave markers in the drastically cut and carved terrain. Tennessee Copper Co. eventually settled with residents, creating the first “pay to pollute” program in American history.