Nashville is a city with a perpetual buzz, exuding a sense of excitement and anticipation. And that buzz extends far beyond Lower Broadway, the city’s pop country–style take on Times Square, once the perfect place for a honky-tonk bar crawl but now swarming with bachelorette parties, pedal taverns, and celebrity-owned/backed multi-level theme bars. In my 20 years of visiting Nashville, I’ve spent a lot of time getting beyond Broadway, and what I’ve found is a lively culture of artists, musicians, and other creatives doing great things.
The list of artists working in Nashville is long. It includes—in no particular order—Alicia Henry, Emily Weiner, Virginia Griswold, Brandon Donahue, David Onri Anderson, Rob Matthews, and Marlos E’van. Also Vesna Pavlović, Alex Blau, Vadis Turner, Paul Collins, Benjamin Anderson, Omari Booker, Beizar Aradini, Jessica Clay, Jodi Hays, Rae Young, and John Paul Kesling.
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You’ll stay busy if gallery-hopping is on your Nashville agenda. Coop Gallery, Zeitgeist, Julia Martin Gallery, David Lusk Gallery, Unrequited Leisure, and Elephant Gallery are among the sites you can visit, along with Tinney Contemporary, Red Arrow Gallery, Gordon Gallery, and the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery.
This summer saw the first iteration of the statewide Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art, run by Carolyn and Brian Jobe through their Knoxville-based nonprofit Tri-Star Arts. The Triennial connected art venues in Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. While the exhibitions at the different venues were not connected by an overarching theme, it was beyond cool to have everything open at the same time. Venues suggested other venues, and the other venues suggested sites around town that were outside the larger exhibition. (And geez, that Alicia Henry exhibition at Fisk University as part of the Triennial was a knockout!) There was a palpable sense of togetherness and camaraderie, so important in a midsize art scene. I’m looking forward to seeing how the Tennessee Triennial grows.
For more cultural offerings in Nashville, read on.
Source: artnews.com