Julia Martin
|
James Threalkill
|
Adia Victoria
|
Ben Folds
|
Kelly Harwood
2 nashvillearts.com
3 nashvillearts.com
FO R E WO R D B Y SE N AT O R W I L L I A M FR IS T, M. D.
From Darkness to Sight chronicles the remarkable life journey of Dr. Ming Wang, a world-renowned laser eye surgeon and philanthropist.
From Darkness To Sight How one man turned hardship into healing
A
s a teenager, Ming fought valiantly to escape one of history’s darkest eras— China’s Cultural Revolution—during which millions of innocent youth were deported to remote areas to face a life sentence of poverty and hard labor. Through his own tenacity and his parents’ tireless efforts to provide a chance of freedom for their son, Ming eventually made his way to America with $50 in his pocket and an American dream in his heart, where against all odds he would earn a PhD in laser physics and graduate magna cum laude with the highest honors from Harvard Medical School and MIT. He embraced his Christian faith and tackled one of the most important questions of our time—Are faith and science friends or foes?— which led to his invention of a breakthrough biotechnology to restore sight. To date, Dr. Wang has performed over 55,000 eye procedures and has treated patients from nearly every state in the U.S. and from over 55 countries worldwide. He is considered the “doctor’s doctor,” as he has operated on over 4,000 physicians. Dr. Wang has published 8 textbooks, holds several U.S. patents and performed the world’s first laser artificial cornea implantation. He is the recipient of the Honor Award from American Academy of Ophthalmology4
MING WANG, M.D., P H.D. "Dr. Wang is not only a dear friend and the very best eye surgeon, he is one of the greatest people I have ever known.” — Dolly Parton, Internationally Acclaimed Music Artist
and the Lifetime Achievement Award from American Chinese Physician Association. Dr. Wang is currently the only surgeon in the state who performs 3D LASIK (age 18+), 3D Forever Young Lens Surgery (age 45+), 3D Laser Kamra (age 45+) and 3D Laser Cataract Surgery (age 60+). Dr. Wang established a non-profit foundation which provides sight restoration surgeries for indigent patients who otherwise would never have the opportunity to receive them free-of-charge. This is a story of one man’s inspirational journey, of turning fear, poverty, persecution and prejudice into healing and love for others. It demonstrates how focus, determination, humility and profound faith can inspire a life that, in turn, impacts that of countless others.
nashvillearts.com
5 nashvillearts.com
PUBLISHED BY THE ST. CLAIRE MEDIA GROUP Paul Polycarpou | President
www.facebook.com/NashvilleArts www.twitter.com/NashvilleArts www.pinterest.com/NashvilleArts
www.nashvillearts.com EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING OFFICES 644 West Iris Drive | Nashville, TN 37204 615.383.0278 ADVERTISING Cindy Acuff | Keith Wright 615.383.0278 DISTRIBUTION Wouter Feldbusch | Christian Lester SUBSCRIPTIONS & CUSTOMER SERVICE 615.383.0278 BUSINESS OFFICE Mollye Brown 644 West Iris Drive | Nashville, TN 37204 EDITORIAL Paul Polycarpou Editor and CEO paul@nashvillearts.com Sara Lee Burd Executive Editor and Online Editor sara@nashvillearts.com Rebecca Pierce Education Editor and Staff Writer rebecca@nashvillearts.com Madge Franklin Copy Editor EDITORIAL INTERNS Jennifer Hartsell Harding University Maggie Knox Vanderbilt University Erin Lewis Belmont University Luke Levenson Belmont University DESIGN Wendi K. Powell Graphic Designer ADVERTISING Cindy Acuff cindy@nashvillearts.com Keith Wright keith@nashvillearts.com
COLUMNS Emme Nelson Baxter Paint the Town Marshall Chapman Beyond Words Erica Ciccarone Open Spaces Jennifer Cole State of the Arts Linda Dyer Appraise It Rachael McCampbell And So It Goes Joseph E. Morgan Sounding Off Joe Nolan Critical i Anne Pope Tennessee Roundup Jim Reyland Theatre Correspondent Mark W. Scala As I See It Justin Stokes Film Review
Nashville Arts Magazine is a monthly publication by St. Claire Media Group, LLC. This publication is free, one per reader. Removal of more than one magazine from any distribution point constitutes theft, and violators are subject to prosecution. Back issues are available at our office for free, or by mail for $5.05 a copy. Email: All email addresses consist of the employee’s first name followed by @nashvillearts.com; to reach contributing writers, email info@ nashvillearts.com. Editorial Policy: Nashville Arts Magazine covers art, news, events, entertainment, and culture in Nashville and surrounding areas. The views and opinions expressed in the magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Subscriptions: Subscriptions are available at $45 per year for 12 issues. Please note: Due to the nature of third-class mail and postal regulations, issues could be delayed by as much as two or three weeks. There will be no refunds issued. Please allow four to six weeks for processing new subscriptions and address changes. Call 615.383.0278 to order by phone with your Visa or Mastercard number.
7 nashvillearts.com
ON THE COVER
december 2015
Julia Martin Una Oil on canvas , 18” x 14” Article on Page 24
45
features
columns
12
William Buffett At Customs House Museum
24
Julia Martin
32
Adia Victoria
38
Nashville Print Crawl
40
Ben Folds Fotography
45 Michelangelo At Frist Center for the Visual Arts
82
66
48
Charles Cagle At Tennessee State Museum
52
Kelly Harwood The Candy Man
56
Reed Hummell Photographer to the Opera Stars
62
One Year, Many Rewards A Conversation with CG2 Gallery Director Jason Lascu
66
18
Crawl Guide
28
Poets Corner
76
Studio Tenn It's a Wonderful Life
78
Symphony in Depth Handel's Messiah
80
Arts & Business Council
81 Wedgewood/Houston In the Beginning 86 Theatre by Jim Reyland 88
Sounding Off by Joseph E. Morgan
89
Open Spaces by Erica Ciccarone
92
The Bookmark Hot Books and Cool Reads
Karen Bell NAM Best of Tennessee Craft Show
94
And So It Goes by Rachael McCampbell
70
Abstract Nashville
95
Art See
72
James Threalkill The Color of Sound
98
Paint the Town by Emme Nelson Baxter
82
John Toomey Lost and Found, Memories of My Mother
100 Public Art
90
Corvidae Collective Creating a Diverse Arts Community
56
101 Film Review by Justin Stokes 102 Art Smart by Rebecca Pierce 106 Critical i by Joe Nolan 107 Appraise It by Linda Dyer
72
108 NPT 113 Beyond Words by Marshall Chapman 114 My Favorite Painting
9 nashvillearts.com
Publisher's Note A new art event happened at the Main Street Gallery in November—photoSLAM!— and it was a huge success. Seventeen photographers each had two minutes to show up to ten images of their work to a very enthusiastic crowd who showed their approval of a photograph by shouting BAM! The brain child of Sheila Turner, the event served as a reminder of the power of a great photograph to start a conversation, to inform, or just entertain. The evening did all three. We were honored to serve as jurors and look forward to the next one. The winner, Stacey Irvin, will be featured in an upcoming issue. Sometimes words are just too small to fully capture an emotion. I simply don't have the vocabulary to describe the outrage I and, I'm sure, most sane, rational people felt upon hearing the news from Paris. This painting of the Eiffel Tower from Nashville artist Paulette Licitra brought a smile to all of us here just when we needed it. Art will do that. Paul Polycarpou | Publisher
William Buffett: A New Simplicity Customs House Museum
|
December 1 – January 3
Duval Sisters, 2014, Acrylic on canvas, 24” x 24”
by Sally Schloss
Sault d’ Eau (Sodo), 2015, Acrylic on panel, 24” x 18”
Siesta Beach, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, 18” x 24”
by Sally Schloss William Buffett has cultivated two lifelong passions as a painter—refining the art of compositions that capture movement and light, and using color to shape and define the subjects he’s enamored of. One of those subjects has been African American jazz musicians and singers from New Orleans at the turn of the last century. Like a single paused movie frame, these paintings are part of a narrative moment in time. Within the frame, the music is palpable. We see the sound that is animating the people even though we can’t hear the music. As the painter Paul Klee so aptly put it, “Art does not reproduce the visible; it makes visible.” Buffett first heard this music at fourteen, was drawn to New Orleans, and moved there as a young man in the 1950s. “I consider the accomplishment of those early New Orleans jazz musicians from the 1880s to the mid 1920s to have been as polyphonic and complex rhythmically as classical music; a uniquely American creation as original as the Constitution.” Buffett credits his ability to imply movement to his art school experience. Students were expected to successfully draw from a live, moving figure. “That was the hardest thing. I learned how to do that by watching kids playing tetherball and people bowling in an alley. I figured out the essential moves. In both cases,
I looked for the gestures that showed me two things: what happened just before and what happened next. That training equipped me to draw musicians playing. Then it became a matter of which poses served the composition to make the gestures harmonious.” Two years ago, at the suggestion of his wife, the painter Brenda Buffett, he began to simplify his compositions. He returned to the coastal landscapes of his California childhood and the influence of his later Mediterranean travels. These sun-washed landscapes, where swatches of pastels shape houses, and streets, popping out of sea-blue backgrounds, offer a quieter, more lyrical mood. His figurative work is also flatter, and color, shadows, and highlights are distilled to their essentials. Modeling only appears to emphasize a face or instrument vivified for importance. What remains paramount in his work are the contrapuntal elements, each with their own melody that Buffett harmonizes, making the visual musical. A breeze blows a window curtain; light falls softly through leaves; a young girl in a pink dress lifts to her toes in dance. . . . na Buffett’s new work will be exhibited at Customs House Museum in Clarksville December 1 through January 3, continuing the series of exhibits curated by Nashville Arts Magazine. The artist will be on hand during the First Thursday Art Walk on December 3, 5 to 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.customshousemuseum.org.
13 nashvillearts.com
Pools, Still frame, Source image – The Sea Wife (Kipling) by Paul Harmon
BellaMotion by Digital Dave Cabana Nashville | December 3 by Luke Levenson The graphics on the back of a baseball card; the small ridges on the surface of a 3D television; the discernable depth to an advertisement in a shopping mall: lenticular art has many forms, and David Turner (Digital Dave) has a passion for them all. On December 3 at 5 p.m. at Cabana Nashville, David will debut his ongoing exhibit BellaMotion, which will feature 3D versions of his own works, advertisements, and works by artists Paul Harmon and Rita Maggart. And while Harmon and Maggart are recognized internationally for their unique expression of form and texture, Turner is one of the few artists in the world to explore these elements in another dimension. Lenticular art uses 3D technology to manipulate images in a way that makes them appear as if they’re popping off the screen or canvas. Turner first became interested in this kind of technology when he was seven years old and someone gave him a book with a lenticular cover. “At that point,” he said, “I realized how important it was going to be for me.” Since then, he has devoted his life to creating digital art and 3D graphics both professionally and recreationally. Besides mastering the computer skills necessary to do this, Turner has developed a way to articulate his art and to explore its ethical value. “If you change your perspective, you see something new. If you can change your thoughts, you can change your life.” This is the ideology that Turner had when creating his BellaMotion exhibit for Cabana Nashville and the same one he hopes to present in hospital lobbies, nursing homes, and anywhere there are people who need a calming, interactive art experience. The BellaMotion exhibit represents the launch of Turner’s new company, UVU, which designs glasses-free 3D screens. See BellaMotion at Cabana Nashville on December 3 at 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.digitaldave.com.
Minuet, Still frame, Source image – Butterfly Lantana by Rita J. Maggart
17 nashvillearts.com
December Crawl Guide The Franklin Art Scene
Friday, December 4, from 6 until 9 p.m. Jack Yacoubian Fine Jewelry and Art Gallery is hosting a group show of all of the artists presented in 2015. Gallery 202 is featuring encaustic paintings by Chandra Adkins. Jamba Juice welcomes Susan Brock Shadis, a retired elementary school principal, who paints landscapes inspired by her
Penny Felts, Jack Yacoubian Fine Jewelry & Art Gallery
travels to national parks and her love of the Tennessee countryside. Hope Church Franklin is showcasing decorative sign work by Whitney Osborne. Shuff’s Music and Piano Room is exhibiting custom wallmounted guitar hangers by Aja Blumanhourst. Merridee’s Breadbasket is presenting artist Carri Scott.
First Saturday Art Crawl Downtown Chandra Adkins, Gallery 202
Saturday, December 5, from 6 until 9 p.m. The Arts Company is unveiling Fresh Art for the Holidays featuring new work by Jerry Park and Charles Ivey plus the 19th Annual Holiday Pop Up Shop featuring all things festive with a variety of artwork by Ben Ortega, Ida Kohlmeyer, Ed Clark, Van Cordle, and Mose T. Tinney Contemporary is showing Self
Cameron Lucente, WAG
and System, new work by Jason Craighead. At The Rymer Gallery see Fluidity, glasswork by Nicholas John, Halcyon by Chris Coleman, and Teye Guitars. In the historic Arcade, Corvidae Collective is opening Offerings, a group show of smaller works by artists Karen Short, Megan Kelly, Jason Craighead, Tinney Contemporary Stephen Watkins, Cassie Soares, Tina G. Gionis, Billy Martinez, Kristin Frenzel, Nina Covington, Miranda Crump, Chad Spann, and Miranda Herrick (see page 90). COOP Gallery is presenting One Liners, a solo show featuring recent work by Josh Elrod. The works exhibited each deal with the central motif of a single line. WAG is featuring Death Panels: The Comics and Art of Luke Howard and Cameron Lucente. Studio 66 is exhibiting Aspects, a solo show of paintings and photographs by artist Amy Jackson and guest curated by Christine Hall. Hannah Lane Gallery is showcasing three-dimensional acrylic and ink work by Valentina Harper. Hatch Show Print is opening Moonlightin’, artwork by Hatch Show Print’s designer-printers Celene Aubry, Jennifer Bronstein, Carl Carbonell, Devin Goebel, Alex MacAskill, Heather Moulder, Amber Richards, and Cory Wasnewsky.
Arts & Music @ Wedgewood/Houston Saturday, December 5, from 6 until 9 p.m.
Prior to Arts & Music, the WeHo Holiday Market at Track One will offer local holiday gifts. Zeitgeist is exhibiting three carbon tons, work by Jered Sprecher and Michael Jones McKean. David Lusk Gallery is featuring exhibitions by Peter Fleming and Robert Yasuda. CG2 Gallery is presenting their first annual Everything 500 Exhibition featuring artwork by gallery and guest artists, all retailing for $500. Participating artists include Fred Stonehouse, Marcus Kenney, Ryan Heshka, Mark Hosford, Jen Uman, Will Holland, Mary Bucci McCoy, Margery Amdur, and more. Julia Martin Gallery is unveiling a solo show of Julia Martin’s art (see page 24). 444 Pop Up Gallery is showing Wynn Smith’s large installation of her magical Looking Glass. The Packing Lisa Jennings, Atelier Upton Plant welcomes local artist David King. Ground Floor
Gallery is opening Exurban, a site-specific installation that shares a dialogue about suburban development, land use, and consumerism by Leticia Bajuyo and Jason Brown. Atelier Upton is celebrating their oneyear anniversary and showcasing a new body of work by Lisa Jennings. Channel to Channel is hosting artist Robert Scobey.
Boro Art Crawl (Murfreesboro) Friday, December 11, from 6 until 9 p.m.
The second Boro Art Crawl happens in downtown Murfreesboro and features an eclectic group of galleries and businesses, including L & L Contractors, Let's Make Wine, Dreaming N Color, Hastings House Bed and Breakfast, Nurture Nook Day Spa, Cultivate Coworking, Liquid Smoke, The Write Impression, FunTiques, Sugaree's, Walnut House, The Alley On Main, Wall Street, The Block, Top of the Block, Downtown Shoppes on West Main, Smoke & Mirrors Vapor House & Boutique, MTSU Todd Gallery, MTSU Student Photography Gallery, MTSU Baldwin Gallery, Two-Tone Art Gallery, Moxie Art Supply, Murfreesboro Art League, Studio 903, and Appleton's Creative Framers.
Michael Ray Nott, Gallery Luperca
East Side Art Stumble
Saturday, December 12, from 6 until 9 p.m.
Gallery Luperca is exhibiting Decidedly Human with photographer Michael Ray Nott. Nashville Community Darkroom, sponsor for the December East Side Art Stumble, is presenting The Red Light Room, featuring work by its members. Modern East Gallery, Sawtooth Printshop, and Main Street Gallery are also participating.
Robert Scobey, Channel to Channel
Some Enchanted Evening Nashville’s Nutcracker Works Magic Again TPAC’s Jackson Hall December 5 through 23
Photographs by Karyn Photography
by Stephanie Stewart-Howard
Tchaikovsky’s 1892 The Nutcracker ballet score, based on an 1816 story by E.T.A. Hoffman, has become an international classic over time. It’s not surprising given the archetypal nature of the story, in which a young girl is brought into a magical world to learn the lessons of love and see the enchantment that exists in the world. Each choreographer puts his/her original spin on it, and over the past several years Nashville Ballet’s Paul Vasterling has created a masterful retelling each holiday season. It’s certain 2015 will be no exception. Set in Nashville during the 1897 Centennial Exposition, it features familiar sites like the Parthenon and Belle Meade Mansion, where the story takes place, all made glorious for the stage. “I have the whole layout of the story in Nashville in my mind,” says Vasterling of creating his master work. “The house is over on 6th Avenue near the Old Capitol; that area is all offices now. I drew it all up for myself in my imagination. After all, the ballet is about waking the imagination.” The show’s rich costume design, with tutus that epitomize the glamour of the show and the costume type, and splendid sets emphasize Vasterling’s love of the lighting element, embodied by the script’s growing Christmas tree. He brings the audience from Victorian sepia tones into the vivid Technicolor lights of Christmas, as Herr Drosselmeyer brings his niece Clara into fairyland with light representing imagination and enchantment. This year’s production features the exquisite Kayla Rowser as the magical Sugar Plum Fairy, the embodiment of love,
with her partner, the cavalier, and also as the magnificent Snow Queen. “I started performing in Nutcracker when I was 8; I’m 27 now,” she says. “I’ve been with the Ballet here since 2007, so I’ve always been part of Paul Vasterling’s version . . . I’ve danced many roles, and I think being part of Nutcracker at a very young age was part of what made me realize I wanted to dance professionally.” Vasterling himself has been part of Nutcracker productions since the age of 16. Clearly it breeds a lifelong sense of the magic of dance and live theatrical performance. That’s great, since this year offers a youth cast of 191 students (in multiple, revolving casts), the most the Ballet has ever had. Each year, Vasterling tweaks the production lovingly, emphasizing its timeless myth. “These myths and tales are evergreen; they resonate with us forever,” he says. “I have plenty of tradition—and magic—to work with. I’ve also got to be aware of the modern audience’s attention span. The pacing of the show is important. It’s fairly quick but still reveals so many layers of Drosselmeyer’s magic. It’s a challenge to me to learn and share that magic.” na For more on Nashville’s Nutcracker, visit www.nashvilleballet.com.
Color Me Happy Artworks by Roy W. Wunsch Studio Be | December 6 In 1983 when President Ronald Reagan designated November as National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, less than 2 million Americans had Alzheimer’s. Today, the number of people with the disease has soared to nearly 5.4 million. This month see the powerful impact art has had on Alzheimer’s patient Roy W. Wunsch. Shortly after this music executive retired, the effects of the disease started to become visible. His daughter, artist Cindy Wunsch Bowen, decided to introduce him to painting so the two would have something they could do together. “Painting has had a powerful effect on him. It has helped his hand-eye coordination, and he loses his Alzheimer's speak when he is painting. It has really helped his purpose in life. He works hard and very much wants to be proud of his work,” Cindy explained. Included in the exhibit are local artists Roger Clayton, Brian Nash, Deborah Denson, Maggie Russell, Jennifer Ives, and Kent Youngstrom. Each has created work that interprets the disease through their eyes. Proceeds from the show will benefit Abe's Garden Alzheimer's and Memory Care Center of Excellence. Giving back to the community has always been important to Wunsch, and with this exhibit, his daughter says, “He will be giving back to the organization that has helped him. He is giving back to his own disease." Blooming Bouquet, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, 24” x 12”
Color Me Happy, Artworks by Roy W. Wunsch takes place at Studio Be, 4908 B Charlotte Avenue, on Sunday, December 6, from 5 to 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.cindywunsch.com.
juliaMARTIN Photograph by Buddy Jackson
Julia Martin Gallery
|
December 5 – January 5
by Sara Estes
I
n a 1938 letter, renowned Russian expressionist painter and member of Der Blaue Reiter group Alexej von Jawlensky wrote of his work: “I painted these Variations for some years and then I found it necessary to find form for the face, because I had come to understand that great art can only be painted with religious feeling. And that, I could only bring to the human face.” 24 nashvillearts.com
Wanderer, Oil on panel, 24" x 20"
25 nashvillearts.com
Nashville artist Julia Martin approaches her work with a similar sense of divinity in form. “There’s nothing more thrilling to me than rendering a face,” said Martin. “I truly feel like it channels through me, and comes from somewhere else. I don’t know who they are, and I don’t know where they come from. I’m simply obsessed with faces. I have no choice.” Entranced, Gouache on paper, 12" x 9”
It is this obsession over her subject matter that makes Martin such a compelling painter. In her work, women reign. They appear continuously in various colors, shapes, and sizes: abstracted, half male, solemn, mischievous, resilient. While the details of each painted face vary widely, they all appear to be variations of a universal “one.” Her subjects are seemingly spiritual relatives, a fictitious band of females, a dynamic cast of characters all cut from the same cloth. On December 5, she will open a new solo show of her work at Julia Martin Gallery, which she founded in 2011 in the burgeoning Wedgewood/Houston arts district. The gallery features a rotating roster of emerging and mid-career artists. The 2015 lineup included solo shows from artists like Harry Underwood, Merrilee Challiss, Rachel Briggs, Lisa Weiss, and Michael McConnell. Martin also organized a series of curated group shows like Paperwork and Nashville 9. While Martin has included her work in group shows, it’s been two years since her last solo show—and the time has allowed for important changes in her practice.
Jewel, Gouache on paper, 7" x 5"
For much of her career, Martin has painted strictly with oil on canvas. But with the influence of her multi-media gallery artists and a newfound penchant for experimentation, this last year has seen Martin enthusiastically diversify her studio practice. Now the artist moves fluidly from oil paints to pencils and gouache, to chainsaws and chisels. In May during Arts & Music @ Wedgewood/Houston, she turned her gallery into a woodworking studio and invited the public to watch the process. The resulting artwork was 3:33, a large-scale wood relief carving assemblage over oil on panel. She exhibited the piece the following month in the Nashville 9 exhibition, alongside work by Buddy Jackson, Sheila Bartlett, and Lesley Patterson-Marx, among others. She recently began carving her first freestanding wood sculpture, which will be featured in this month’s exhibition.
Babs, Mixed media on paper, 12"x 9"
“Merrilee Challiss and Michelle Farro, who were both in the Paperwork show, were the ones who really encouraged me to make work on paper and try gouache,” said Martin. “I’ve always 26 nashvillearts.com
been so myopic about canvases and oil paint, so broadening that has made working so much fun again. It helps to be able to get out of the paintings for a minute and play around on paper, and if that’s not doing it, to go work on the sculpture. It’s a whole new sensation. As an artist or creative person, we can easily paint ourselves into a corner, and in that gridlock moment, it’s always best to just set it aside and work on something else.” For the most part, Martin identifies as a self-taught artist. She studied for one year at the now-defunct School of Visual Arts in Savannah, Georgia, but when the school was sued and shut down in the middle of her undergraduate degree, she decided to forge her own path in the art world. “It makes me proud to have figured most of this out on my own,” said Martin. “I had a small amount of training, which gave me a phenomenal foundation, but the rest has been me.” As for the countless figures that appear in her paintings, Martin does not model them from life, but instead culls them entirely from her imagination. “I always work out of my head,” she said. “You learn tricks over the years. Like with hands, I don’t have to reference fingers anymore unless there’s a difficult foreshortening involved or something like that. I absolutely love painting ears and fingers and the under part of the nose. Those are my favorite things to render.” For Martin, the face is a perfect vehicle for emotions, desires, and frustrations, and her passion for depicting variations on the form is palpable and enticing. “To me there’s no more interesting subject matter; there just isn’t.” na
Untitled (detail), Oil on canvas, 36" x 72"
Julia Martin has a solo exhibition of her work at Julia Martin Gallery, 444 Humphreys Street in the Wedgewood/Houston neighborhood, December 5 to January 5. For more information, visit www.juliamartingallery.com.
Motherwell, Oil on canvas, 24" x 24"
Dream Catcher, Oil on panel, 16" x 16"
POETSCORNER
Leslie is a graduate of Station Camp High School and was a member of the Middle Tennessee slam team this summer. She now attends Lipscomb University. Learn more at www.southernword.org.
LESLIE SHAKIRA GARCIA
Mother’s Exodus My mother came to this country in the back of a pickup.
Bodies floating in the currents, lungs collapsing,
The only Moses leading this Exodus was a Coyote
climbing mountain tops, past volcano ashes, and
dressed as tar. Wetbacks cross rivers to get to their
serpent backroads. When they finally reach the top of
Promised Land.
the mountain,
My people swim because their Red Seas aren’t divided
they see the scattered city lights shining, “Aye esta
for them—
America,” “There is America.”
They play hide and go seek with border patrol
Yet freedom like those lights is a mirage— miles away.
checkpoints, pray to La Virgen Maria as bullets are shot into their
We all have a common ancestor with empty pockets
camouflaged bushes.
and a compass, seeking shelter.
The fear of home greater than the fear of crossing death.
We’re aliens to the aliens. Heat has always been home, but now it’s a reminder freedom is only a first degree burn. The sun beats pulsing salsa as we tap dance on antiimmigration dusted dance floors. Marias carry their holy children in swaddled clothes, in wombs that beat too heavy. Joses travel to foreign countries to work construction, because calloused hands mean bread for communion. Little boys named Jesus grow up with a shank in their back, with asphalt bruises from crucifixes they were born into. María, José, Jesús. Mary, Joseph, Jesus.
Photograph by Jack Spencer
Survival is a history in translation. Survival is my fourteen year old mother being stacked in the back of a pickup refusing to cross her hands and accept death. She crossed the mountain, the river, and the crooked fence, and said, “Por fin llegamos a casa.” “We have finally reached home.”
28 nashvillearts.com
29 nashvillearts.com
30 nashvillearts.com
31 nashvillearts.com
ADIA VICTORIA is a songwriter and performer living in Nashville, Tennessee. With the release of only three songs—“Stuck in the South,” “Howlin’ Shame,” and “Sea of Sand”—critics are scrambling to find categories and descriptions. Blues? Rock and roll? Americana/folk? Afro punk?
Photograph by Hunter Armistead
hey, just sit down, shut up, and listen!
adiaVICTORIA
by Stephanie Pruitt Gaines
T
here is a woman I want you to know and keep in your orbit. Adia Victoria. I had a conversation with her
recently. I sat across the table from this complexly beautiful songwriter and performer thinking, I want you to know her, I want my girls to know her. Selfish? Yes. A ridiculous amount of pressure to put on someone you’ve just met? Yes. But I think she understands and is generously readying herself to be a part of our path. Not only ours, but she’s putting herself in a line of women who stand with, for, and often in spite of one another. I know there will be times when I need a song. More than a song, a singer, a voice with an emotional range that makes us feel, fear, and embrace our humanity. Here, my dears, meet Adia Victoria – SPG: Toilet paper over or under? AV:
Whichever way my sister puts it on. I’m the person who leaves it off the hook.
SPG: Water, wine, or whiskey? AV:
A shot of whiskey first, then a glass of wine.
SPG: South Carolina, New York, Atlanta, or Nashville? AV: South Carolina. It’s where I’m from. It’s me. Every time I go back now, I see I’m a woman who is more confident, and I can appreciate the place a lot more. I used to take it so personally. That place hurt me, but I’m more comfortable in my skin now. I moved to New York when I was 19. I was restless and delusional. I grew up watching all the movies where a small town kid with ambition goes to New York and makes it! My mom was looking at me saying, what are you gonna do; you just dropped out of high school? I wanted to see and experience things. So I did. I worked retail jobs and did some
Photograph by Chris Sikich
underage clubbing. I was mostly just a silent observer.
Moving from Atlanta to Tennessee happened at a time that I was ready to reset. Nashville has given me a safe spot to transition from girl to woman. I like that there aren’t people out for my blood here. I feel anonymous in a beautiful way.
Wherever I am, I’m going to stir up the status quo, reminding people that there are little black girls who are quiet on the bus but have tremendous stories to tell. We will speak up. I’m just following in the tradition of women singing their truth, playing the blues, speaking to power, and challenging the outside gaze.
SPG: Who is in that tradition for you? AV: Victoria Spivey, Alberta Hunter, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill. I’m in the path of black women who don’t subscribe to the monolithic myth. We live in a white dominated society that often chooses to gloss over us and appropriate our genius. You can’t tell me that what I’m doing . . . We invented the blues. We invented rock and roll. When I get questions like, how did you come to play guitar or play this type of music . . . come on! This is my heritage, my culture. This is my birthright. Rock and Roll and the Blues were appropriated from us. Just because you think Stevie Ray Vaughn is the original . . . Look, it’s just not true. I’m going to challenge that. SPG: Several of your songs discuss location-based circumstances and ideas of being stuck, or choosing to stay, or possibly escaping. I find myself thinking about James Baldwin moving to Paris in listening to your music and talking with you now. What does place mean for you? AV: Yes! James Baldwin in Paris, Ta-Nehisi Coates moved to Paris. First, I should preface this by saying that a lot of these songs were written from the perspective of a 17-year-old who had never lived anywhere but South Carolina. There was a feeling of stagnation and suffocation. I had no core sense of self to draw from as a young girl. . . .
I had the idea of paradise, and I needed to find it. I figured if I moved, then my troubles would stay put. I needed to be somewhere other than where I was. But I’m still me wherever I am. I went to Paris the first time when I was 18. I saved my money. I knew no one there. My family had never been anywhere in Europe. I found that I was more me when I went to these places. All of my particulars, they came out when I was alone and severed from familiarity. I had to get to know myself outside of places that I thought defined me. I asked myself: Who are you independent of being grouchy about the South, complaining about the South. Okay, the South isn’t here with you, so who are you now? Traveling has caused me to go in and find that core.
I don’t want to trick myself into thinking there is an idyllic place for me. I’ve spent so much time in my life fighting against my surroundings. So where do you go when the fight is no longer there? It’s this stripping away of false personhood, false identity. You’re vulnerable when you travel. You don’t know anything, anyone. You can’t go on autopilot. You have to be so conscious and so aware in the moment. SPG: You were soaking up experience and life. AV: I’m reading this book I got from the library, Acts of Literature by Jacques Derrida. He asks what you’re trying to share as a writer. Can you actually share anything and really get it across. I’ll often sit down and question myself and what I’m writing. It needs to be important, you know. Something epic. Something worth people’s time. But that’s not the way to approach the page. We’re not all leading these epic lives. It’s my life, my story. It’s the minute things that are often the most poignant. People can relate to that. The epic is in the ordinary sometimes. SPG: So what’s your writing engine? What drives you? AV: This obsession with being known. I came up in such a strict Seventh Day Adventist household where there were so many rules. I felt stifled and scared of my own humanity. Everything counted towards going to heaven or going to hell. I filtered everything through those choices. So I ended up doing nothing. I just stayed silent and still. God can’t hate me if I don’t do anything. As a teenager though, I kinda went insane and couldn’t contain my soul. I started shooting outward. Writing has allowed me to capture these things and reflect upon them so I’m not always reacting. To look at myself and examine myself. I want to get to know myself as a human. I’m interviewing myself, getting to know myself through my writing. I want to be known, by my own self. SPG: Are there things that scare you about yourself? AV: Sometimes I feel like I can be out of my own reach. I can be closed off from myself. When I’m learning new things, like something with the guitar or writing. Sometimes I’ll censor myself because I’m afraid of what I’ll find. Even if part of me knows it can be good, part of me says, well, then what? What will the next step feel like? I just don’t know what it will lead to. I can have this inclination to want to get to the end, but if I can’t see it, I might not . . . Maybe it’s all connected to my upbringing. There was this pressure to always think about the end, Jesus coming back. And your whole life was just in preparation for this big moment, and then the end. So it’s hard for me to appreciate the things in the middle, the process. I get scared of the process. I just want the end, know how things are going to turn out. Sometimes that just cripples me.
34 nashvillearts.com
Photograph by Chris Sikich
“
When I get questions like, how did you come to play guitar or play this type of music . . . come on! This is my heritage, my culture. This is my birthright.
SPG: Tell me about your work right now. Many people would say you’ve been paying your Nashville dues. How do you refer to your work and jobs?
honor in that. . . . Last year I read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs. I learned a lot about self-preservation and determination. She lived seven years in a crawl space in order to get away from her master but still be near her children. She lived there. Her body atrophied. She shrank. She shrank herself to attain her goal. I learned so much about getting beyond danger and past demons, those things that eat at you and seek to destroy you. So I wrote this album as a memorial to my twenties. Those are tender years for a lot of women where it hurts. You get busted up in love and life. You make a lot of mistakes. You meet a lot of people who do you dirty because you don’t understand your value yet as a woman. That’s so reinforced in our society to belittle us and dwindle us down, take our power away. So I wanted this album to be a testimony to what happens when you lose faith and lose sight of the prize. And also what happens when you remember who you are and your lineage of survivors. So that’s all wrapped up in it. I’m looking towards a release date in early 2016. I’m ready. I’m ready for that release. na
AV: I’ve waited tables at Union Station, tended bar at Bridgestone Arena, worked at Puckett’s, and Adele’s. (I got fired because I wasn’t bougie enough.) Now I wait tables at the Broken Egg. Those are my jobs; writing and performing are my career. But really, I value my day jobs a lot more than before. I need to do this so that I can do this. If I’m not making money there, then I can’t pay my bills; I can’t pay my band. I can’t go on tour. I get in these articles in Vogue or Rolling Stone; I go tell my dad about it. He’s this very pragmatic West Indian man. And I’m like, I was in Vogue, and he’s immediately like, Did you get paid? Call me when you get paid. SPG: What about the idea that an artist’s work improves through struggle? AV: I don’t want to live in lack. I grew up with that. I grew up with a mom who worked hard, but there was never enough. I saw what that did to her. I don’t want to do that. She doesn’t want me to do that. There’s no
35 nashvillearts.com
For more information about Adia Victoria and her upcoming album, visit www.facebook.com/adiavictoria.
36 nashvillearts.com
37 nashvillearts.com
The Nashville Print Crawl Showcasing Print Culture through Hands-on learning same time we wanted to showcase this cool and vibrant printing community. We wanted to create something that would be fun and engaging for anybody and everybody, for people to get their hands dirty and touch it and experience it and develop a greater appreciation for the art form and their community.”
Isles of Printing presents Our Town – Nashville Public Library
38 nashvillearts.com
Photograph by Tiffani Bing
David, Paisley, Lily and Brooke Widmer – Hatch Show Print
Photograph by Tiffani Bing
Photograph by Tiffani Bing
Perhaps the greatest asset of such an event is the inherent flexibility it allows. Each year, new studios are featured, and emerging artists and artisans have the opportunity to reach a wide, involved audience, one which will hopefully grow along with the art. Jennifer Knowles spoke with me about that side of the project: “From my perspective, coming from an arts education and non-profit background, the goal was to help these small shops develop community relationships. The idea of having Celene Aubry, Jennifer Knowles, Kelly Koeppel, Bryce McCloud, Bingham Barnes, a scavenger hunt where people are invited to Chris Cheney, Nieves Uhl – Sawtooth experience what the studio is like, what the artists are like, and by making it accessible to by Jesse Mathison all members of the community in terms of it being a free event, is a great opportunity. We The Nashville Print Crawl is a relatively new event which has couldn't hold this event without the support of the community, gained momentum with each passing year. It showcases the and it takes a lot of collaboration on the front end, but I think importance of hands-on learning and community interaction, Nashville is unique in that we have a real collaborative spirit. promoting involvement with local artists and businesses, We still have this small-town feeling, and people want to help and it is an event which begs for both exploration and each other.” collaboration. Various studios invite participants to learn about a variety of printmaking techniques and to try their own hands In this time when the economic base of Nashville is growing, at the process. and so an audience as well, there is a great opportunity to build lasting institutions that are focused on community rather Begun by the work of Jennifer Knowles and Kelly Koeppel, than strictly profit. Our city should endeavor to support our the Print Crawl is an event which happens during the month of local artists and artisans and offer platforms for growth in October (in conjunction with Artober). It is, to a large degree, a manner which is focused on the long-term health of our dictated by the community and is all about accessibility. Said communities. Events such as the Print Crawl may well be Ms. Koeppel: “I think the core idea was that we wanted to laying such groundwork for an involved, cooperative future. na create an event that could demonstrate to the community what this whole idea of a pop-up show could be, and at the For more information, visit www.BrownDogNashville.org.
39 nashvillearts.com
Ben Folds, Dallas Elevator Selfie
“
Photography reminds me not to be so jaded; a camera is a miracle and so is a microphone.
40 nashvillearts.com
benFOLDS FOTOGRAPHY by Michael Ross
M
ulti-platinum-selling singer/songwriter/producer Ben Folds is a rarity in rock music: a pianist in a world of guitar heroes. In a two-decade career he has carved his niche with keyboard orientation and smart, off-center songs. He also takes pictures. Another piano-centric star, Elton John, once introduced Folds as “. . . one of my favorite composers and piano players, and also one of my favorite photographers, because he takes amazing photographs.” At Nashville’s RCA Studio A, a historic space Folds has leased for a dozen years, he is describing how his music and photography differ yet inform each other. He talks about how his songwriting process involves coming up with what he calls “inappropriate” ideas, while his photography tends to color inside the lines. “When I have a musical idea there is usually something ‘wrong’ with it that I make work,” he says. “Whereas, when I do photography, I want to follow all the rules.” Folds’ daring approach to music encourages him to be more audacious when taking pictures. In return, his photography influences his musical life by reminding him to be more excited about the tools of the trade. “There are musicians, including myself, who don’t want to talk shop,” he says. “Photography reminds me not to be so jaded; a camera is a miracle, and so is a microphone.” His obsession with the photographic process initially led him to focus on the making of the object. “I like printmaking best,” he says. “Bringing into focus the thing that needs to be looked at can involve such a subtle adjustment of contrast and exposure. I can take a photograph someone might think is mediocre, print it for them, and show them it isn’t.”
Birds
The birth of Folds’ twins helped him appreciate that the subject of a photograph was as important as the manipulation of tones on paper. Like most proud parents armed with a digital camera, he began over-documenting every moment. “Out of hundreds of terrible pictures, there was the odd photograph that spoke of their childhood and life in a way that meant something,” he recalls. He also returned to the more expensive medium of film. “With film it really felt like the print has been touched by the subject somehow,” he explains. “All you need is one image of something—much easier said than done.” 41 nashvillearts.com
Bus Window Carnage
Smokers Adelaide
42 nashvillearts.com
Japanese Beatles
In expanding his image-making from family history into a budding second career, Folds joins a lineage of famous musician photographers as varied as Bryan Adams, Andy Summers, Nikki Sixx, David Byrne, and Moby. A portion of Folds’ photos are directly related to music, while others—a picture of a giant eye, a room full of tutus, a door to nowhere, and images of sneaker-clad feet—subtly reveal the quirky wit and lyricism that infuse his songs. Folds cites the rawness, emotion, and attention to detail of W. Eugene Smith as an inspiration. Ansel Adams, whose photos of America’s National Parks were instrumental in preserving them, also resonates with the man who helped save Studio A from the wrecking ball.
Columbus Photographers
The pictures speak for themselves, displaying an artist’s eye to go with his musician’s ear. For the final word on his photography/music connection, let the man speak for himself. “I tend to photograph things on the upbeat rather than the downbeat. In that way, it’s possible that my music captures notes and my photographs capture the rests.” na
“I’m a good photographer, but I don’t have the ‘it’ in my photography I have in my music,” says Folds. “I have to work for it in a way I don’t have to in music. It is dangerous for an artist to think because they are good at one thing, they know anything about anything else.”
Folds’ photographs can be viewed and purchased at www.benfoldsphotography.com.
Kate Miller Heidke Stage Piss
43 nashvillearts.com
Italian Renaissance Master Exhibit Now in Nashville Frist Center for the Visual Arts through January 6 by Sara Lee Burd Adding to the impressive line-up of international exhibitions on display right now at the Frist Center, the Ingram Gallery features 26 drawings by one of the most accomplished Italian artists in the history of art. Michelangelo Sacred and Profane: Masterpiece Drawings from the Casa Buonarroti presents the artist in one of his most intimate mediums. A quintessential “Renaissance man,” Michelangelo created some of the most renowned masterpieces of the 16th century in a variety of media: the frescoes adorning the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the dome atop St. Peter’s Cathedral at the Vatican in Rome, as well as the marble sculpture David at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.
Michelangelo Buonarroti, Study for the Head of Leda, ca. 1529, Red chalk - courtesy of Casa Buonarroti, Florence
The works on paper at the Frist provide a glimpse into Michelangelo’s mind—how he fundamentally conceived of the world. Less concerned with naturalistic depictions, Michelangelo imbued
his architectural facades, ground plans, and figure drawings with notes of Italian humanism, beautifully balancing reverence of mankind and adoration of God. Each mark made indicates an idea, a decision, a thought process vaulted from the artist’s imagination. Michelangelo’s works on paper are some of his most important because they reveal a moment of inspiration for projects that may or may not have been realized. During his lifetime he guarded his creativity closely and burned most sketches to preserve his ideas. This exhibit provides an amazing opportunity to view a collection of delicate 500-year-old works on paper, which have survived time and temperament. Michelangelo Sacred and Profane: Masterpiece Drawings from the Casa Buonarroti is on exhibit at the Frist Center through January 6. For more information visit www.fristcenter.org.
Music City Nashville New Photography Book Showcases Our City From the new-country humor of Downtown Nashville to the sepia-toned sublimity of the Chesapeake Bay, Kris Kristoffersen has photographed it all. And now, after 25 years in the city, he’s releasing a compilation book of his best shots of Nashville called Music City Nashville. It includes photographs from the past 20 years, although he has approached his art with the same mindset throughout: “Being a photographer, I’m also a bit of a voyeur,” said Kristoffersen. “I like to watch the city as it happens.” This active enthusiasm for capturing the spirit of the urban South is nothing new to Kristoffersen, who was raised in Dallas and California. “I’ve been honky-tonking since I was 17 years old, and the same things that interested me then interest me now as a grown man.” His interests are obvious in the glamorous 78-image archive of Music City Nashville, released this December, which exudes a fascination with the history and modern life of Nashville. For more information on Kristoffersen’s work, please visit www.kristoffersenphoto.com.
charlesCAGLE: The Shock of the New Tennessee State Museum
|
Through May 15
Still Life, 1930, Oil on canvas
Wilhelmina Haggard Rogers, 1926, Oil on canvas
Along the Quai, undated, Oil on canvas
by Gracie Pratt
A
n old photograph of a classroom of boys at HumeFogg High School is blown up against a white wall in the Tennessee State Museum, focusing with a golden glow on a boy that sits in front, mischievous smile playing on his face, the youngest in the room. It is a young Charles Cagle, the boy drawing at his desk, who would later bring modern art to the state of Tennessee.
Charles Cagle seated bottom left in art class, probably at Watkins Institute, c. 1920
Cagle was born in 1907 in Beersheba Springs, Tennessee, into a setting that was still marveling at the invention of color photography. By the 1920s, artists had been devalued by photography’s ability to capture a scene with perfect precision and detail. Charles Cagle’s work would not only change the perception of art in the state of Tennessee; his work would usher in a new era.
Landscapes are arranged together, portraits together, and still lifes together. Within each grouping, the order is chronological, reflecting a dramatic change over the years in Cagle’s technique, talent, and emphasis. The anchor of the exhibit is undoubtedly the larger-thanlife painting The Dancer, representing Cagle’s expertise in capturing the traditional and experimental of the modern age. The classic motif of the female figure is modeled after a friend of his, Barbour Howe, but Cagle places this figure in a richly contextualized setting. The Dancer is a clear nod to the Jazz Age, with instruments in play behind the vivacious dark-haired dancer in the swinging blue skirt.
After graduating from Hume-Fogg High School, Cagle went on to do the unprecedented: He studied art simultaneously at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania. This was not allowed, enrollment at two art institutes, so of course, Cagle told no one. Interestingly enough, he did so well at both schools that he was awarded scholarships from both to study in Europe, a testimony to his raw skill and promising talent even as a young student. Grounded in the classics at Pennsylvania Academy and experimental work at Barnes Foundation, Cagle’s skills were forged.
Still Life with Squash, a painting from the collection owned by the Tennessee State Museum, is a vibrant array of robust strokes and heightened shadows and textures. Influenced by still life paintings by Marsden Hartley, this piece offers an abstract perspective on a motif that had long been explored in traditional art.
After graduation, Cagle returned to Nashville to teach at Peabody College for Teachers and at Watkins Institute. He had his first solo art show at Peabody College and taught a variety of courses on art history, painting, life drawing, and stage design. “That was when he began waking people up about art,” a former student of Cagle’s would recall. “Nashville art has never been the same since then.”
Cagle’s ability to experiment with traditional art earned him widespread respect during his lifetime, and even now his works offer something new to contemporary audiences.
Over the years, Cagle’s work would be displayed at the Parthenon and the Centennial Club, as well as renowned New York galleries such as Tricker Gallery and Carnegie Hall Gallery. He also served his country during WWII, earning five battle stars and the French Legion of Honor. Always invested in teaching, he instituted the Charles Cagle Summer Painting Group studio in Vermont, which met for a total of twenty-seven summers before Cagle’s death in 1968. For this six-month exhibition, the Tennessee State Museum has gathered thirty-three paintings from a variety of private collections. The first recorded painting of Charles Cagle takes a predominant spot, framed against the blown-up photograph of him in his school days. The rendering of a ship on rocky waters was a gift to his homeroom teacher when Cagle was but eighteen years old. From here the gallery unfolds, taking a unique approach to the placement of each piece. 49
Southwind, 1930s, Oil on canvas
nashvillearts.com
Self-Portrait, 1935, Oil on canvas
50 nashvillearts.com
Figures in Central Park, New York, 1936, Oil on canvas
The Old Mill, 1937, Oil on canvas
The statement that American Artist released in 1953 describes Cagle’s work as well as we could today: “Cagle demonstrated a pronounced development in power as a painter. This consists of both vigor and poetic delicacy, the former in his bold, directly painted landscapes, the latter in sensitive nudes conceived and executed with refined taste. He has attainted great assurance of expression; his color is vibrant; his simplification of motives is effective and satisfying.” The exhibition at the Tennessee State Museum offers something altogether new in its collection and presentation: a look at pieces that are not commonly available or accessible arranged with remarkable clarity and intentionality. na The Tennessee State Museum will be displaying the work of Charles Cagle in this unprecedented exhibition, Charles Cagle: The Shock of the New, until May 15. The museum is located at 505 Deaderick Street in downtown Nashville. For more information about the exhibit or the Tennessee State Museum, visit www.tnmuseum.org. The Dancer (Barbour Howe), 1932, Oil on canvas
51 nashvillearts.com
kellyHARWOOD The Candy Man
Photograph by Polly Chandler
by Thomas Tjornehoj
Blue Rhapsody, 2015, Acrylic, 48” x 36”
Happy, 2015, Acrylic, 60” x 24”
“
I’m a very restless soul when it comes to creating art!
W
hile working on a floral still life in his Gallery 202 art studio, as he often does, Kelly Harwood was interrupted by his gallery manager, Jim McReynolds, who happened to be walking by. “Those look like Chiclets!” (For those of you younger than about 35, they are little square pieces of gum.) What McReynolds was noticing on Harwood’s canvas were little square-shaped dabs of brightly colored paint being applied just to mark where Harwood was planning to later form more realistic flowers. McReynolds followed up that observation with a second thought: “It’s like ‘eye candy’!” Harwood and McReynolds looked at each other, and both of them knew what the other was thinking, “That’s the title
Willow's Garden, Acrylic, 24” x 20”
only thing Smith offered young Harwood. When his mom inquired of Smith whether she would consider leasing the other half of her duplex to Harwood, Smith was happy to oblige (asking just $100 a month and some occasional help with odd jobs). Harwood could often be found—when not at work on the Goodyear tire plant assembly line—sitting out on the front porch of that duplex, musing and painting. Smith, likely out of habit from the many years of sitting out there with her artistic husband, would talk with Harwood about art. “We had a lot of fun together,” he reflects with a smile that confesses his fond affection. “We would fling paint around trying to imitate Pollock’s expressionistic style or some other master artist.” Harwood explained how Smith stretched him as an artist, not just in trying different painting styles, but also in reevaluating his own work—like turning a painting upside down to check for otherwise undetectable compositional flaws. “She was amazing. She’s impacted my creative thought processes ever since,” Harwood proudly states. “Betty Smith . . . what a common name for such an extraordinary human being!”
Eye Candy, 2015, Acrylic, 40” x 30”
for Harwood’s upcoming art crawl show at Gallery 202—Eye Candy!” (In Franklin, the community art show is referred to as the Art Scene, held the first Friday night of each month.) Harwood would be the first to admit that he’s not the kind of artist that locks into one style of art and stays on it for very long. “I’m a very restless soul when it comes to creating art!” he notes with a smile. “Being that way has probably played against me when trying to book exhibits of my art at traditional art galleries in the past . . . and even today. They’ll say something like, ‘We want customers to know your art by the unique and consistent brand you create.’ But one style just can’t hold my interest for very long. I have to mix it up—at least switch to some other style, medium, or technique for awhile.”
After picking up a few years of interior decorating experience in Gadsden, Harwood struck out for Nashville. Continuing his work in interior decorating at J. J. Ashley’s in Franklin, Harwood found himself one night at a party hosted by Walter Bunn Gray, a native Tennessean and artist. Hitting it off with Gray, Harwood invited him to an art exhibit at the Frist. As a thank-you for taking him, Gray shared a piece of art with Harwood—a painting that Harwood vows never to part with, along with a somber piece that Harwood himself painted shortly after his mother passed on.
While this restless creativity has no doubt been a part of his fabric since early childhood (like when he painted the side of a neighbor’s barn using the pigment from that same neighbor’s irises—with the neighbor showing strong disapproval of the ‘creative’ use of both items in his farmyard), the entrance of a dear old woman by the name of Betty Smith ratcheted up Harwood’s ‘game’ in the area of creativity and skill development considerably more.
Now, sixteen years after moving to Nashville and five years after opening Gallery 202 with Ira Shivitz, Harwood exudes the peace and confidence that come with having established a shop of high reputation—not just locally, but internationally. na For more information about Kelly Harwood and Gallery 202, visit www.gallery202art.com.
Betty Smith was holding a yard sale on a day when Harwood and his mother were running some errands in their small Southern town of Gadsden, Alabama. It just so happened that she was selling her late husband’s art supplies. Harwood seized the opportunity to capture these treasures immediately; they would provide him with many months of painting pleasure. But brushes and paint weren’t the
54 nashvillearts.com
55 nashvillearts.com
Photograph by Eric Brown
reedHUMMELL by Martin Brady
Photographer to the Opera Stars
R
eed Hummell has been marketing director for Nashville Opera for ten years. Besides planning sales strategies and writing informative press releases, he is also the man behind the beautiful publicity photos and production stills that promote the opera’s classy image. Hummell’s early years were spent in Southern California, where he rode the school bus with child TV stars and contemporaries who would grow up to have Hollywood film careers. Then his family moved to Nashville, where his father was an executive with the multi-billion-dollar food distributor Robert Orr/SYSCO. “I worked for my dad,” says Hummell, “and at 17 he assigned me to produce the company awards presentation. I learned on the job, getting proficient with multi-image slide projection at corporate events. I produced training videos, shot photographs in 35 millimeter, medium format, and 4 x 5. I was a pretty-well-versed industrial photographer before I went to college.” After attending UT-Knoxville and later working with his two older brothers in a business venture, Hummell seized an opportunity to interview with the opera’s then-executive-director Carol Penterman for the position of marketing director. Hummell admits that his first three months on the job were “terrifying.” Though he had a degree in technical theatre, he’d never been involved with a professional theatre company. “But I was able to bring a different perspective to what they had been doing,” he says. “I was able to get things done in a different way because of my experience on the corporate side.” Hummell’s ascension to the position of company photographer was the byproduct of a newbie mistake—or pure serendipity, depending on your point of view. “We were doing our first world premiere in 2005, Marcus Hummon’s 56 nashvillearts.com
Surrender Road, and I overlooked hiring the freelance photographer to shoot the show photos. But I had my own camera, shot some stuff, and [artistic director] John Hoomes liked the results. I started shooting all the shows after that.” Hummell worked with film stock for years, but entering the digital realm has been a godsend. “For a nonprofit, shooting reversal film is unbelievably expensive,” he says. “Working with digital—and you’re talking about shooting live action in the dark—I can shoot 2,000 images over a two-day period.” Hummell does a photo call first week of rehearsal, shooting the cast members in street clothes, usually basic black. Then the actual show photos are shot during the final two tech rehearsals—with two different Nikon cameras—getting both wide-angle proscenium shots and more intimate scenes. Carmen - Audrey Babcock (Carmen)
“I watch rehearsals to find the dramatic moments,“ he says. “You want to avoid shooting singers in the middle of holding a note, because their faces can look contorted. So that’s tricky. You also want to focus on the performers who are reacting.” Some of his notable photography subjects include Noah Stewart (La Bohème), Kathryn Lewek (The Magic Flute), Maria Zifchak (The Pirates of Penzance), and, more recently, Othalie Graham (Turandot). “The artists who perform with Nashville Opera are a diverse group of people,” says Hummell, “some on the precipice of major careers, and others with well-established careers, who just want to work with John Hoomes at Nashville Opera. People might have preconceived notions of opera singers, but I don’t know a one who puts on airs. In my experience, they tend to be very kind folks, low key, talented, and hardworking. You don’t see a lot of divas.” na
Il Trovatore - Laquita Mitchell (Leonora)
For more information about Reed Hummell and the Nashville Opera, visit www.nashvilleopera.org.
Pagliacci - Allan Glassman - Canio; Todd Thomas - Tonio; Elizabeth Caballero - Nedda; Dean Anthony - Beppe; Michael Mayes - Silvio 57 nashvillearts.com
Turandot - Danielle Pastin (Liu)
State of the Word
Levi Gordon, Belmont University graduate
Photograph by Lara Richardson
Blair School of Music December 5 from 7 to 9 p.m.
by Erin Lewis “Poetry is the art form of taking words and rearranging them in fresh ways so that we experience the world and our lives in an entirely new way,” said Benjamin Smith, Executive Director of State of the Word. “The audience should expect to be moved and to feel alive.” That is exactly what the 8th Annual State of the Word delivers. The event brings together the region’s top college and high school writers, poets, and spoken word artists to share compelling stories and showcase different styles of writing and expression.
Photograph by Tom Jamison
State of the Word originated in 2008 with the partnership of the poetry workshop Southern Word and the organization Vandy Spoken Word. Southern Word is a non-profit youth development and educational organization that builds a culture of literacy through spoken word residencies, workshops, and shows. Vandy Spoken Word is Vanderbilt’s spoken word group that seeks to promote self-expression and the challenges of prejudices. Both organizations give creative individuals a chance to share their voices. Approximately 50 poets from an array of backgrounds will perform. Many of the participating writers have received standing ovations at TEDxNashville, Leadership Nashville, and Child Advocacy Day. At the end of the show Nashville’s second Youth Poet Laureate will be nominated. The 8th Annual State of the Word is December 5 at 7 p.m. at Ingram Hall, Vanderbilt Blair School of Music. Visit www.southernword.org for more information and to purchase your tickets in advance—the performance sold out last year.
Nina Donovan, Columbia State Community College and Constance Bynum, Empire Beauty School
One Year, Many Rewards A Conversation with CG2 Gallery Director Jason Lascu
by Megan Kelly
W
ith nearly a year under their belt, CG2—a satellite space of the well-established Cumberland Gallery, located in the Track One building of the Wedgewood/Houston district— has represented emerging and mid-career artists in a series of powerhouse exhibitions carefully curated for their provocative and articulate talents. Jason Lascu, the gallery director of this space in partnership with owner and mentor Carol Stein, continues to carve out a dramatic niche for challenging work. As a curator, Lascu tends to gravitate towards very bold and graphic figurative work, choosing artists or pieces tackling difficult subjects and placing the audience in a position to reinvestigate their own beliefs or ideals. “Our mission since day one has been to exhibit challenging and cutting-edge work,”
Andrea Heimer, "We were not rich, but we were not poor. In junior high, I met children who lived eight to a small house. When I imagined them living on top of each other in such close quarters I could never decide if that kind of closeness was a comfort or a snare, and I suppose I had no business imagining either one." 2015, Acrylic and pencil on wood, 12” x 12”
“
Curating a smaller space is surprisingly difficult.
says Lascu. A strong example is CG2’s December show featuring Marcus Kenney, which, according to Lascu, “really puts that to the test. Kenney’s intention is to ask the viewers questions and nudge them psychologically to make judgments about where they stand on cultural and social issues.” The collage works are “hallmarks of [Kenney’s] oeuvre,” interpreting issues of consumerism, environmentalism, religion, mortality, identity, race relations, and authority through thirteen provocative collage pieces riotous with color. Future exhibitions include an exhibition of work featuring Amandine Urruty’s black-and-white beast-filled narratives, paired with Mark Hosford’s technically and chromatically brilliant illustrative works, which will crawl across the walls of CG2 in September through October of 2016. Lascu’s own evocative sculptural work will pair with Los Angeles-based artist Sean Norvet’s playful pop, surreal, photo-realist paintings. Of course, collectors can continue to find contemporary favorites—the traumatic, emotional busts of Christina West’s tormented figures; Lyle Carbajal’s painting and installation explosions of distilled form and archetypal, raw expression; C.J. Pyle’s detailed handwork creating distorted portraits crawling obsessively over reclaimed papers—among CG2’s regular roster of artists.
C.J. Pyle, Tete A Tete, 2014, Pen, pencil, colored pencil on LP album verso, 12” x 12” 62
nashvillearts.com
Marcus Kenney, Happy Birthday, 2015, Mixed medium on canvas, 24” x 24”
With such an outspoken nature inherent to each artist, regardless of the exhibition, CG2’s shows tend to host a theatre of intensity in the lines and depictions that pull in the viewer. Seeming to vibrate the works out from the wall and into the audience’s psychological headspace, it’s not unusual to find oneself arrested by the strength and power within singles or groups of images. Visually, these artists can express a lot of energy to contain in such an intimate space, a challenge that gallery director Lascu enjoys tackling. “Curating a smaller space is surprisingly difficult,” Lascu admits when asked how he manages to create such consistently strong atmospheres within such tight exhibition constraints, but his decisive eye has been honed by the past year of getting to know each artist and work personally. “You really have to be very careful in selecting the appropriate work[s]—everything has to have a purpose and be cohesive. It’s got to make sense.”
Lascu and Stein maintain a clear vision and precise aesthetic at CG2, bolstered by an awareness of an international conversation and grounded by decades of gallery experience. Fueled by the gallery’s success, future plans include expanding both the roster of artists and the space itself, allowing for a broader dialogue and more depth. “We have a great group at CG2 Gallery,” says Lascu. His excitement about the artists and future is palpable, and his aim is clear and focused as he describes the secret to success: “Have a clear direction and go for it.” na Follow CG2’s exhibition schedule and browse their roster of artists online at www.cg2gallery.com or visit them in person during Arts & Music @ Wedgewood/Houston from 6 to 9 p.m. and throughout the month Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., inside the Track One building, located at 1201 4th Avenue South. 63
nashvillearts.com
Nashville Arts Magazine Best of Tennessee Craft Show by Jane R. Snyder
Sculptor Karen Bell
Blue Iguanas on a Bowl, 2015, High Fire Stoneware clay, 8” x 14” x 16”
W
hen eight-year-old Karen Bell came home from school with tiny snakes in her pockets, her mother simply picked the reptiles up by their tails, carried them from her laundry room, and deposited them back into the garden. An understanding parent, she knew her curious child wouldn’t stop exploring Wisconsin’s woods and creeks. Collectors of Karen’s extraordinary sculptures are very grateful that her mom didn’t scare easily.
She decorates her unique vessels, bowls, trays, and plates with a colorful population of dragonflies, frogs, turtles, snakes, and iguanas. Admirers are often surprised to find “multiple critters or entire life cycles or ecosystems of a particular specie or subspecie” on the imaginative pieces Karen creates with passionate precision. Cleverly positioned in a grassy corner of her display booth, one such work tempted visitors to reach down to pet the colorful turtle.
At last October’s 2015 Fall Tennessee Craft Fair in Centennial Park, Karen was selected as Nashville Arts Best of Show exhibitor for her hand-built, High Fire Stoneware which replicates flora, fauna, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. This was not the first award for this talented sculptor who served as president of the Madison [Wisconsin] Potter’s Guild for almost twenty years before she relinquished that position in 2011.
Her three-dimensional portraits of bats, chameleons, turtles, alligators, crocodiles, and armadillos accurately reflect those found in Wisconsin or Arizona, where Karen and her husband, Lance, spend their winter months. She is a meticulous researcher with an enviable library of books and reference material in her Spring Green, Wisconsin, studio, and her glazes and anatomical details are as accurate as natural-history textbooks. Even a blue-spotted salamander she found under her studio’s doormat eventually wound up recreated in clay.
Endless curiosity still drives Karen Bell, whether she is turning over a rock to see what lies beneath it or gathering leaves to model for her life-size pieces that incorporate ladybugs, caterpillars, moths, butterflies, cicadas, or lizards.
“I fire at a little over 2,300 degrees in a reduction atmosphere, which makes everything a little toasty; it makes everything
66 nashvillearts.com
“
I’ve never been a two-dimensional person at all. warm. With reptiles, they depend on details so much. My solution is to use underglazes and re-fire my pieces so I get the best of the high-fire reduction and the low-fire detailing and color.” When asked if her ideas first take shape on paper, the sculptor shared her approach. “I’ve never been a twodimensional person at all. I do sometimes make sketches, but I found that those pieces don’t work very well because it’s better if I just let the work flow from my fingers right into the clay.” A determined problem-solver, she has adapted elements such as feathers or animal whiskers to represent fuzz on a caterpillar or delicate antennae on insects. If you ask Karen an offbeat question, you’ll discover that her knowledge of the natural world is vast and filled with esoteric details that make her work so compelling. She often builds miniature tools or fashions tiny brushes in order to guarantee a realistic portrayal.
Pond Habitat with Pickerel Frogs, 2013, High Fire Stoneware clay, 5” x 12” x 12”
Look closely and you can see why her process often moves slowly. “One day before I broke for lunch, I asked myself, what did I do today, and the answer was, I glazed five caterpillars!” Her childlike excitement is rampant and embedded in every piece she will eventually present to the public. Karen began to exhibit her work at Midwest shows in the mid 80s, but now she travels nationwide to display her work. Such wide exposure, from coast to coast and as far south as Key West, Florida, has enabled her creatures to find their place in private collections around the globe.
3 Toed Box Turtle, 2015, High Fire Stoneware clay, 5” x 6” x 9”
“Many tourists from the Orient, where intricate ceramic work is highly treasured, buy my pieces, then they fly home and direct their friends to my website. That’s a huge compliment.” One exuberant fan, who actually added an extension onto his residence to house his collection of her sculpture, calls this dedicated space “the Karen Bell Room.” He has already told Karen that he will bequeath her works to a local museum so they can continue to excite art lovers once he isn’t around to enjoy them himself. As she watches another collector carry his purchase away, it isn’t easy for Karen to let her “critters” go. But knowing that another one has found a good home will always widen her smile. na Leap Frogs on a Lily Pad, High Fire Stoneware clay, 7” x 8” x 10”
For more information, visit www.karenbellsculpture.com. 67
nashvillearts.com
Women of Abstraction Monthaven Mansion, Hendersonville Through January 9 Set in Hendersonville’s historic antebellum mansion, Monthaven, the exhibition Women of Abstraction features nearly one hundred abstract works of art by six of Nashville’s most notable abstract artists. Curated by Sue Mulcahy, the show includes works by Beth Boquel, Jane Braddock, Carol Mode, Sue Mulcahy, Eva Sochorova, and Doris Wasserman. Daniel Titcomb, Executive Director of Hendersonville Arts Council, which is located at the mansion, spoke about the development of this unique show. “Sue Mulcahy and I were talking about ideas for a show, and I mentioned to her that we had never had an exhibit of abstract art at Monthaven. She volunteered to get some artists together for a show, and she was willing to work around my theme of abstract art being done by women in the Nashville area. The artists in the show come from various backgrounds, and a couple of them are still teaching.” Monthaven has five large parlors, so five of the woman have their own space in which to exhibit. Mulcahy’s art hangs in the grand hallway. Visitors can delight in viewing a variety of modern-style art juxtaposed with the historic Federal-style mansion. The spacious setting invites viewers to pause and contemplate the art and history surrounding them.
Jane Braddock, INDIA, Acrylic and metallic leaf on canvas, 60” x 60”
Women of Abstraction is on view through January 9 at Monthaven in Hendersonville. For more information, visit www.hendersonvillearts.org.
Sue Mulcahy, Storm, 2014, Charcoal on paper, 38” x 42”
Carol Mode, C to Shining Sea, Acrylic on canvas, 50” x 40”
AbstractNASHVILLE
Grate on the Church Street Side of the 201 Fourth Building
Stairway on Seven Hills Boulevard
1812 21st Avenue South
Pond on Burton Hills Boulevard
Monthly Flea Market, State Fairgrounds 70 nashvillearts.com
Medical Center Drive, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
A Photographic Series Words and photography by Susan W. N. Ruach
S
everal years ago I saw a four foot by six foot painting of the small, green Coke bottles. Except the bottles were not the one expected shade of green only but also pink and yellow with a bit of blue amid several shades of green. I began to see Coke bottles in a whole new way. Often our expectations can cheat us out of seeing what is really there. I learned this all over again when I discovered abstract photography. Once I get out of my usual way of seeing things, I find abstract images all around—in the ways the lines and shapes come together, how colors interact, the patterns and textures of many things, reflections and shadows, the way different kinds of light change how something looks. These shots become realistic abstracts—straight photographs which are framed in such a way that the context is not clear. There are also times when I purposefully move my camera in certain ways to get an image where the item photographed takes on a whole new look. It may not even be clear what the item in front of the camera was.
Between the Medical Arts Building and the East Parking Garage, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Another way I make abstract photographs is by putting together different images in the computer. This can be a layering of different images or even of two or more copies of the same image. It can also be putting together parts of different images. In these images, you will see examples of some of the ways I make abstract photos. I hope as you look at them you will feel an invitation to expand the ways you look at the world around you and find great joy and delight in what you see anew, even as I do. na For more information about Susan Ruach, please visit www.susanruachphotography.com. Pond on Burton Hills Boulevard 71 nashvillearts.com
Words by Jerry C. Waters Photograph by Rob Lindsay
jamesTHREALKILL
72 nashvillearts.com
The Color of Sound J
ames Threalkill’s recent acrylic paintings capture the expressive vitality of jazz musicians in performance. These images are linked to a continuous flow of art produced by Threalkill over the past twenty years that are specifically grounded in the African American cultural experience. Also, these works illustrate the artist’s multi-cultural consciousness because his artwork more broadly reflects his awareness of and sensitivity to the human experience. Threalkill’s appreciation of the human experience is an outgrowth of his role as an artist, teacher, and advocate for racial and cultural diversity. These interests have led to his travels throughout America and to faraway places such as Colombia, South America, and Soweto, South Africa, where he has served as a visiting art instructor, as an artist in residence, and as a participant in art exhibitions. This recent series of jazz-inspired paintings is connected to Threalkill’s formative years while growing up in Nashville. They speak to his creative spirit, which his family and teachers
Straight Up Jazz, 2014, Acrylic, 60” x 36”
Retro Jazz, 2015, Acrylic, 72” x 60”
Jazz Inferno, 2014, Acrylic, 36” x 48”
Innovative Improvisation, 2014, Acrylic, 36” x 60”
musical legend John Coltrane. This is a brilliant approach to visual art in that the painting also stylistically corresponds to the musical style of free jazz, which is associated with the musical expressions of Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, prominent African American saxophonists of the 1960s. Their approach to sound incorporated freely improvised melodies and a reduction in musical structure. During this era both musicians were also known for performing concerts that sometimes included harsh overblowing of the horn resulting in sustained loud sheets of musical screams. Threalkill’s active painting surfaces and vibrant color contrasts allude to aspects of Coltrane’s ‘free’ musical style. For example, the aural phenomenon of the brash screaming horn, I believe, is visible and ‘audible’ in Coltrane Magic as well as in Retro Jazz and Straight Up Jazz.
recognized early in his life. Reflecting on his childhood Threalkill said, “I always credit my first grade teacher, Mrs. Stinson at Napier Elementary School, for recognizing my art potential and alerting my mother about my interest in art.” And his sixth grade instructor, Jackie Thomas, according to Threalkill, was “an inspirational teacher and a model of excellence in all walks of life.” At the age of 13, during his middle school days, he received a set of oil paints from his mother. This gift was the catalyst that propelled his passion for creativity and represents (symbolically) a portion of the foundation on which he has built a successful career as a celebrated painter and instructor of art. Threalkill’s paintings Coltrane Magic, Retro Jazz, and Straight Up Jazz are visually united by the artist’s use of decorative patterns, textural surfaces, and vibrant color combinations. In Coltrane Magic, for instance, the hot oranges, reds, and yellows that appear in the face, hands, and saxophone are in stark contrast to the cool blue and green hues. These colorful passages exemplify Threalkill’s interest in bold design. In concert with these vibrant patterns is the active tactile painting surface—expressively rendered with brushes and painting knives—which is visually connected to the portrayal of a live performance by
Threalkill also captures the experience of attending a live concert through his compositions Jazz Inferno and Innovative Improvisation. In both, he zooms in on the figure—like a camera—and surrounds the musician with a dark background, which calls to mind the art of the seventeenth-century Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, who is known today for his theatrical application of light and dark values. Threalkill’s depiction of Wynton Marsalis, a 74
nashvillearts.com
“
Threalkill’s appreciation of the human experience is an outgrowth of his role as an artist, teacher and advocate for racial and cultural diversity.
contemporary master, in Jazz Inferno is a naturalistic view of this internationally acclaimed trumpeter, composer, and advocate for the appreciation of classical and jazz music as director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. In preparation for this painting and other works within his jazz series, Threalkill viewed vintage film clips, listened to recorded music, and viewed photographs of traditional and contemporary jazz artists. In addition, he listens to a diverse range of recorded music while painting in his studio and attends live jazz concerts. According to Threalkill, these experiences are necessary and part of his effort to “capture the essence of spontaneous creativity.” A Smooth Jazz Groove, Acrylic, 60” x 36”
Beyond his embrace of musical figures, Threalkill has stated that he has been influenced by a wide range of visual artists from the past and from recent history. The idea of diversity applies to his artistic influences, which range from the painted and sculpted work of Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo to the work of the nineteenth-century African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner, who painted religious themes and landscapes in Paris, France. For Threalkill, the magazine illustrations of Norman Rockwell of the twentieth century have influenced his appreciation of realism. And within this circle of prominent artistic masters are the abstract limestone sculptures of Nashville native William Edmondson, who received national acclaim in the 1940s. Threalkill stated that he has been inspired by Edmondson’s forms as well as the sculptor’s “spiritual approach to art.” Close observation of Threalkill’s jazz paintings clearly speaks to the notion of the spiritual as a motivational force within the creative process. na For more information about James Threalkill, please visit www.theartscompany.com/james-threalkill.
Kirk Whalum, 2015, Acrylic, 36" x 24"
75 nashvillearts.com
STUDIOTENN A Stage, a Space, and a Sense of Place:The Set within a Set within a Set of Studio Tenn’s It’s a Wonderful Life All theatre is ephemeral by its nature. But for Studio Tenn, the cyclical building and unbuilding of a show includes not only the set, but also much of the surrounding venue. Risers, staircases, 348 chairs, curtains, lighting rigs, and even the tech booth all get broken down and loaded out between productions in Jamison Hall, Studio Tenn’s primary performance space inside The Factory at Franklin. For the upcoming production of It’s a Wonderful Life, Studio Tenn’s Technical Director and Co-Set Designer Mitch White is tasked with both recreating the familiar patron experience inside the venue and erecting Bedford Falls on stage—a set within a set, in a sense. “The great thing about Jamison Hall is that it’s an empty slate,” said White. “And the challenging thing about Jamison Hall is that it’s an empty slate.” White works closely with The Factory staff to coordinate the many phases of pre-production in the 10,000-squarefoot event space. On the ground, it’s an intense job: a marathon of long hours, heavy lifting, and ample power tools. But on a bird’s eye level, it’s also a delicate balancing act: “We are always trying to push the envelope creatively when it comes to set design and construction, but at the same time we have to ensure we are delivering a consistent customer experience,” said White. “So when we change something in the performance space, we also have to consider how it will affect the audience space, and vice versa.”
And yet there’s one more layer of scenery for this particular show: the city outside. Franklin is a picturesque small town and a close-knit community, not unlike the fictional Bedford Falls of It’s a Wonderful Life. Studio Tenn’s Managing Director Jake Speck noted that the importance of community is evident on every level of this production: “First, you see the Bedford Falls community coming together in the story unfolding on the stage, and then you see the Studio Tenn community of staff, cast, and crew working together to create and build the show,” said Speck. “And to top it off, it’s all happening in this magical setting of historic Downtown Franklin: an amazing example of what can be achieved when communities work together.”
The stage and set vary the most. Dimensions, wing space, orchestra pit, lighting, rake, flooring material—it can all change from one show to the next, and it does. But while audiences are accustomed to seeing dramatically different designs on stage for each production, they naturally expect the theatre itself to look the same.
Studio Tenn Theatre Company is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) professional theatre and production company based in Franklin, Tennessee, founded and led by critically acclaimed Broadway professionals Matt Logan and Jake Speck. Their vision for programming centers around innovative, custom-designed presentations of classic plays and musicals as well as an original “Legacy” series of theatrical concerts celebrating the work of time-honored musicians. na
In preparation for each three-week performance run, risers and staircases create the stadium seating for the house’s 348 chairs. The whole apparatus is encased in 400 feet of floor-to-ceiling black-velvet curtains, outside of which hangs the seven-foot neon Studio Tenn sign—also handbuilt by White—a bold first impression as patrons enter. For all the planning and labor involved in recreating the house for each production, it goes largely unnoticed. The goal, after all, is to achieve the illusion of permanence in the venue. “That’s the magic of theatre,” said White. “We just extend it to the house itself.”
It’s a Wonderful Life is running December 3–20 in Jamison Hall at The Factory at Franklin. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.studiotenn.com. 76
nashvillearts.com
SYMPHONYINDEPTH DECEMBER 2015 Handel’s Messiah: A Nashville Holiday Tradition
Putting a bow on the Symphony’s December offerings will be four performances of George Frederic Handel’s Messiah. One of the most celebrated works in the classical repertoire, the German composer’s masterpiece was first performed by the Nashville Symphony & Chorus in 1963. Since then, Messiah has been a perennial holiday favorite, and for good reason—its beauty, drama, and intricacy bring as much excitement for those involved in the performance as it does for Nashville audiences who have made it an annual holiday tradition. “There’s just something about Messiah that’s very special,” says Larry Tucker, the Symphony’s vice president of artistic administration. “It touches you in a unique way, regardless of who you are or what your spiritual and religious beliefs may be.” All three of last year’s Messiah performances were sold out, and the demand was so great that the Symphony has added a Sunday matinee for 2015. But what is it about this piece of music that keeps people coming back year after year?
Kelly Corcoran, Nashville Symphony Orchestra Chorus Director
Photography courtesy of NSO
December promises to be a very busy month at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Smokey Robinson, Kristin Chenoweth, A Christmas Tribute to Charlie Brown, and two screenings of Home Alone with live orchestra accompaniment are just a few highlights of a jam-packed holiday schedule of 16 concerts in 19 days.
Tucker, who estimates he’s heard Messiah more than 60 times and considers it a personal favorite, attributes its popularity to the inherent majesty of the work and the brilliant interplay between the orchestra, chorus, and vocal soloists, which create a distinctive blend rarely found in other works. “Messiah has so many moving parts, yet it’s still a very intimate experience for the audience,” he says. “And it’s ideal for our concert hall, because you hear every single note perfectly.” Nashville Symphony Chorus director Kelly Corcoran also has plenty of experience with Messiah in Nashville but notes that while performing the piece regularly does provide a level of familiarity, the experience does change from year to year. “Every conductor brings something different to Messiah, so it’s unique every time we perform it,” she says. “The narrative unfolds in a very human way, and you experience such a wide range of emotions throughout, which makes it a challenge to sing but also a lot of fun.” The Nashville Symphony Chorus was formed in part to perform Messiah for that Nashville debut back in 1963, and Corcoran says that many members not only count it as their favorite piece to perform, but also cite it as one of the main reasons they joined the ensemble in the first place. 78 nashvillearts.com
The Symphony Orchestra Chorus
“So many of our singers look forward to December because of Messiah and the power that it has,” she adds. “Hearing it live creates this incredible communal experience for everyone in the hall, and I just can’t imagine a December in Nashville without it!” na Tickets for Handel’s Messiah (7 p.m. on December 17, 8 p.m. on December 18 and 19, and 3 p.m. on December 20) are available at www.NashvilleSymphony.org and at the Schermerhorn Box Office.
What You Need to Know About Donating Art As the season for year-end giving approaches you may be considering an art donation. It is important to remember there is a financial impact that goes along with this philanthropic gesture. Did you know that the tax deduction can vary greatly based on who actually donates the work of art? While it’s true that there is a tax benefit in each instance, the benefit for an artist giving his or her art is actually less than the benefit for someone who purchases the art and later donates. The deductibility of a gift made by an artist is limited to the costs of materials used, which compared to the fair value of the piece is typically nominal in value. In addition, if the artist claimed a business deduction for the item in the tax year in which it was created, then the artist is prohibited from claiming an income tax charitable deduction for donating the item. As one can imagine, artists’ hearts and minds are at odds when charitable organizations ask for donations. The deductibility of a gift made by a collector of art is equal to the fair market value if certain criteria are met, including: • Gift must be made to a public charity • Art must be capital gain property (held for more than one year) • Charitable organization must use the donated property in a way that relates to the organization’s charitable mission A qualified appraisal should be performed to determine the value. In fact, an appraisal is required if the art is valued in excess of $5,000. If not all of the stipulations above are met, the deductibility to the art owner is limited to the actual amount paid for the work of art. In short, there are significant tax differences between contributions of art made by an artist and a collector. If you are thinking of making such a gift, consult your tax advisor to be sure the proper planning is put in place to maximize your deduction. na
Photograph by Gregory Byerline
ARTS&BUSINESSCOUNCIL
BY SAMANTHA BOYD
Samantha Boyd, with KraftCPAs Turnaround & Restructuring Group, PLLC, has more than a decade of public accounting and consulting experience. She assists clients with turnaround management, restructuring, and other related services, including acquisition due diligence and forensic accounting. Among other community involvement, Samantha is a current board member for the Nashville Opera.
little activity outside of the many artists toiling away in their studios and the weekend wedding receptions at Houston Station. It was authentic, intimate, and wonderful. Jodi Hays' Strong In The Broken Places at Threesquared Gallery
In The Beginning . . . About three years after the Fugitive Arts Center was shut down by the Nashville Fire Department, I decided to begin exhibiting artists in my studio inside the May Hosiery Mill in the Wedgewood/Houston neighborhood. I gave the makeshift gallery the name threesquared (this month marks the eight-year anniversary). I intentionally worked to draw enough of a crowd to make it worthwhile but small enough to keep it under the radar of those who would pull the plug on threesquared, as they had on the Fugitive. A couple of years later, Adrienne Outlaw started Seed Space in her studio next door to mine, and we agreed that it was important to maintain a low public profile with our openings. We felt that Nashville’s slowly expanding arts scene needed these artist-run initiatives to survive to complement the city’s commercial galleries. Elsewhere, the W/H neighborhood was relatively quiet, with
Then the dam broke. One by one, other creative folks began seizing the moment and momentum and finding wonderful ways to share art and draw a crowd. The artist-run spaces eventually led to larger, commercial galleries taking note of the opportunity and moving to the area: Ovvio, Ground Floor Gallery, Fort Houston, Julia Martin Gallery, The Packing Plant, Zeitgeist, David Lusk Gallery, Sherrick & Paul, CG2, and on and on. Now, with a dozen or so total venues showing artwork regularly in the W/H neighborhood, there is no keeping this scene quiet. The word is out that this old industrial section/ arts district is making waves that seem to be rippling out beyond our state’s borders. This column’s intention is to sound a louder alarm about specific exhibits, as I really want you to know about some of the top-notch visual arts experiences that are available right around the corner. As a native Nashvillian and, now, director at David Lusk Gallery, I hope to see the scene continue to expand in authentic, wonderful ways, and you, the audience, are an essential part of that development. Stay tuned . . . See you soon. www.davidluskgallery.com na
WEDGEWOOD/HOUSTON
BY DANE CARDER
johnTOOMEY
by Jane R. Snyder
Working Memory, Creekside Recording, 2013, Mixed media on paper: acrylic, pastel, watercolor, collage, 36” x 30”
82 nashvillearts.com
Lost and Found Memories of My Mother
H
e spent a happy, animated childhood exploring the wooded acres of his family’s homestead in Martin, Tennessee. Chasing after Charlie, his springer spaniel, John Toomey had no way to know how wading creeks and echoing birdsongs would prepare him for a career as both an artist and a teacher. It is clear the curiosity that sparkles behind his eyes today existed when that boy and his dog first jumped over a fallen tree.
Lift Study, 2012, Mixed media on paper: acrylic, pastel, collage, 16” x 16”
When you consider the countless hours John spent uncovering secrets that lay hidden between fertile, clay-enriched soil and tall loblolly pines, it’s easy to see— and just as easy to understand—why he writes on his website, “My art is communion with landscape.” John began to draw as a child, and he eventually earned a BFA in drawing at Murray State University in Kentucky. When not creating original work, he serves as Arts Instructor and Outdoor Educator (yoga, hiking, and archery) for children at Abintra Montessori in Nashville. Once a week, John also teaches an adult drawing class at Vanderbilt University’s Sarratt Art Studios. Smiling broadly, the artist explained that he is inspired by form and color in natural landscapes as well as by the endless creativity displayed by students of all ages.
Of Soil and Sky, Mediations, 2011, Mixed media on paper: acrylic, pastel, charcoal, 32” x 32”
His studio space sits on a balcony overlooking the first floor in his home. Within an arm’s length, he can simply reach out to a wide palette of paint jars or tubes, containers of brushes, boxes of pastels, piles of pencils, drawing pads, and an assortment of natural elements—leaves, dirt, an animal skull—that infuse his thoughts or wind up embedded in his work. Everywhere you look John’s work waits to grab your attention. With soft instrumental music playing in the background, the creative energy in John’s environment feels gentle yet determined and emotionally focused. Listening to him talk about art or creativity, you may feel a bit jealous of students who, on a regular basis, get to appreciate John’s joy-filled language and his obvious love for the artistic process. His most recent series of mixed-media works on paper, Working Memory, honors his late mother, Lucy, and her decade-long descent into Alzheimer’s. “Her last words were I love you,” John recalled. “Alzheimer’s had taken away her memory, but not 83 nashvillearts.com
Lift Study V, 2013, Mixed media on paper: acrylic, pastel, 16” x 16”
Working Memory, Cloud Recording, 2012, Mixed media on paper: acrylic, pastel, collage, 36” x 30”
Working Memory, Sibling Hymn to Her, 2013, Mixed media on paper: acrylic, pastel, collage, 36” x 30”
her capacity to love. She consistently expressed love for the natural world and for everyone she encountered.”
In Placeparted 2, is that looming shape a random gray boulder or a weighty tombstone for someone long cherished? Do the flowers in Rosewood Recording represent magnolias or just some imaginary blooms growing in a garden or left behind in a graveyard as a mourner’s remembrance? Is an off-white pattern in Sibling Hymn to Her inspired by an ancient Greek frieze or carvings on the marble cornice of a family mausoleum?
These twelve pieces invite viewers to step closer to investigate what they think is being portrayed. Like alterations in brain function for many patients with this aggressive illness, images seem to move either in or out of focus. It is likely these particular pieces will raise challenging questions for admirers of John’s talent.
Photograph by John Jackson
Artist John Toomey
People often talk about being lost in their grief. But when John Toomey picked up the elements he integrated in Working Memory he seems to have found peace in the magical landscapes he created. If you discuss this series with him, you’ll soon discover John’s mother not only inspired his love of nature, but she still resides in his heart and—just as deeply—in his art. “When I finished each piece in this series,” he said, “I asked myself, would Mom like it?” Once her son shared such a personal revelation, it was easy to picture Lucy, a smiling Southern lady in well-worn gardening gloves, nodding her straw sunhat in approval. na For more information about John Toomey, please visit www.jctoomey.com. 84
nashvillearts.com
THEATRE
Pick up Jim Reyland’s new book, Circling the Angels. It’s about friendships, famous and infamous, real and imagined, and thirty years in show biz. Available January 15 at www.amazon.com in paperback and on Kindle. jreyland@audioproductions.com
BY JIM REYLAND
ACTORS BRIDGE TURNS TWENTY!
It’s been twenty great years since Bill Feehely and Vali Forrister started the Actors Bridge Ensemble. In 2016, ABE will start the next twenty by proudly saying, “We’ll show you first!” It’s their new slogan and represents a continuing dedication to bringing Nashville provocative and important stories. Since 1995, Actors Bridge has paved the way by producing 92 plays, two-thirds of which have been either Nashville premieres or world premieres. Close to 4,000 students have been through the Actors Bridge Training Program; more than 100 young women have been impacted by Act Like a GRRRL, and over 500 theatre artists were given performance opportunities through the Sideshow Fringe. For two decades, Actors Bridge has been active connecting local audiences with the new and innovative performance experiences. From their rich history of regional premiere mountings of the country’s hottest, ofthe-moment plays such as The Vagina Monologues, The Laramie Project, In The Next Room (or the vibrator play), to premiere productions of their own work, brand new to Nashville (and the world!), Actors Bridge has always been the place to see what’s new . . . and see it first.
Hayley Rose Maurer, Boom
Photograph by Cassie Schreiner
Celebrating Christmas with 20 Years’ Worth of Gifts to the Nashville Theatre Community
Producing Artistic Director Vali Forrister celebrates two decades of bringing provocative theatre to the local landscape and reflects on the company’s history. “When Bill and I started Actors Bridge, it was a marriage of two dreams. Bill saw a need to create a professional actor training program, and I wanted to bring to my hometown the kind of plays I was seeing in New York and Chicago but never played in Nashville,” explains Vali Forrister.
Vali Forrister and Bill Feehely, Time Stands Still
Photograph by Rick Malkin
“Taking theatre far outside the black box, Actors Bridge was first on the local scene to produce site-specific theatre happenings, making muscular use of its environment with events such as our epic mounting of our original adaptation of The Trojan Women (using oral histories from women of Nashville’s Kurdish community) as well as Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses and Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (all staged in found/immersive spaces), and creating storefront performances in Edgehill Village and beyond as part of our fringe series.” Company Artistic Associate Jessika Malone returns to Nashville this season, directing two productions in the 20th season as well as continuing to lead the annual Sideshow Fringe Festival. “Growing up in Nashville with aspirations for a life in the theatre, I was asked countless times not ‘if’ but ‘when’ I would move away, as though it were impossible to 86 nashvillearts.com
Photograph by Wesley Duffee-Braun
conceive of Nashville having a thriving enough theatrical community to inspire and sustain local talent. There was a consistent perception that if you were ‘any good’ at your art then you’d go somewhere ‘better’ in order to ‘make it.’ We know Actors Bridge well. We know their creative energy and their guts, and when we sit down at an ABE production, we know the heart and soul of the entire troupe will be on full display. So make plans to attend an Actors Bridge 20th Anniversary production and congratulate them in person on a job well done. na See the Actors Bridge performance of The Nether Friday, December 4, through Sunday, December 13, 2015. For tickets and additional information visit www.actorsbridge.org.
Jeff Lewis, Marie-Vanel Borderon, Tom Mason, Rachel Agee, Delali Potakey, Ordinary Heroes
Photograph courtesy of Actors Bridge
Robin August Fritsch, The Nether Actors Bridge Ensemble continues its twentieth anniversary season in December with the Nashville premiere of The Nether by Jennifer Haley, a daring examination of moral responsibility in virtual worlds. Ingeniously constructed and fiercely intelligent, Haley’s play forces us to confront deeply disturbing questions about the boundaries of reality. Friday, December 4, through Sunday, December 13. Tickets at www.actorsbridge.org
20th Anniversary Season The Nether (Nashville premiere) by Jennifer Haley Friday, December 4, through Sunday, December 13, 2015 The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls (Nashville premiere) by Meg Miroshnik Friday, April 15, through Saturday, April 23, 2016
The Ice Treatment (World premiere) by Nate Eppler Friday, July 15, through Sunday, July 24, 2016 6th Annual Sideshow Fringe Festival (multiple world premieres) Thursday, August 4, thru Sunday, August 7, 2016 Iyalosa Osunyemi Akalatunde, The Vagina Monologues
Photograph by John Jackson
Act Like a Grrrl 2016 (Always a world premiere) Thursday, June 23, through Friday, June 24, 2016
SOUNDINGOFF
Kelly Corcoran conducting Intersection
Photograph by Alex Ferrari
BY JOSEPH E. MORGAN MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
Intersection Brings Life to Classical Music at the Musician’s Hall of Fame On October 29 Intersection opened its season at the Musician’s Hall of Fame. The concert, titled Sea of Tonality, featured pieces from an eclectic group of composers, two of whom were present to introduce their works, resulting in an evening of refreshing variety and inspiration. The first half of the concert presented four pieces in pairings. First, Toru Takemitsu’s Rain Coming for Chamber Orchestra (1982) was paired with Tina Tallon’s PNEUMA MEKHANES (2014), creating an elemental contrast of air and water. Takemitsu described Rain Coming as “inspired by the common theme of rain,” featuring an ascending three-note motive that passes “through a series of metamorphoses, culminating in a sea of tonality.” Takemitsu’s piece is atmospheric, building a stark contrast between the alto flute, played with a clear and resonant tone by Arpi Anderson, and the delicate piano and strings. Tallon’s piece, which she described as inspired by the drought-devastated West, created an arid sound world depicting the wind in a breathing rhythm. It features a remarkable accordion line that ambushes the texture, climaxing in a chaotic and blustery counterpoint. Jeff Lisenby on the accordion was simply outstanding throughout the night. After a brief intermission, the second pairing featured Joby Talbot’s Minus 1500 (2006) against Elliott Carter’s Mosaic (2004). Talbot’s work is an elegy for Venice; 1500 refers to the number of residents fleeing Venice and the encroaching sea each year. It opens with bells, chiming slowly, referring to the city’s past, eventually surrendering to a haunting ostinato, reminiscent of Béla Bartók’s “Night Music.” In contrast to the Talbot was Elliot Carter’s Mosaic (2004). This incredibly difficult piece features interlocking melodic fragments, managed with great skill by harpist Kirsten Agresta Copely. The program concluded with Pulitzer composer Julia Wolfe’s True Love (2006), a concerto for accordion. Here Wolfe reconceived the concerto genre, avoiding the “flashy,” and instead “thinking about what could make the experience of the concerto special—how an individual voice could ride the wave of a large ensemble.” The piece stirringly alternates between intimate minimalist phasing and dynamic and textural crescendos. One poignant moment was gained when percussionists Alan Fey and Lawson White rubbed metal in a slow circular motion on the cymbals while Jeff Lisenby played a leaping melodic line on the accordion. As White remarked, Wolfe has a talent for making “the ugliest sounds beautiful.” The performance was a resounding success. It was both refreshing and ironic to hear Maestra Kelly Corcoran bring life to contemporary classical music in Nashville—even as Jimi Hendrix’s dusty Stratocaster sat in the museum backstage. na
Photograph by Tony Youngblood
Erica Ciccarone is an independent writer. She holds an M.F.A. from the New School in Creative Writing. She blogs about art at www.nycnash.com.
OPENSPACES BY ERICA CICCARONE
Brandon Donahue
All photographs by Tony Youngblood
Socially Engaged Art Artists Reflect Community with Norf Wall Fest There’s a spot in North Nashville on Herman Street and 18th Avenue North that, according to the owner, Aj Sankari, was once a wheel and rubber factory. By the time Sankari bought it, it was being used as a junk lot. But something interesting started happening: graffiti artists and muralists from all over the city were leaving their mark on the many dilapidated walls of the buildings. Jay Jenkins, who goes by Woke3, was one of those artists. “I called it the Deep End,” Jenkins said. “When you’d go down there, you’d feel like you were part of something. It would feel like you entered a whole new world when you went down there to paint.” Jenkins, a senior at TSU, fulfilled a long-held vision in October when he organized the Norf Wall Fest in Sankari’s now-rebuilt corner of North Nashville. He received a Thrive grant from Metro Arts Commission and approached artist and North Nashville figurehead Thaxton Waters for help. “I've been working with Jay for a while, and I see his promise. I always look for those artists at universities. I don’t necessarily look at technique, but I look at a certain work ethic that they have. Those are the artists that I gravitate toward, the ones that can see a vision and follow it through.” Waters, a graduate of TSU himself, juried the show, selecting a bill of artists that includes Brandon Donahue, Arjae, Brad Wells, Jamond Bullock, Sam Dunson, Folek, Michael Mucker, Elisheba Israel, and Doughjoe.
Jamond Bullock
The project culminated in a day-long festival of poetry, music, and art. The work held powerful messages. Sam Dunson’s piece is a take on Caravaggio’s The Incredulity of Saint Thomas. A kid lifts up his shirt, revealing a bullseye on his chest, while a three-headed serpent looks on approvingly. In Brandon Donahue’s, a child sits at his desk, writing furiously in his notebook, a bright red A+ above him, and the inscription, “The present is a gift.” Jenkins, Waters, and Sankari are encouraged by the success of the event and are already planning Phase II. na For more information about the Norf Wall Fest, follow @NORFSTUDIOS and woke3 on Instagram.
Sam Dunson 89
nashvillearts.com
CorvidaeCOLLECTIVE
by Cat Acree
Photograph by Nina Covington
Creating a Diverse Arts Community
C
orvidae Collective is a garden of earthly delights, with a location as unexpected as its wares. Though the other galleries in the 113-year-old Nashville Arcade have all congregated on the second floor, the bright blue façade of Corvidae Collective can be found on the Arcade’s first floor, neighbored by a cobbler and the post office, in a retail space that was the Arcade Smoke Shop for 35 years. Owner Nikki Gray opened the two-story gallery in April 2014, introducing a bizarre, graphic collection of lowbrow pop surrealist art by established and emerging artists from all around the world, as well as artisan gifts from local crafters.
Gallery Owner Nikki Gray
“
It excites me most that the artists have found a home and a community.
With subject matter drawing from science fiction, fantasy, and pop culture, Gray’s aesthetic for the gallery has always been different from mainstream art, particularly in Nashville. It’s similar to what you might find in Philadelphia’s Arch Enemy Arts, New York’s Last Rites, or San Francisco’s Modern Eden. But Nashville? “It seemed Nashville was too closed,” Gray says of those early days, “but it really is a broader aesthetic than I thought. It appeals to more people than I expected, so we’ve been able to grow.” In the last year and a half, Gray has stubbornly and successfully attracted a sincere, enthusiastic community for fantastical art. Even the name suggests a communal aesthetic: The Latin term corvidae refers to the taxonomic family of intelligent birds that includes crows, ravens, and magpies, creatures that might mischievously store a grand collection of shiny things. With the original pine walls and a gleaming tiled ceiling, the street-level first floor sells jewelry, small sculptures, and giftables made by local crafters. It’s comfortable, welcoming, like a curio shop without any of the mustiness, the type of weird boutique that encourages passers-by to stay a while. From the first floor, a narrow set of stairs leads up to what feels like a secret attic, where several small rooms are filled corner to corner with fine and commercial art. Images of transformation and change are everywhere, as are the visages of powerful females, from nymphs, sprites, and faeries to other feminine, mystical creatures. Local artist Karen Short surrounds a woman with the cosmos in Stardust. Lacey Bryant’s particularly striking South, an oil painting on a found cabinet door, depicts a young 90 nashvillearts.com
for the tarot reader during art crawls. Gray often puts on poetry readings and other literary events, as well as off-site performances and music events.
girl disappearing as a flock of migrating geese swarm past her. Stephanie Pui-Mun Law’s ethereal watercolor dreamworlds are soft but far from demure, with female figures appearing as protectors or guardians amid pastel foliage.
In December, the gallery will feature Offerings, a show of smaller gifts from local and international artists, perfect for holiday gift-giving. “It’s the only cash-and-carry show we have all year,” Gray says.
“It excites me most that the artists have found a home and a community,” says Gray. “Each of the pieces, while they might be a bit different, has a conversation with the others.”
In January is photographer Nina Covington’s solo show Machisma. “It’s all about empowering women,” says Gray. “We should be able to walk around looking any way we want to. We should be equal. This is not only going to show you that in visual form but circle back and help the community.” Part of the proceeds from the show will be donated to a local violence and sexual abuse center. This will be the first time the gallery has partnered with a charity to benefit an important cause, and Gray says it won’t be the last. na
The upstairs gallery also has a book nook and, at the large window overlooking the Arcade, a café table and chairs
Corvidae Collective is located at 11 Arcade in downtown Nashville. Offerings, a group exhibit featuring Karen Short, Megan Kelly, Stephen Watkins, Cassie Soares, Tina G.Gionis, Billy Martinez, Kristin Frenzel, Nina Covington, Miranda Crump, Chad Spann, and Miranda Herrick opens during the First Saturday Downtown Art Crawl on December 5. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 12 to 5 p.m. For more information about Corvidae Collective, visit www.corvidaecollective.net.
Kindra Nikole, The Forest's Secret, Mixed media: photography, digital illustration, handmade props and costumes on maple wood panels and glazed with hand-lacquered resin, 24” x 36”
Thomas Dodd, Echo, Photo-encaustic print on wood panel, 20” x 30”
Lacey Bryant, South, Oil on a found cabinet door, 16” x 35”
Nina Covington, Machisma: A Portrait of Amy, Photograph, 16” x 20” 91
nashvillearts.com
THEBOOKMARK
A MONTHLY LOOK AT HOT BOOKS AND COOL READS
Beloved Dog
Avenue of Mysteries
Maira Kalman
John Irving
We love a good dog book at Parnassus, and this new one has us smitten. Author and artist Maira Kalman brings her signature style to this sweet, insightful book about how dogs make us better people. Meet the Irish Wheaton, Pete, (who was to be named Einstein, until he showed himself to be “clearly no Einstein”) and Boganch, Kalman’s in-laws’ “big black slobbering Hungarian Beast.” Discover the personalities of other canines Kalman has loved, as well as dogs of her friends and family. Kalman marries entrancing illustrations with evocative text. You might just need a copy for every dog-lover in your life.
In the past, Juan Diego was a boy growing up in Mexico alongside his 13-year-old sister, Lupe, who believed she had the power to foretell the future. In the present, Juan Diego is a grown man, on a trip to the Philippines. What happens when the memories, dreams, and predictions of the past catch up to his present? You'll be up late turning pages to find out, as master storyteller John Irving shows us again why his novels (The World According to Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Cider House Rules, and many more) have become classics.
Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush Jon Meacham Nashville's own Jon Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian with a rare gift for making biographies read almost like novels. The Bush family granted him extraordinary access to their family when he was researching this book, resulting in a deeply personal portrait of our nation's 41st president. In addition to the White House years, Destiny and Power explores Bush's life before his presidency: his family, war experience, business background, and the years he spent as director of the CIA and as vice president under President Ronald Reagan. Hear Meacham speak with Tim McGraw on December 7 at the Nashville Public Library, presented by the Salon@615 partnership.
Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll Peter Guralnick If you liked Last Train to Memphis, the critically acclaimed biography of Elvis Presley, you'll love this new release from the same author. From a little studio in Memphis, producer Sam Phillips worked with artists including Elvis, Ike Turner, Howlin' Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash. What Phillips created by founding Sun Records changed the American musical landscape forever. In this book, Peter Guralnick takes 25 years' worth of interviews, observations, and research and turns them into a colorful picture of Phillips's true genius. Whether you work in the music industry or just love to read about it, you'll enjoy this trip back in time.
Photograph by Ron Manville
ANDSOITGOES BY RACHAEL McCAMPBELL
Rachael McCampbell is an artist, teacher, curator, and writer who resides in the small hamlet of Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. For more about her, please visit www.rachaelmccampbell.com.
How do you feel when a painter or sculptor changes their style? chair or bedridden. He gave up painting and sculpting to explore a new style he called “cut-outs” or “decoupage.” With the help of assistants, he created abstracted color studies with torn paper glued to canvases. What might be conceived as physical handicaps pushed their styles to new and unexpected levels of greatness. Art schools stress the importance of a unified presentation when trying to get into a gallery. If Picasso were to show up today at a meeting with samplings of his best masterpieces over seven decades, he would probably get rejected for not possessing a consistent style and focus. Galleries want to show one style at a time, which makes sense, but I think it’s unrealistic to expect an artist to stay the same forever. After all, we are our art and our art is us. Since people change and grow, it’s predictable that their art will change too. Yet, sadly, some artists find a successful, recognizable style and won’t experiment out of those bounds for fear that their collectors will reject them and their dealers will drop them.
Edgar Degas, Classe de danse, 1870, Oil on panel, 8” x 11”
Picasso is probably the first artist who comes to mind when I think of style changers. He was more interested in the artistic process at hand than trying to keep in alignment with his “brand.” Picasso didn’t paint to please his public or his dealers. He said, “When we did Cubist paintings, our intention was not to produce Cubist paintings but to express what was within us. No one laid down a course of action for us . . .” Picasso’s stylistic phases went from figurative, which included the Blue and Rose Periods, to Analytic and Synthetic Cubism to Collage to Neoclassicism, Surrealism, and Expressionism. Picasso boldly experimented with child-like zeal most of his life, and it worked.
Artists are usually artists because they don’t want to live in boxes where repetitive schedules and stagnant routines can suck them dry. The rest of the world depends on them to be risk takers and try things that they’re too scared to try themselves. I believe that experimentation in art is key to growth and happiness. Collectors and dealers need to understand that it’s okay for artists to venture out and play—actually it’s essential. Artists, change up your style if it makes your heart sing. And remember, fear has no place in the artist’s studio or life—but if you get stuck, just think, “What would Picasso do?” na
There are other artists who are content to come across a style or method and happily explore that one idea their whole working life. Josef Albers, for example, spent 30 years experimenting with the juxtaposition of flat, hardedged colors generally formatted within square and rectangular shapes. Albers, having been a part of the European Constructivist and Bauhaus movements, strongly influenced the American Op and Conceptualist artists who were interested in his ideas of visual perception and color. A positive outcome of this is that Albers’ work is easily identifiable—one glance and you know it’s an Albers. Some artists change their styles because they don’t have a choice. Degas, Monet, and Matisse come to mind. Degas’ retinal disease and Monet’s cataracts caused them both to perceive blurry figures, landscapes, and still lifes, which added to the softness of their already Impressionistic style. Matisse, on the other hand, had abdominal cancer, and, after undergoing surgery at 72, was forced to remain
Edgar Degas, Two Dancers Resting, 1896, Pastel, 31” x 41” 94
nashvillearts.com
Photograph by Michael Nott Photograph by Sally Bebawy
Photograph by Sally Bebawy
Kenneth Malone, Malcolm McKinney, Johnny Spencer at The Rymer Gallery
Photograph by Michael Nott
ARTSEE
At The Arts Company
Photograph by Michael Nott
Photograph by Sally Bebawy
Sonny Michaels, Jeff Rymer, Sheryl Spencer, Justin Graham at The Rymer Gallery
David and Cheryl Wise browsing raku pottery by Melodie Grace at Pedego
John T. Spike from Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary leads a tour of Michelangelo: Sacred and Profane at the Frist Center
Courtesy of The Frist
Photograph by Sally Bebawy
Artist Emily Allison at Gallery 202
Artist Sterling Goller-Brown, Nathan Freehling at the Historic Franklin Presbyterian Church
Photograph by Michael Knott
ARTSEE
Photograph by Sally Bebawy
ARTSEE
Shi and Gil Jurrell at Our Journey pop-up exhibit in the Arcade
Tyler Hentschel, Adrienne Hentschel at abrasiveMedia
Photograph by Michael Nott
Lenny Dunn, Keith Buchanan, Jerry Marlin at Tinney Contemporary
Steve and Kim Neible at Gallery 202
Photograph by Michael Nott
Photograph by Michael Nott
Studying the photography at Sherrick & Paul
Brian Emmons, Mindi Emmons, Carter Baskin at Jack Yacoubian Jewelers
Photograph by Andee Rudloff
St. John AME Church members (from left) Dr. E. Rip Patton, M. Mercedes Lytle, Charlotte West, Pat Merritt and Sherman Frierson at the Frist
Courtesy of The Frist
Crowd including an early visit from Santa at Gallery 202
Rebekah Shulman, Mike Tarrolly at abrasiveMedia
Musical entertainment at Landmark Booksellers
Photograph by Michael Nott Photograph by Michael Nott
Sofia Cunningham at Kilwin's Chocolates
Megan Little, Nozomi Takasu at Our Journey pop-up exhibit in the Arcade
Photograph by Sally Bebawy
Breon and Rob Parker at Parks Reality
Photograph by Madge Franklin
Paul Polycarpou, Christine Patterson, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Ashley Cleveland at The Arts Company
Photograph by Sally Bebawy
Roger Hale admiring raku pottery pieces by Melodie Grace at Pedego
Photograph by Sally Bebawy
Greg and Amy Stielstra, Terry Ivey, Elizabeth Knizley at Gallery 202
Photograph by Sally Bebawy
Oni Woods, Stacey Irvin, Heather Lose at photoSLAM!
ARTSEE
Photograph by Sally Bebawy
ARTSEE
Photograph by Andee Rudloff
ARTSEE
Photograph by Sally Bebawy
Photograph by Duncan May
Frist Center Chief Curator Mark Scala leads a tour of Phantom Bodies: The Human Aura in Art
Rashad "thaPoet" Rayford at photoSLAM!
Courtesy of The Frist
2015 Heritage Award recipient Rod McGaha with Nashville Jazz Workshop founders Roger Spencer and Lori Mechem at Jazzmania
DJ at Blend Studio
Courtesy of The Frist
Photograph by Michael Nott
ARTSEE
Jimmy Abegg, Sara Souther, Semi Song at Valentine Valentine
Photograph by Michael Nott
Kelly Harwood, Susan Truex, Ira Shivitz at Gallery 202
Danielle Maltby, Janice Rago at Corvidae Collective
Emely Moore, Neil Feris at Zeitgeist
Photograph by Michael Nott
Zeitgeist
Photograph by Michael Nott
ARTSEE
Xavier Payne at Blend Studio
Photograph by Michael Nott
Photograph by Michael Nott
Photograph by Michael Nott
Tiffany Lear, Amy Frierson, Tamara McAlister, Akos Asante, Taye King at The Arts Company
Photograph by Salle Bebawy
ARTSEE
Amy Barnes, Michael Dolenth at WAG
Photograph by Michael Nott
Francis Berry at Channel to Channel
Photograph by Michael Nott
Reggie Degraffreed, Adrienne Hicks at The Arts Company
PAINTTHETOWN BY EMME NELSON BAXTER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIFFANI BING
Conservancy Gala
Max and Laura Lea Goldberg with Rick and Mary Lea Bryant
Co-chair Karen Elson, Samantha Saturn and Steve Kravitz
Barbara Mayden, Bob and Marlene Moses
Marianne and Andrew Byrd
The theme “Designs in Intrigue” translated to a crimson evening at this year’s iteration of the edgy Conservancy Gala. The event, which benefits the Parthenon and Centennial Park, attracted some 250 guests for a night of fine dining and entertainment. The triumvirate chairing the $500-per-person black-tie affair included designer Mike Whitler, Neil Krugman, and Karen Elson.
Lee Pratt and co-chair Neil Krugman
Guests arriving at the West Entrance of the red-and-greenilluminated Parthenon walked a red carpet under a long white canopy flanked by roaring fire pits. Inside the naos the floor featured a light carpet, and from the ceiling hung long chains of red lights that gave golden Athena a bewitching aura. During cocktails, two pairs of ballroom dancers performed saucy numbers on a small stage. Then guests moved to the dinner tent—a vision in romantic red and white light and fabric. Ghost chairs surrounded tables clothed in sheer overlays with embroidered silver and red swirls. Simple centerpieces consisted of low acrylic bowls of red anemones or tall ones holding amaryllis. A significant white sculpture made of what appeared to be wine crate cardboard inserts hung from the tent. Johnny Haffner’s team prepared a salad course, a short ribs entrée, and a knockout apple rose with chocolate ganache. Teens from the School of Rock did a couple of numbers during the salad course, and vocalist Karen Elson performed two favorites to close the evening.
Kelley and Reid Estes
Macdem Teklemariam and Princine Lewis
Co-chair Mike Whitler
Longtime Conservancy visionary Hope Stringer was in the house, which always makes for a great party. Others spotted were Demetria Kalodimos, Anne Davis and Karl Dean, Ellen Martin and Gerry Nadeau, Sue Atkinson, Shirley and Stuart Speyer, Josephine and John Darwin, Amy Eskind, Beth Fortune and Debbie Turner, Brooks and Bert Mathews, Anne and Charlie Roos, Sylvia Rapoport and Justin Graham. On a balmy October evening prior to the gala, Clare Armistead graciously hosted the Conservancy Gala Patrons Party at her intimate carriage house residence in Belle Meade.
Stephanie and Jay Hardcastle
Jonathan and Deborah Perlin
Hope Stringer, Lee Pratt and Sarah Sperling Benjamin and Tara Goldberg with Vandana and Rick Abramson
Paula Van Slyke and LeRoy Norton
Carole and H. James Williams
Photograph by Tiffani Bing
Emme is a seventh-generation Nashvillian and president of Nelson Baxter Communications LLC.
Artclectic It was black, white, and accents of red all over for Artclectic 2015. The always popular benefit for University School of Nashville served up yet another eye-popping show this year, with thousands of folks converging on the school’s gymnasium— cleverly draped to become a chic gallery—to check out works by 55 emerging and established artists. Award winners included Best Of Show Daniel Lai, Best 2D Artist James Floyd, Best 3D Artist Peter Grimord, and Rising Start to Richard Bowers. Chairing the popular annual event were Kobie Pretorius, Ginger Sands, and Cameron Simmons. Held on the eve of the show’s public opening, the Artclectic Patrons Party was captained by Lori Fishel and Lynn Ghertner.
Preview Party Crowd
Laurie Pollpeter Eskenazi and Delia Seigenthaler
Enjoying the groovy vibe at the bash were Jane and Erich Groos, Virginia and Bobo Tanner, Ann and Tom Curtis, Katie and Kevin Crumbo, Arnita and Tim Ozgener, Laurie and Steve Eskind, and Kathryn and Gray Sasser.
Shao Lin Xia and Sompit Xia Kobie Pretorius, Ginger Sands, and Cameron Simmons
Kristi Hyde
Valentina Harper
Susan Chapman and Katie Crumbo
Ballet Ball Kickoff
A&G Kickoff
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUSAN ADCOCK
Mary Spalding hosted the committee putting together the 26th Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville. Elizabeth Coble and Amy Liz Riddick are chairing the February 12–14 event at the Music City Center. The always popular Preview Party is slated for February 11.
Co-chairs Mary Morgan Ketchel and Sharon Sandahl kicked off the 2016 Ballet Ball with a coffee for their committee in mid October at The Martin Center for Nashville Ballet. The ball is set for March 12 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. It is the 30th iteration of this signature event that supports the organization’s outreach and education programming.
David and Carrington Fox
Mary Morgan Ketchel, Sandra Lipman and Sharon Sandahl
The chairs shared that a Chairmen’s Event will be held February 23 at Joan and John Rich’s home, and a Patron’s Party is set for March 8 at Prima Nashville. Enjoying coffee by Java Breeze and bakery bites from Nothing Bundt Cakes were Sandra Lipman, Lucie Carroll, Suann Davis, Emily Noel, Joyce Vise, Christy Waller, and Dallas Wilt.
Adrienne McRae, Nancy Cheadle, Dawn Mangrum and Anita Baltimore
Amy Liz Riddick, Debbie Best, Mary Spalding and Elizabeth Coble
PUBLICART
BY VAN GILL MARAVALLI, PUBLIC ART PROJECT COORDINATOR, METRO NASHVILLE ARTS COMMISSION
Metro Arts Announces New Bike Rack Designs What do bikes, trains, and library shelves have in common? They’re all inspirations for Nashville’s newest round of bike racks. Metro Arts has installed seventeen artist-designed bike racks throughout the city, all by local and regional artists, since the unique public art project debuted in 2009. The bike rack collection will grow by four in the fall of 2016. Metro Arts is pleased to announce the commission of four new designs by Nashville-based artists Kristina Colucci, Zach Duensing, Robert Hendrick, and Randy Purcell. The new bike racks will be installed in First Tennessee Park (Nashville Sounds), Hadley Park, Looby Library, and the North Branch Library. While creating their winning designs, many of the artists drew inspiration from the historical importance and their personal connection to the future bike rack locations. Artist Zach Duensing visited many of Nashville’s library branches while researching for the project. Duensing says he was fascinated by the visual balance and symmetry of the parallel rows of bookshelves within the libraries. Duensing says his bike rack design, Shelves, is inspired by the “ways in which the rows of shelves form a sort of contained disorder.” Robert Hendrick’s bike rack design, Intersection Rails, pays homage to the historic significance of the North Nashville Branch Library as a Carnegie Library. Andrew Carnegie, who made his fortune rolling steel for the railroads, funded many local libraries, including Nashville’s East and North branches. Intersection Rails will be fabricated from reclaimed steel railroad tracks rolled in the Carnegie foundries over a century ago. To see more renderings of the new bike rack designs, visit publicart.nashville.gov. Access more information on this and other public art projects from your mobile device by visiting www.ExploreNashvilleArt.com.
Robert Hendrick, Intersection Rails
Kristina Colucci, Ground Ball
Inspired by The Forest Unseen Lendon Noe at Tennessee Arts Commission Gallery Through January 15 by Maggie Knox Who knew so much inspiration could come from observing one square meter of the Tennessee forest? Lendon Noe’s Inspired by The Forest Unseen installation will be on display at the Tennessee Arts Commission Gallery through January 15. The works serve as a response to The Forest Unseen, the book by Sewanee professor of biology David Haskell. Haskell observed a one-square-meter “mandala” of forest for a year and recorded his responses. His observations do not read purely like those of a scientist, however; his language is detailed and rich, making frequent use of metaphor. The Forest Unseen inspired Noe to bring Haskell’s writing to life. She spent a year reading and rereading his book, sketching out the images described. Ultimately, she had the idea to create an installation. Noe describes her work as “abstraction punctuated by realism.” Her intention is not to illustrate Haskell’s book, but to participate in conversation with it. “One of the book’s primary themes is interconnectedness of nature,” said Noe. She hopes to recreate this theme through a variety of layered, mixed-media pieces and assemblages, making viewers feel as if they are in the forest. Noe describes her work as a form of activism, and she hopes Inspired by The Forest Unseen will remind visitors that we are all a part of nature. “I’m very concerned about the environment, and I hope that the installation will help to make people think,” Noe said. Bathing in Forest Air, 2015, Ink and oil on canvas, 48” x 30”
Find out more about Lendon Noe at www.lendonnoe.com. For more information on the exhibit, visit www.tnartscommission.org/exhibits.
The film cadets at the Watkins College of Art, Design & Film have spent the fall semester learning the art of making a film. During three nights of screening, twenty projects from the students will be shown to the community with narrative projects addressing issues of racial identity, alcoholism, and the loss of loved ones. Professor Valerie Stover Quarles of the college’s film school spends each fall and spring making sure her students get the most out of their experience. On the integral experience of analyzing the work versus the audience’s reaction, Quarles said: “The Film School provides a conservatory approach to filmmaking. Students are consumed with art from the moment they arrive on campus to the moment they leave. Each student makes three to four films as director but works on many more projects in all roles on a film set.” On December 7, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., the class of Production One will show their non-dialogue films, where students learned the basics of communicating through pictures. On December 8, from 6:15 to 10 p.m., the classes of Production Two and Three will show the work of junior and senior students that have synced sound and visual effects. On December 9, start time 7 p.m., Production Four’s works Moscow Station and The Gathering Place will be featured.
Director ST Davis and 1st Asst. Camera Aaron Williams working together on Willfully Ignorant, Dangerously Stupid
Justin Stokes is the founder of the MTSU Film Guild, a student organization which functions as a production company for student filmmakers. He is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and social media manager.
Photograph by KT Napier
The screenings of the 2015 Fall Semester will be held from December 7 to 9 in the Watkins Theater. The event is free and open to the public. Watkins College of Art, Design & Film is located at 2298 Rosa L Parks Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37228. For more information, visit www.watkins.edu.
FILMREVIEW
Hudson Pregont as Oleg Tolkachev in Moscow Station
Photograph by Emileigh Potter
BY JUSTIN STOKES
artTennessee SMART Round Up
Photograph by TN State Photography
A monthly guide to art education
by Anne Pope, Executive Director, Tennessee Arts Commission
New Grant Brings More Art into Tennessee Classrooms Arts integration is a method of teaching that supports learning both in and through the arts. Teachers of non-arts subjects work alongside arts specialists and teaching artists to create collaborative lesson plans that infuse creativity into learning. The curriculum standards and objectives of arts and non-arts subjects are seamlessly connected to strengthen understanding in multiple content areas. Built on the success of previous arts integration initiatives, the Tennessee Arts Commission is proud to offer a new grant program opportunity—Arts360 Arts Integration (AE-AI). It will support schools in implementing arts integration in every classroom to help improve instruction and increase student outcomes. The grant program will assist Tennessee public schools in transitioning to whole-school arts integration. Program goals include: • Improve the academic performance and outcomes of students • Integrate standards-based arts education into the school curriculum • Nurture collaboration within schools, across districts, and statewide Schools awarded this grant will be joining an arts education initiative that has existed in Tennessee since 2006 through two previous Arts Commission programs. Both of these programs were funded through the Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant from the U.S. Department of Education—making our agency the first state arts agency to be awarded this grant twice.
Covington Integrated Arts Academy, Mooreland Heights Elementary School, and Oak Grove Elementary School. In 2010, Arts360 transitioned four schools in Knox County to arts integration as a school-district-wide model. Here, students experienced 3.8% gains above control schools in math scores in 2013 and 2014, and teachers and arts specialists met all project performance standards. The four pilot schools in Arts360 were: Gap Creek Elementary, Green Magnet STEAM Academy, Mount Olive Elementary, and New Hopewell Elementary. “High-quality arts-integrated lessons allow students to think critically and develop communication and problem-solving skills,” says Brandi Self, Assistant Principal of Mooreland Heights Elementary and former Arts360 Coordinator for Knox County Schools. “Additionally, the collaboration between classroom teachers and arts specialists can be a powerful experience that unites a faculty and results in a more wellrounded educational experience for the students.” Benefits of an arts education include increasing learning and achievement, developing critical thinking skills for a 21st century workforce, and preparing students to lead meaningful lives. Through arts integration, students are given opportunities to explore and fuse knowledge with their imaginations, and in doing so they imagine the endless possibilities they can achieve. We encourage teachers, parents, and others in the arts community to explore this new arts integration funding opportunity for your own school or community. For more information, visit www.tnartscommission.org.
Photography by Brandi Self
Value Plus Schools developed a whole-school reform model in six pilot schools across the state. In these schools, student achievement increased eight points over four years compared to control schools collectively in math, science, reading/ language arts, and social studies. The original Value Plus schools included: Bradley Academy,
Kindergarteners watercolor ocean habitats
5th grade visual art and planets integration lesson
by Cassie Stephens Art Teacher, Johnson Elementary
Photograph by Juan Pont Lezica
Interview with Diane Davich Craig
in my art from these artists that I just adore—Charles Bell, John Baeder, Ralph Goings, and Robert Cottingham just to name a few. Also there is not a week that goes by that I don’t add another artist to my list of artists that I love and admire. As for a favorite painting today, I might say Marbles XII by Charles Bell. Tomorrow it might be Tony’s Trailer Camp by John Baeder. And let’s not forget all great works by the great master painters that I failed to mention like Vermeer, Bouguereau, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt van Rijn. Students: What would you do if art never existed? (Great question, right?)
Diane Davich Craig Shake, Splash, Sprinkle, Squirt, 2011, Oil on panel, 30” x 30”
Imagine what it might be like to talk with a real live art rock star. Ask them questions about their passions, their inspirations, and, you know, their favorite paintbrushes. Well, that’s just what my third- and fourth-grade art students had the opportunity to do. After I introduced my young artists to the work of Diane Davich Craig, an artist whose paintings are so realistically executed that many of my students thought they were sculptures, they threw many questions her way. Here are just a few of their inquiries and her intriguing answers: Students: How do you make things look so real? It’s such an illusion!
Diane: Wow. As a child I spent a lot of time looking at the art in my encyclopedias (and the different dog breeds). I have always loved music too and played the flute professionally for many years. If there were no visual art, I would listen to and play more music. Students: Where do you get your ideas? Diane: This will sound a little crazy, but most of my still life ideas come to me as I am trying to fall asleep or in the middle of the night. As for the neon signs, I mostly see those along the roadside and fall in love with the colors and composition of the sign. Then I photograph them so that I can paint them at home in my studio. My students were so inspired by Diane and her realistic work that they tried their hand at candy contour drawing! Special thank-you to Diane for taking the time to connect with my students. They were thrilled and have decided that Diane needs to come and teach art class, which I might totally go along with . . . if I didn’t secretly think the children were conspiring for my early retirement.
Diane Davich Craig: I love hearing that! I am trying so hard to make things appear like they are in 3D. Chuck Close, who is one of my favorite artists, said he liked doing magic as a child, and he believed that was what attracted him to painting. When I am successful making my painting to look like a real object I do feel like I have performed a magic trick. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, like using higher contrast on the close items, fuzzy edges and low contrast on the distant items, and using the most concentrated colors where I want your eye to follow. Students: What kind of brushes do you use? Diane: I use both manmade and natural hair of every size and shape. But the majority of my time on a painting is done with small, sable round brushes. Students: Who is your favorite artist? What about your favorite painting? Diane: I spend a large amount of time admiring and studying artists and their work. I could easily spout off 50 names with little hesitation of artists that I love. You will see glimpses of inspiration
Deyanira works on her candy contour drawing
On The Horizon
Four Outstanding Visual Artists at Hume Fogg Magnet High School Words by Rebecca Pierce Photography by Tiffani Bing
RODERICK ALLEN
Roderick Allen finds inspiration in “the most random things.” He explains, ”there’s never really a specific source. Very recently I got the idea for a piece from the way the fingerprint smears on my friend’s phone were arranged. Sometimes it’s just that simple. Then when I get started the process takes me away, and I become immersed in the work, and the piece itself inspires me as I go.”
Roderick definitely plans to further his art education after high school. He is considering Pratt Institute, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Stamps School of Art and Design.
His favorite medium used to be pencil, but now he can’t really choose because different mediums allow him to express emotion in so many different ways. “I can only say that I love most of them, and I’m eager to try all of them,” he said, smiling. “I like the boldness and expression that acrylic offers because the colors are always so vibrant, but I also like the subtlety of watercolor.” Roderick’s first art class was a general studio course in middle school, and one of his assignments was selected to hang at the Frist. He’s been serious about art since and is usually working on several projects at the same time. From realistic drawings to cartoons to imagery that deals with social justice, Roderick’s subject matter can be as varied as his choice of medium. He embraces everything he tries.
Roderick Allen, Untitled, 2012, Watercolor, 9” x 11”
Jessica Dunlap has been interested in art since elementary school. Growing up on a farm, she drew horses all the time. She can’t pinpoint exactly when she transitioned from drawing to photography, but her mom remembers a very young Jessica directing her siblings in home videos and photography sessions. In middle school she got a Pentax camera, and her love for photography took root. One of her strengths is her ability to notice small details and nuances in nature and different environments and being able to interact with them to build a concept. This also drives her creativity. “I’ll notice little details in nature like vines growing on fences and find a concept and composition in that. Like the mood of Cold Hands was also influenced by the cold, overcast weather and how that made me feel,” she explains. Jessica Dunlap, Cold Hands, 2015, Photograph, 8” x 10”
JESSICA DUNLAP
Regarding her plans for the future, Jessica says, “I most definitely plan to continue in photography and art after high school. It’s what I enjoy most, and I would enjoy learning and developing more in art. I also hope to dabble more in videography.” She plans to study photography and art at Belmont next year. Jessica would like to improve her skills in different mediums other than photography, but still continue to improve her techniques in photography. She also wants to exercise her mind to think more and more creatively every day.
Shayna Snider, Hume Fogg Art Educator, likes to “present [her] students with a challenge, encourage them to discover their own solutions, and nudge them to realize their unique creative superpowers.” This month we present four of her visual art students, each with their own creative vision.
AIDAN SULLIVAN “I’ve always been recognized as being a good artist by my peers. I remember back in elementary school some friends and I tried to start a comics business even though none of us could draw shoulders very well. I can’t remember a time that I did not love to draw,” enthused Aidan Sullivan.
and how he could use just a few lines to get across this wide variation of emotions. I try to work like that sometimes.” So far, Aidan has applied to UT Chattanooga and Mercer. He plans to study art and envisions becoming an educator.
He usually works in pen and ink or watercolor, but he enjoys experimenting as well. Recently he tried encaustic and was intrigued with the interaction of the wax with his pen-and-ink drawings. Next he wants to try screen printing and has an idea to employ the Hatch Show Print style. No matter the medium, Aidan loves to tell stories through his art. “Most of my pieces have stories behind them. In my concentration all of the pieces were telling a cohesive narrative. A piece I just did was a photo album for a family of supernatural beings. I told the family story and portrayed the family dynamic through lots of different pictures in the one piece.”
MARGARET JANE JOFFRION
Comic artists, noir films, and mysteries inspire Aidan’s work. “I really like some of the old comics like Schulz’s Peanuts. I like the minimalist drawing
Aidan Sullivan, Dance with Death, 2014, Acrylic, pen and ink on board, 4” x 8”
Margaret Jane Joffrion is currently assembling a 3D design portfolio involving hair and hair-like fibers. She cites Méret Elisabeth Oppenheim’s famous work Object (Le Dejeuner en fourrure) as inspiration. She talked about how she got to this place in her artistic journey. “I went to Governor’s School and I had access to a metal shop, so I got to work with metal and discovered I like doing sculpture. I also had a contemporary art course that introduced me to art being made now, so I was exposed to conceptual art I’d never seen before.” Lady Cube began as an assignment. Margaret Margaret Jane Joffrion, Lady Cube, 2015, Steel pencil rod and Jane learned how to cut and weld pencil rod hair, 10” x 10” x 10” and then had to make a cube. “The assignment was really about teaching us how to do various metal shop techniques. I feminized it and made it organic by wrapping it in hair. The cube is a manly and blocky shape, so adding the curve and hair made it feminine. It speaks to organic and feminine being somewhat synonymous.” Margaret Jane frequents 5th Avenue of the Arts and attends art crawls to experience contemporary art and to explore new ways to express her creativity. While she is very eager to try new concepts, she doesn’t like to leave any work unfinished. “I keep my pieces in my room. I live with them and go back and work on them if needed.” Margaret Jane plans to attend Bard College next fall.
BY JOE NOLAN
CRITICALi
.
Shinique Smith, By the Light, 2013, Ink, acrylic, fabric, and paper collage on canvas over wood panel
In order to get to the Frist Center’s Shinique Smith exhibition visitors have to pass through the Ink, Silk, and Gold display of Islamic art and artifacts. Visitors shouldn’t rush through the latter for the former, as Smith’s work is indebted to the calligraphic traditions of the East, and after walking through rooms full of painted tiles, fabric designs, and miniature paintings the connections between the two will be obvious. This art historical context is important when viewing Smith’s work, which also borrows from “low” art traditions like graffiti and embraces an outrageous color palette that recalls 1980s retail design—two gallery-goers referred to it as “garish.” Add to that the too-cute-seeming Wonder and Rainbows title and visitors couldn’t be blamed for mistaking the whole display for some art prank. But this show is for real and—despite possible first impressions—is one of the most openly sincere exhibitions I can recall. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a spectrumspanning fabric and ribbon wall sculpture entitled Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Pink. To this visitor sitting on a bench in the gallery, the welcoming piece seemed to actually radiate a calming warmth, like a fireplace in a family home. Even the artist’s calligraphic designs on her title wall include pencil scrawlings that look like they were added by a child. The best works in the show are the artist’s signature suspended sculptures made of bundles of found materials and stuffed clothing. Black Cluster transforms a black beanbag chair and car fresheners into a menacing, arachnoid form waiting to drop on an unsuspecting visitor. Another, called Tongues Became Flowers, is highlighted by a bright-orange t-shirt emblazoned with the album cover for The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s album Axis Bold as Love, which features the rocker and his band at the head of a pantheon of Hindu deities. It should have been the signature image of this bold and loving exhibition. na
Like What You See? Subscribe to Nashville Arts Magazine $45 for 12 issues
www.nashvillearts.com
615-383-0278
Shinique Smith: Wonder and Rainbows is on exhibit at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts through January 9. For more information, visit www.fristcenter.org. 106 nashvillearts.com
Photograph by Jerry Atnip
Linda Dyer serves as an appraiser, broker, and consultant in the field of antiques and fine art. She has appeared on the PBS production Antiques Roadshow since season one, which aired in 1997, as an appraiser of Tribal Arts. If you would like Linda to consider appraising one of your antiques, send a clear, detailed image to info@nashvillearts.com. Or send photo to Antiques, Nashville Arts Magazine, 644 West Iris Dr., Nashville, TN 37204.
APPRAISEIT BY LINDA DYER
Ericofon Telephones L.M. Ericsson Telephone Company (Swedish, established 1876), circa 1961, Model 52, “Old Case/New Case” later determined that the reduction of the receiver height made the phone awkward and interfered with sound quality, so the original height was restored. For collectors, this makes height specifications an important detail; 213.5 mm is the determining height for that short-term product change designated “old case” or “new case” Ericofon. All the Ericofon Model 52s in the U.S. featured rotary dials in their bases; however, in 1967, Ericsson introduced the Ericofon 60A with a push-button, TouchTone pad. Something which should have been in keeping with the high-tech, space-age look of the Ericofon instead caused the phones to break easily, and by 1972 North Electric stopped making Ericofons in the U.S. entirely. In Sweden, a new Ericofon, the 700, was introduced, for Ericsson’s 100th anniversary in 1976, but the solid-state “Centenary” phone, which came in five colors, never made it to the United States.
In 1949, Hugo Blomberg, Ralph Lysell, and Gösta Thames
were assigned by their employer, L.M. Ericsson of Sweden, to design a next-generation telephone. Their task was to create something completely different from the iconic communication standard of the time, that tabletop, twopiece, cord-connected heavy black box, the Bell System’s Model 302. L.M. Ericsson wanted their phone to be one that would take advantage of recent fabrication advances; the availability of component materials of reduced size and weight. The team’s result: the one-piece Ericofon, introduced in Sweden in 1954.
In the early 70s, the owner of these examples discovered them in the back of a West Hollywood “junk shop.” Installed in his Beverly Hills home, the Ericofons were to be retrieved later from “four feet of mud.” In their current “reconditioned” state, each phone would have a retail replacement value of $150.
The phone was initially marketed to institutions, particularly hospitals, which installed them in the rooms of bedridden patients, with the idea that it would be possible for patients to communicate unassisted, using a one-piece phone rather than the old traditional, two-piece, corded model.
However, after surviving being discarded and a Los Angeles mudslide, what does the future hold for these Ericofons? They are on the brink of the past. New technologies have killed off a whole plethora of electronic gadgets, now adding landline phones to the growing list of endangered species. These artful mid-century survivors may have a little bit more time on their road towards extinction.
In 1961, sales of the Ericofon in the U.S. exceeded producti Fwd: Sperry’s Florence updated wine list on capacity by 500 percent, so Ericsson bought out its American distributor and transferred the manufacture of U.S. Ericofons to that company’s headquarters in Ohio. Along with the move, Ericsson reduced the color offering from eighteen to eight, and the shape of the phone itself was made shorter. Of these changes, it was
Two similar examples are in the permanent collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. na 107
nashvillearts.com
Arts Worth Watching
CELEBRATING MUSIC Who are you to miss Pete Townshend’s Classic Quadrophenia, the orchestral version of The Who’s beloved rock opera? Recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall, the concert features pop star Billy Idol, tenor Alfie Boe, a choir, and full orchestra. Tune in Monday, December 7, at 8 p.m. Another guitar legend headlines Tuesday, December 8, at 8:30 p.m. in Tommy Emmanuel and Friends: Live from the Balboa Theatre.
Julie Andrews hosts the annual New Year’s celebration from Vienna’s opulent Musikverein
Courtesy of Michael Forsberg
Wednesday, December 9, at 7 p.m., Arlo Guthrie brings his iconic record to the stage in Alice’s
Restaurant 50th Anniversary Concert. Live from Lincoln Center observes another anniversary with Sinatra: Voice for a Century, the New York Philharmonic’s centennial salute to Frank Sinatra, airing Friday, December 18, at 8 p.m.
HOLIDAY MAGIC December is a month for celebrating, and we’ve packed our schedule with all sorts of festive programming. Saturday, December 5, at 8:30 p.m., Keith & Kristyn Getty: Joy, an Irish Christmas is an evening of carols, hymns, and energetic Irish reels. On Tuesday, December 8, at 7 p.m., enjoy a spiritual concert with Alabama: Hymns and Gospel Favorites. Christmas at Belmont airs Monday, December 21, at 9 p.m. and Thursday, December 24, at 8 p.m. Hosted by Grammy Award-winning artist Kathy Mattea, the program features Belmont University student ensembles and will once again be broadcast nationwide on PBS. Sesame Street’s Muppets join the singing from Temple Square in Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Featuring Santino Fontana. Airing Monday, December 21, at 8 p.m. and Thursday, December 24, at 9 p.m., the program will include sacred and novelty music. (Yes, this is the Muppets’ first appearance with the choir.) In Lidia Celebrates America: Home for the Holidays—airing Friday, December 11, at 8 p.m.—chef Lidia Bastianich shares culinary traditions from her Italian homeland while also exploring those of her six multicultural guests, including fellow chef Marcus Samuelsson and award-winning actor and childhood friend Christopher Walken (talk about the man who came to dinner!). At 9 p.m. that night, Craft in America: Celebration covers handmade holiday items from tamales and luminarias to gingerbread sculptures to fanciful menorahs.
Entry at the annual Grove Park Inn Gingerbread Competition
NEW YEAR What are you doing New Year’s? We’re spending it with Live from Lincoln Center, where Alan Gilbert will lead the New York Philharmonic in La Vie Parisienne, an evening of works by Ravel, Offenbach, and Saint-Saens. The show airs New Year’s Eve at 8 p.m. Cap off the evening—and 2015—at 11 p.m. with Michael Feinstein New Year’s Eve at the Rainbow Room, featuring Tony Award-winner Christine Ebersole, tap duo the Manzari Brothers, Jessica Sanchez (American Idol), and others. Friday, January 1, at 6:30 p.m., it’s off to Vienna for Great Performances’ annual New Year’s Celebration. Hosted by Julie Andrews, the 2016 kickoff features the renowned Vienna Philharmonic in the orchestra’s beautiful concert hall and performances in venues around the city. Here’s a special New Year’s’ treat for Sherlock fans: Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman portray Holmes and Watson in a new feature set in Victorian times. The Abominable Bride premieres New Year’s Day at 8 p.m. na It’s the season of giving, so if you enjoy arts programming on NPT, please show your support by going to our website, www.wnpt.org, and clicking the donate button. To watch encore presentations of many of our programs, tune in to NPT2, our secondary channel.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York City
Courtesy of Jon Ortner
Great Houses with Julian Fellowes
Photograph by Tony Ward
Julian Fellowes was inspired to create Downton Abbey by Highclere Castle, the home of friends. Now Fellowes introduces viewers to other English estates in Great Houses with Julian Fellowes, airing at the Franklin Theatre on Sundays, December 13 and 20, at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, Downton Abbey on Masterpiece returns for its sixth and final season January 3, but we’re hosting a special preview event Sunday, December 13, at 7 p.m. at The Franklin Theatre. (See www.wnpt.org for details.)
109 nashvillearts.com
110 nashvillearts.com
111 nashvillearts.com
112 nashvillearts.com
Krispy Kreme memories . . .
My relationship with Krispy Kreme began in the late 1950s. I was but a girl growing up in Spartanburg, South Carolina. At some point during those years, a Krispy Kreme Doughnut Shoppe popped up on East Main Street right next to the First Presbyterian Church that my family attended. This was before airconditioning. During summer months, the church sanctuary often filled with the intoxicating aroma of fresh doughnuts just out of the oven. Whenever that happened, any thoughts of salvation were out the window. This particular Krispy Kreme was pretty savvy, because on Sundays, they opened at noon just as church was letting out. I can remember, like it was yesterday, walking out of church with my grandfather the Sunday after Kennedy was assassinated. The news had just hit that Jack Ruby had shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, and people were scrambling for their cars to turn on their car radios. But not my grandfather. He calmly ushered me into Krispy Kreme where I stood before the display case gazing at the "8 Wonderful Varieties" before ordering my favorite—the Original Glazed. One bite of this delicious, hot, sticky, sugaryyeast concoction and all thoughts of a Communist-inspired conspiracy in Dallas vanished. As all good Southerners know, sugar can diffuse any tragic scenario. Just recently I was talking with my older sister, Mary, when out of the blue, she asked if I had heard "the Krispy Kreme story" the night our mother died. I was in Nashville that night. Mary had called me from Spartanburg shortly before midnight with the news. She and our younger sister, Dorothy, had been keeping vigil and had just returned to Dorothy's house for some much needed rest—both had taken prescribed sleeping aids and were deep in slumber when the phone rang. Like zombies, they got up and dressed . . . and were heading back to Hospice to meet with Jimmie Dunbar from the funeral home, when they spied a Krispy Kreme sign shining like a beacon in the dark. "If the hot light's on, we're stopping," Dorothy said. Indeed, the HOT DOUGHNUTS NOW light was on. So they bought a dozen then proceeded to Hospice. "We were a sight," Mary said. "It was me, Dorothy, Jimmie Dunbar, and one of the nurses, standing around gorging on Krispy Kreme doughnuts, with Mama lying there dead as a doorknob." Mary is the only person I know who can make me laugh through tears. www.tallgirl.com
BEYONDWORDS
Photograph by Anthony Scarlati
BY MARSHALL CHAPMAN
MYFAVORITEPAINTING JOHN OATES, MUSICIAN
Chip Herbert, Ecliptic Feedback, Mixed media on canvas, 36” x 53”
Late in 2013 I began a recording project that eventually became known as Good Road to Follow. It was a simple idea: to record a series of singles with artists, writers, and producers that I respected, and the result was a three-disc set that was released in 2014. I had the realization that my life’s journey has been defined by music spiritually and where I’ve lived and traveled geographically. During the recording sessions I discovered an old Hobo hieroglyph that depicted a crude compass with a directional arrow bisecting it. The Depressionera drifters would scratch it into the dirt or draw it on an old piece of cardboard to suggest a good route or rail to travel. It seemed to be a fitting symbol to represent my musical journey. One day after I returned from the recording studio, my wife, Aimee, presented me with a painting that she had discovered in a local gallery. The artist is Chip Herbert, and though I was
not aware of his work I immediately felt a strong kinship to it. The symbolism and style were very much in line with the spirit of my recording project. There is a cartographer’s sensibility in the clear and distinct geometric shapes imposed upon a very organic background that resembles a Native American stretched buffalo skin that one might find on the side of a teepee. To me it offers up a very American point of view. Expansive horizons are grounded and anchored by earth tones, punctuated by blood-red accents. The geometric lay lines are beautifully balanced by the soft, somewhat ragged natural shapes that recall distant mountain ranges with the illusion of virga falling from a warm Colorado sky. The painting fills the wall of my small Nashville writing studio and in many ways is emblematic of the joy and satisfaction that I felt making the music for this project. na
Painting had always been part of Chip Herbert’s life growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, and after his academic pursuits in history at Auburn University, he devoted himself to working as a professional artist. He creates abstract paintings with careful consideration of balance, color, line, and shape evoking modernistic style expressions through absolute forms. Rejecting symbolism and representation, Herbert’s work is left to the individual to experience and interpret. The painter has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and his art has been acquired by many private and corporate collections. He is represented by Midtown Gallery and Framers, www.midtowngallery.com. 114 nashvillearts.com
Aimee and John Oates
Photograph by Sheri Oneal
ARTIST BIO: Chip Herbert
115 nashvillearts.com