Nashville for Free

Happy MLK Day everyone! Some of you probably have the day off, especially if you are a student, a federal worker, or work at a place that takes today off. That’s probably a lot of you. But what should you do? How can you keep yourself entertained and fill your mind with knowledge and beauty on your day off?

Easy, go to the Frist. It’s free today!

There are two pretty cool exhibits there right now. I’m a huge fan of the works in A Divine Light: Northern Renaissance Paintings from the Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery. It contains 28 great Baroque works and “designed as intimate encounter with the devotional art of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and explores the ways in which Northern Renaissance artists expressed the central mysteries of the Christian faith through setting, pose, gesture, and the objects of everyday life.”

Tracy Snelling’s “Woman on the Run” is the other exhibit at the Frist right now, and it’s pretty cool. It contains “sculptures of rundown buildings on the outskirts of town show a keen sensitivity to the psychological tensions and hidden narratives of ordinary life.”

The Frist Center will be open today from 10am-5:30pm. Enjoy.

-Emily

The first Thursday of every month is a great day for art lovers. It’s the night of Art After Hours and the Hillsboro Village Art Crawl, two of the best monthly art crawls in Nashville. Art After Hours takes place in and around The Arcade downtown where there are several fantastic galleries that sell different styles of art. There is also plenty of free wine and cheese and great people to talk to.

The Hillsboro Village Art Crawl focuses more on the neighborhood. There aren’t as many galleries, but so many of those businesses, including The Belcourt and Jackson’s, have rotating art collections by locals. There are also areas where vendors can set up and sell you things like paintings and beautiful aprons (great holiday gifts). I can’t find my press release for this month, but they also feature a specific local business every month, usually a restaurant.

Enjoy your art.

-Emily

A little-known fact about me is that I go nuts for art history, especially pre-17th century European stuff. You could then see why I’d be incredibly pumped about the new exhibit in the Frist – Northern Renaissance Art. Oh yeah, give me paintings by some old dudes with “van” in their names and I’m a happy camper.

Well, last night the Frist had a lecture about their Egyptian exhibit, and tonight they’re having a lecture on their other exhibit. It’s called “Picturing Faith and Telling Tales: Northern Renaissance Art” and it starts at 6:30pm sharp. You know, which is why that’s the title of this blog post. Anyway, let me just post the official event description:

Northern European art of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries was characterized by exquisite craftsmanship and didactic intent. Netherlandish and German masters mixed technical virtuosity with inventive pictorial strategies designed to stimulate memory. Paintings, such as those on view in A Divine Light: Northern Renaissance Paintings from the Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery, were practical and beautiful devotional aids used for spiritual betterment. Such paintings could be found in churches as well as private homes. This lecture will explore the revolutionary paintings of artists Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, among others, that transformed European art.

I love events like this because it helps people who are more analytically-minded appreciate art. I mean, I could never really appreciate art, especially older stuff, until I learned how it was used. Van Eyck  and Hans Holbein were boring names that I had to know until I learned the history surrounding them. The amazing detail in their paintings (like the artist in the mirror in the picture shown) to anamorphic skulls, the more you know the more you see. So if you have a hard time “getting” art when you’re just strolling through a gallery you should seriously consider checking out a lecture. Like this one, perhaps.

-Emily

This is one of those great opportunities you have to see the actual artist speak about her work. This afternoon Vesna Pavlovi, whose work has been featured at the Frist since June. The exhibit features photographs taken in the artists’ native Serbia and the United States over the last two decades.

The talk starts at 2pm in the auditorium. First come first serve. Here’s the official event description:

Join Nashville-based artist Vesna Pavlovi? as she discusses some of her work presented in Projected Histories, an exhibition of her work on view in the Gordon Contemporary Artists Project Gallery from June 24 through September 11. The exhibition includes photographs taken in Pavlovi?’s native Serbia and the United States during the last two decades. Focusing on architecture, as well as sites and events of cultural significance, these works examine the power of photography to project both self images and national ideologies, shaping the perception of history as an expression of the dreams and aspirations of others.

-Emily

You may not know his name, but you definitely know his art. Jim Sherraden is artist, printer and curator for Hatch Show Print. Tonight he’ll discuss how time spent with the 130 year old print shop has inspired his own series of woodblock prints.

Hatch Print is a Nashville legend, now owned by the Country Music Hall of Fame. Their letter-press posters grace the walls of rock stars and college students alike (as well as well-loved bloggers). Actually, I think I might be rather shocked if I met a person who has lived in Nashville for more than a few months yet didn’t own a Hatch Print.

But back to the event. It’s not very often that you can go hear an artist whose work you actually know and (most likely) love. I mean, most artists have to be dead or remarkably weird to be well known and have their work recognized around the world.

But don’t assume that Sherraden simply inherited his art – he’s done plenty of great stuff that wasn’t sold at a show at the Ryman, including his Eyes of Hatch series.

Jim Sherraden will speak tonight at 6pm at LeQuire Gallery.

-Emily

In case you haven’t heard, the Frist has a really cool Andy Warhol exhibit right now, and in their typical fashion they’re having a few pretty cool events surrounding it. Last week they hosted a lecture that you had to plan your lunch hour around, but tonight at 6:30 (after work!) photographer Raeanne Rubenstein will be sharing some pictures of Andy and his crew and discussing them.

Here’s the description from the Weekly Highlights:

Raeanne Rubenstein became good friends with Warhol when they both lived and worked in NYC in the 1970s. For more than a decade she was a fixture at his Factory, both as friend and documentarian. On film, she captured Warhol with the legends of his day, from Federico Fellini and Lou Reed to Halston and Superstars Viva and Jackie Curtis. Tonight she’s going to share and discuss some of those pictures. If you’re a Warhol fan you do NOT want to miss this.

Warhol fans, celebrate! And attend!

-Emily

The other day I found myself wandering into the Scarritt-Bennett Center for the first time in my four years in Nashville. I honestly can’t believe I’ve never been. I’ve written about their art and poetry events pretty much since I started this blog, and let me tell you, I’m so glad I finally got around to visiting it.

The first thing you see when you walk in is the art gallery. Right now the exhibit they have is called 2010 2011 Japan. It represents the country before and after the recent earthquake and tsunami. There are photographs, paintings, and even short films. It’s small, but it’s a really powerful exhibit.

In addition to the gallery they have The Front Porch – a cafe, a sitting room (which is where they have the poetry readings), a book shop, and a gift shop with beautiful, affordable crafts, many of which are sold on consignment. Oh yeah, and Gallery F has three porches, so you’ll never have trouble finding a beautiful place to sit and enjoy your coffee and books and whatnot. It really is a great center for the community.

This Tuesday, July 12th, from 6-9pm there will be an artists talk at Gallery F. Artists from the 2010 2011 Japan exhibit will be there to discuss their art with you, so if you haven’t made it out to see the exhibit Tuesday would be a great time to do so.

The American Artisan Festival is a Father’s Day weekend tradition in Nashville, even though I’d venture to guess that it’s not really designed around the wants and needs of dad (assuming your dad is a stereotypical TV dad, which most aren’t). Still, even grumpy, overly-manly sitcom-dad might appreciate the sheer size and scope of the Artisan Festival, because it is simply enormous.

Now in its 41st year, the Artisan Festival will cover much of the grounds at Centennial Park for three days. There will be about 165 insanely talented exhibitors from across America, live music, food, and a Children’s Art booth where your young’ns can embark on their own free and supervised artistic endeavors.

Like I said, the festival is three days long and its hours are as follows:

• Friday, June 17 from 12 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday, June 18 from 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
• Sunday June 19 from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

So pick your day or two and get dear old dad or yourself or anyone else a unique gift that they won’t find on the shelves at Target. Obviously, it’s free to attend and looks are free, but good luck getting through the festival without seeing something you want to buy. And you can feel good about your purchase, because 10% of all profits are going to support local arts organizations and Gilda’s Club Nashville in the memory of Nancy Saturn, local arts pioneer, and the founder of the American Artisan Festival and Gallery, who died last year.

-Emily

There are so many reasons to love the Frist. They’re kind of the only major art museum in the area, but thankfully they don’t coast on that. They also bring great lectures, films, and other event to compliment their diverse art collections, and today you can see their art for free.

Today’s free day is part of the Association of Art Museum Directors’ (AAMD) Art Museum Day which also falls on International Museum Day (it’s just a good day for museums dudes). There’s also a theme to go with today (museum and memory) and this is what the Frist has to say about it:

Participation by AAMD member museums emphasizes the lasting impact art museums have on their communities, highlights the value of the visual arts in society, and provides new opportunities for audiences to participate in the wide-ranging programs that art museums offer.

There are some pretty cool exhibits at the Frist today, and almost all of them are closing on May 29th, including Vishnu: Hinduism’s Blue Skinned Savior, Simen Johan: Until The Kingdom Comes and Hindu Home Shrines, so don’t hesitate any longer on seeing those.

-Emily

Maybe it’s because my brother is an artist, but I am all about supporting local artists. There are a lot of them, many of them are incredibly talented, and you know what? Their job isn’t easy. Some people would say that an artist is lucky if he or she can pursue art full-time and make a living on it.

A dozen graphic design seniors at Watkins would disagree. The title of their senior art show is No Dumb Luck with the tagline, “Good fortune is found where talent and hard work meet opportunity.” Well, I certainly wouldn’t dare to disagree with that.

The show is this Friday, April 29th at Houston Station from 6-9pm and is free and open to the public. Come check out the art from new artists, enjoy some free refreshments, and if you see something that strikes your fancy, buy some art!

-Emily