Whether you are busy fighting pollen, monotony, yourself, the good fight, or all of the above and more that you can’t quite see yet around the corner, this weekend’s presentation of art will make you want to jump over the ropes and ring the bell for the fun to begin. The big prize fight that I’ve found is broken into 3 major events from where I’m sitting; occurring over this Friday and Saturday nights respectively. With everything just as good as the other, stacked with loads of experience and pizzazz in every corner, this should be a weekend of art where everyone wins and goes home happy all over.
In the first corner, Friday & Saturday, April 1-2, from 6-9pm both nights, let there be no April Fool’s about it at all when you step face to face at St. Cloud Corner (500 North Church St.) with the ArtisTree: The Tomorrow Fund Annual Art Show. It is here where you can help the Tomorrow Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in its 7th annual ArtisTree Art Show to benefit the Tomorrow Fund and its grant-making to support programs for children in the Nashville area. Right from the start, your heart will jump into action with the pleasant distraction of fresh paintings, prints, and jewelry by the likes of the great participating artists including Quinn Ballard, Casey Brooks, Margaret Elliott, Elizabeth Foster, Sarah B. Gilliam, Michael Howard, Julia Martin, Eli McFadden, Trevor Mikula, Amanda Norman, Amanda Sears and Wee Seing. On top of that, there will also be a special guest painter, Heidi Schwartz, painting during the event on a canvas to be auctioned at the end of the night. Did I mention that it is FREE admission, cash bar, and music by DJ Scissor? Well, it is FREE admission, cash bar, and music by DJ Scissor! Believe it!
In another corner, you can venture deeper downtown Friday, April 1st, from 5:30-8pm to celebrate and weigh in on several options for Saturday’s art crawl that lies ahead. Specifically speaking, you can RSVP (by emailing 5thAvenueOfTheArts@gmail.com) to attend Collector’s Art Night: Art Talks on 5th Avenue of the Arts happening this Friday. The event is FREE admission at Tinney Contemporary but you must RSVP at the mentioned email because there are only 125 spaces available. The event begins with cocktails at 5:30pm, followed by a discussion featuring Drew Doggett at 6pm, then talks by Luke Hillestad at 6:45pm, and ending with the fabulous Patricia Bellan-Gillen at 7:15pm. The special event includes refreshments, complimentary valet parking, amazing artwork, and the opportunity to ask questions directly to the artists that have made the work on display. For more information on this event, check out www.tinneycontemporary.com.
In the final corner, for the knockout punch and 2-for-1 dealio, you will find the First Saturday Art Crawl in all its glory. First, this Saturday, April 2nd, from 6-8pm, you can get things started right by experiencing red carpet treatment at The Arts Company. In fact, The Arts Company has “Partners In Art” with Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) to present the Fifth Annual Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) Official Preview. The Gallery’s “Avant-Garage” showcasing, beginning at 6pm, will give you the ultimate sneak peek film experience (including compelling trailers, popcorn and refreshments, meeting Film Festival artistic personnel, and more interactive surprise experiences) for the upcoming 2011 Nashville Film Festival that will take place April 14-21 at the Regal Green Hills Cinema. But, more real than anything you’ll ever find on the make-believe big screen, if you take a walk inside Art at the Arcade this Saturday night, you will easily spot a must see exhibition opening that you’ll kick and hit yourself later if you miss … literally. Do yourself a favor and see Blend Studio’s “Floats Like a Butterfly Stings Like a Bee: Who controls Art?”
A multi-faceted exhibition beautifully arranged by Andee Rudloff, Lindsey Bailey and Allie Sultan, “Floats Like a Butterfly Stings Like a Bee: Who controls Art?” is a splendid combination of 8 mixed media works to be installed on walls and in video to allow the public to vote on who controls art. The artists are inviting the public to purchase wooden nickels and have the visitors either choose to keep the wooden nickels as keepsakes or donate them to one of 8 categories. Each category will have an organization associated with it and all donations will go directly to the corresponding organization from the following: Millersville Elementary, Arts & Business Council, Metro Parks Art Programs, Untitled Nashville, friends of Shelby, Welcome Centers/Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Nashville STARS & KOB, and 5th Ave for the Arts. By visiting, voting and contributing, this original and innovative art show will become a wonderful gift that will keep on giving. The opening reception is FREE admission, open to the public at Blend Studio and goes down this Saturday, April 2nd, from 6-9pm.
Remember, you gotta fight … for your right … to do pretty much anything these days. Why not make this first weekend of April (the best month of the year in my humble opinion) one for the ages by checking out a little bit of everything above. You’ve got nothing to lose and a world of art and new friends to gain. And by the way, don’t forget to stop by the other local art galleries downtown and all around the city as well. Nashville is steadily becoming more than just a Music City, and YOU are an intricate part of this movement and experience if only by showing up to support. Help the artists and those who promote art by sharing the news above and other sites as well.
Fight the good fight.
much love,
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