New iteration of popular funding program employs a cohort model, focuses on artist development and mentorship, and culminates in a gallery exhibition at the Parthenon. Metro Arts' Thrive funding program has always sought to empower artists and invest in communities. This year, Metro Arts launched a new phase of Thrive that prioritizes artist development: our Community Practice Artist Incubator. This cycle of Thrive will include artist workshops, mentorship, and an exhibition

Nashville artists selected as semifinalists for public artwork on the Donelson Public Library

Five semifinalists for exterior public artwork at Nashville Public Library's new Donelson Branch: Dufford, Garten, Geller, Wiener, Wowhaus.

disaster and recovery resources for Nashville-area artists, creatives and partner organizations

FY22 Thrive Projects Engage the Community in a Broad Range of Artistic Practices to Heal, Learn and Celebrate At their September meeting, the Metro Arts Board of Commissioners approved eleven projects for funding for the first cycle of Thrive for FY 2022. Metro Arts’ Thrive is a funding program that connects artists, organizations and residents to create transformation and investments within communities. By offering funding outside of the traditional grants process, Thrive gi

Public Art Projects in Progress From site selection to dedication, the process of creating a community-centered, iconic public artwork on a site as significant as The Fairgrounds Nashville has many steps along the way. Here's a look at progress so far on Public Art at the Fairgrounds, our latest updates, and what comes next. Above: images from each of the five semifinalists selected by the Fairgrounds Citizen Selection Panel. Left to right: works from Cliff Garten, Marc Forne

Metro Arts' Restorative Arts partnership with Nashville's Juvenile Court funds arts organizations working with court-involved youth.

With a Focus on 37208, Metro Arts' Partners' 2021 Opportunity Now Summer Work Experiences Encouraged Nashville Youth to Reimagine Community and Careers An Opportunity Now intern at Turnip Green Creative Reuse presents a lighting project at the end-of summer showcase. After a long year-plus of virtual school and pandemic struggles, Metro Arts' Opportunity Now students more than met the challenges of this year's arts-based work experiences. Our nine community partner organizat

2021-22 Racial Equity in Arts Leadership Cohort Named Together with Vanderbilt’s Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy, Metro Arts congratulates and welcomes the 2021-2022 cohort of our Racial Equity in Arts Leadership (REAL) program! Selected from a competitive pool of applicants, these eighteen cohort participants represent thirteen Nashville arts and cultural organizations, who will come together to learn about race, equity, and ways to enact change within thei

We have just a few short weeks until our 2021 Diversity in Arts Leadership (DIAL) interns join Metro Arts and Nashville arts and culture organizations for their summer placements. As we count down the days until their internships begin, we've shared the interns' announcement and we've thanked the 2021 DIAL Nashville Mentors. Today, we're taking an opportunity to thank and highlight our hosts, leaders at five Nashville cultural institutions. Ali Tonn, Senior Director of Educat

Emily Habeck, Vanderbilt Curb Public Scholar After the traumatic March 2020 tornado and the abrupt pandemic lockdown, the arts in Nashville – and cities everywhere – were immediately impacted and critically needed. Metro Arts responded to the needs of artists and the community by strategically releasing a round of Thrive funding in April 2020 to support artists and projects that safely uplifted, supported, and connected people in Nashville and beyond. As a graduate student at

As part of our Diversity in Arts Leadership (DIAL) program, Metro Arts staff aims to deepen interns’ experience by including a mentorship component. In addition to being placed with a leading arts organization, each intern will receive mentorship from someone in their desired field. Staff asked each incoming intern to describe their “dream mentor” and then set out to pair them with a Nashville arts leader who fit the criteria. With our sincere gratitude, Metro Arts is pleased

Americans for the Arts and its partners, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Metro Arts: Nashville Office of Arts and Culture, are excited to announce the 25 interns selected to participate in the 2021 Diversity in Arts Leadership (DIAL) program’s Nashville, New Jersey, and New York City virtual cohorts. Each year, the DIAL program matches undergraduate students from backgrounds underrepresented in arts leadership with dynamic communities, energetic host arts organiz

Final FY21 Thrive Awards Go to Six Projects that Explore and Engage Nashville Communities At their March 18 meeting, the Metro Arts Commission approved allocating the remainder of Thrive funding for fiscal year 2021 to support six artist-led community projects. From storytelling to choreography and seed sharing, these projects engage residents in myriad ways. Together with nine Thrive projects approved in October 2020, these projects represent a $125,000 investment in empower

Metro Arts Announces Opportunity Now Partner Organizations for Summer 2021 Since 2017, Metro Arts has partnered with local arts and culture organizations to administer paid enrichment and employment opportunities for Nashville’s youth in the summer months. Through Opportunity Now, Nashville’s youth employment initiative, teens 14-16 have the chance to experience careers in the arts firsthand, gain 21st-century job skills, and get paid while doing it. Isle of Printing artist B

Madison artists’ tributes to their favorite places, spaces, people and history about their beloved neighborhood

Metro Arts was honored that Nashville was chosen as a 2020 host city for Americans for the Arts' 25-year-old Diversity in Arts Leadership (DIAL) program. Nashville was only the fourth U.S. city to host the fellowship, which started in New York City and later expanded to New Jersey and to Des Moines, Iowa. At Metro Arts, we were excited for the opportunity to match undergraduate students from backgrounds traditionally untapped in arts leadership with placements in our city's d

With creative adaptations, summer youth work experiences retained their creative and practical value.

Meet Gavin Crowell-Williamson, the Research and Evaluation Intern for Metro Arts, and learn a little about the data-driven perspective he's brought to our team! Crowell-Williamson Tell us a bit about what your internship involves: My job essentially entails considering how we collect data, what data we look at, and analyzing the results of said data. I’m trying to bring an analytic edge to the arts world. Can you describe a little bit about your background and how it has help

Restorative Arts Partnership Brings Writing, Storytelling and Confidence to Court-Involved Youth Comprised of duo Mary Margaret Randall and Daniel Westbrooks, One Voice Nashville brings storytelling and writing programming to youth inside the Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center as part of Metro Arts’ Restorative Arts program. In addition to group instruction on writing and storytelling offered by Randall in a small group setting, One Voice provides support and one-on-on