A Meaningful Addition to Nashville’s Creative Community

Words by Anna McKeown
Art by Rod McGaha, Arcade Arts

I’ve lived in Nashville for nearly 16 years, and during that time I’ve seen the city grow exponentially. When I first moved here as a student at Belmont University, the now high end urban neighborhood “The Gulch” was a low lying area with parking lots and a couple of stop signs. It had a train yard with tracks that separated downtown from the south side of the city.

The now bustling 12South had the wonderfully campy Katy K’s Ranch Dressing and a couple of coffee shops. As an art student, I struggled with breaking out of the “Belmont Bubble,” as I was sincerely afraid to drive on the interstate—a pang of fear left over from being raised by country folk who rarely left the 20 mile radius around Carterville, Illinois. More than that, I did not believe myself to be a very cool person, and Nashville’s art scene was generally reserved for cool artists who drank microbrews and smoked American Spirits. 

But once a month, I’d travel to downtown Nashville, pre-bachelorette boom, to enjoy an evening of art openings. As the city has grown and changed, so has our art scene. Galleries on 5th Avenue have come and gone, with only the mainstay of Tinney Contemporary and the more recent addition of Chauvet Gallery withstanding the pandemic waves and pressure cooker of city development. There are now many Nashville neighborhoods with galleries that curate thoughtful and compelling artwork, and who are carving a path for Nashville as a city with a burgeoning art scene. 

Nashville’s art scene has long been an underground affair, one that you can read more about in “The Untold History of Nashville's Contemporary Art Scene” by Joe Nolan, published by Vanderbilt Press. As an aforementioned uncool girl, I found it hard to fit into the scene. But over time I have found that my problem isn’t that I’m uncool—it is that I am a giddy and earnest nerd who has been more comfortable reading about art movements through rose colored glasses than being part of them. But now I see my once-perceived flaws as strengths, and my interest is piqued. What would it be like to be part of something? What would it be like to build something?

After twenty years of the art crawl, the galleries downtown are pulling together to refresh the event. We have created the Downtown Arts District Alliance or “DADA.” Our mission is to create a thriving, inclusive, and accessible community focused on visual arts which supports a professional environment for visual artists, curators, creatives, and galleries within the Arts District of Downtown Nashville. DADA is deeply committed to honoring the diversity, authenticity, and unique cultures present in Nashville.

Within all of this change are glimmers of what the Arts District could become—a dazzling alternative to the country-music-star-sponsored bars. This could be a creative district that would delight tourists and locals alike. Nashvillians appreciate great conversation, especially when it comes to creative expression, so a thriving arts district downtown would surely scratch that itch. 

That type of community engagement has been on display in the newly renovated Arcade Building that connects 4th and 5th Avenues. This historic, 120-year-old building now boasts a non-profit called “Arcade Arts,” which supports a roster of 12 artists in residence who are awarded use of the studios within the second floor of the Arcade building. 

I had the pleasure of curating a show for their “Gallery 56” last fall, and as I spent time in the gallery, I was wowed by the artists Arcade Arts had selected as their inaugural series of artists in residence. These small storefront style rooms function as part studio and part exhibition space, and it has been so inspiring to see how each artist chooses to inhabit these unique spaces. Before each art crawl, the residents host artist talks and tours of their studios. The crowd of supporters, Nashvillians hungry for creative discussion with fellow artists, was energizing! 

One of these fantastic artists featured in the inaugural group of residents is Rod McGaha, a jazz musician and new media artist living and working in Nashville, TN. I recognized his work from The Frist Art Museum’s acclaimed “Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage” exhibition, which has toured to other museums across the United States. His new work, about creative connections and the ways our brain processes conflicting feelings, is being vibrantly explored in his studio at Arcade Arts where he has exhibited a new installation each month of his residency.

As the Curator of the artwork at The Bankers Alley Hotel, a creatively minded hotel that features three art galleries, I am always looking for work that is not only beautiful and visually interesting, but work that has deeper meaning. I was immediately taken with the large-scale and dynamic nature of Rod’s work, which I could see fitting perfectly into our “Main Gallery” space at The Bankers Alley Hotel. Our “Main Gallery” has walls that are over 25 feet tall, with industrial columns from the original historic structure of the building. My mind immediately started spinning, imagining all the exciting ways we could collaborate to create a beautiful exhibition as well as engaging gallery programming. Rod McGaha’s work will be on view in our Main Gallery from February-July of 2025.  

My experience meeting Rod points to why investment in your local art scene matters. Viewing Rod’s work in the context of his studio, in this very flexible and in-progress form, gave me a peek into his creative process. That opportunity that Arcade Arts gave to him created an additional opportunity with the space that I curate, and I hope that opportunities for him and for other artists continue to bloom from this investment in our community. 

The optimist in me, the earnest art student, believes that connection and collaboration are the keys to the success of our growing Arts District.  

Downtown Nashville’s growth has brought an opportunity for galleries to create more connection with each other, with other local businesses, and most importantly with our community! You can follow all of the updates for our monthly art crawl, which will take place on the Second Saturday of every month, on our instagram page @dadanashville