ART WIRE Reading Event to Return for 8th Year at OZ Arts Nashville
The Porch's literary nonprofit collaboration will feature 10 fellows reading poetry and prose inspired by international performances.
Contemporary arts center OZ Arts Nashville will host the annual celebratory reading of their ongoing Art Wire fellows program, a unique, cross-disciplinary collaboration with prominent literary nonprofit The Porch. Throughout the innovative 2025/26 Season at OZ Arts, 10 Art Wire Fellows of diverse backgrounds and ages experienced world-class productions from five continents, encountering experimental performance work from artists based in France, Chile, Spain, Japan, South Africa, and the United States. Audiences are invited into OZ's chic creative warehouse for an inviting, intimate reading event on Wednesday, June 24th at 6:30pm where they will hear a mix of poetry and prose writing from many of this year's fellows created in response to the OZ performances.
Now concluding its 8th year, Art Wire has been an instrumental collaboration between OZ Arts and The Porch, annually selecting a talented cohort of teen and adult writers to share their literary responses to the season's presentations with deeply personal, playful, and engaging writing. Each year, the chosen fellows work in many literary genres, including poetry, prose, and spoken word, and the Art Wire program has hosted over 80 emerging writers since beginning in 2018. Featured writers in the 2025/26 cohort include Koley Berry, Larkin Boyd, Rudrapriya Devi Dasi, Thalia Dills, Ezra Graff, Jarred "JJ" Johnson, Lane Scott Jones, DeAngelo McBride, Hannah Rodriguez, and Elizabeth Upshur.
This year, the writers drew inspiration from local, national, and international performance pieces from contemporary performance artists who are part of a cultural revelation. Fellows created ekphrastic writings in response to international performances by popular French dance collective Compagnie Dyptik, a smartly curated live film created on stage by Spain's Agrupación Señor Serrano, the staggering projection-dance whirlwind from Tokyo-based choreographer Hiroaki Umeda, and the riveting movements of South Africa's Impilo Mapantsula. The cohort also engaged with the Southeastern premiere of rising dance world star Ogemdi Ude's exploration of the majorette dance form, plus two new dance works created by Nashville-based artists Becca Hoback and shackled feet DANCE! Many of the fellows were also able to experience the stunning multimedia-theater style of Chilean troupe TeatroCinema, revel in the hilarious cabaret stylings of international sensation Meow Meow, and cheer on the all-local slate of artists premiering four original projects in the Brave New Works Lab 2026.
The Art Wire partnership with The Porch furthers OZ's mission to connect local creatives with leading contemporary artists from around the world. It also opens the floor to passionate members of the Nashville community to safely share personal reflections and generate entirely new written works that meaningfully engage with the programming OZ brings to the city. This year's group was mentored by acclaimed writer Nina Coyle, who oversaw the adult writing cohort, alongside Joe Kane, a lauded member of the arts community who serves as director of The Porch's youth programs and has been involved with the Art Wire program since its inception.
Art Wire is a free event, but ticket reservations are encouraged with an optional "pay what you will" donation.
Applications for the 2026/27 cohort of Art Wire fellows will be open on June 24 through August 10. Adult and teen writers of all experience levels are encouraged to apply.
Videos
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Hamilton (Angelica Company) Tennessee Performing Arts Center (6/16-6/28) |
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ATRIUM TheatreWorks@TheSquare (1/08-1/24) |
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Ain't Too Proud Playhouse on the Square (3/26-4/18) |
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Come From Away Chattanooga Theatre Centre (9/01-9/30) |
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The 49th Annual Art Auction Playhouse on the Square (4/24-4/24) |
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Mamma Mia! Tennessee Theatre (2/16-2/21) |
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Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!” Source One Five (6/26-6/28) |
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Merrily We Roll Along Hendersonville Performing Arts Company (5/28-6/14) |
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NMTN Presents: The First Stage Analog @ The Hutton Hotel with ASCAP (6/13-6/13) |
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Ain't Misbehavin' Playhouse 615 (6/05-6/21) |
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