CONNECTING CULTURES Exhibition Opens at Frist Center

The Frist Center for the Visual Arts has partnered with ten local and regional community organizations to present Connecting Cultures: Children's Stories from Across the World, an exhibition inspired by children's stories that is designed to reflect the unique cultural values of each participating community. Connecting Cultures will be on view in the Conte Community Arts Gallery today, April 15, 2011, through March 27, 2012. The exhibition kicks off a celebration of Nashville's diverse ethnic communities that will include related monthly programs throughout the year. The Presenting Sponsor for Connecting Cultures is the Nissan Foundation.

The Frist Center's outreach educators, Shaun Giles and Rosemary Swain, with the help of members of the Connecting Cultures Advisory Committee, approached specific community groups to be a part of Connecting Cultures. The artwork presented in the exhibition was created by intergenerational groups composed of more than 200 participants who speak a wide range of languages, have diverse artistic abilities, and altogether attended more than 60 workshops, enabling them to exhibit art of the world and represent Nashville's growing ethnic communities. The exhibition seeks to build bridges between the Frist Center and local organizations representing Africans, Asians, Latin Americans, and Middle Easterners, as well as grass roots community members and trained visual artists.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Frist Center will also present Artful Tales, a monthly interactive family program that combines the oral tradition of storytelling with hands-on art-making activities to explore stories and cultures from around the world.

For more information, visit FristCenter.org.