Frist Art Museum To Open IN HER PLACE: NASHVILLE ARTISTS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY In January 2026

The Frist Art Museum will present In Her Place: Nashville Artists in the Twenty-First Century, an exhibition recognizing the vital role women have played in shaping Nashville’s visual arts landscape. Organized by the Frist Art Museum, the exhibition will be on view in the Ingram Gallery from January 29 through April 26, 2026 and will launch the museum’s 25th-anniversary year.

IN HER PLACE: NASHVILLE ARTISTS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

The exhibition will feature nearly 100 paintings, sculptures, textiles, and installations by 28 Nashville-based women artists, spanning multiple generations. The project emphasizes the influence of artists who have established national and international profiles as well as those who have strengthened Nashville’s creative ecosystem through teaching, community engagement, and institutional leadership.

Co-curated by Sai Clayton, Katie Delmez, and Shaun Giles, the exhibition is part of the 2026 Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art. A catalogue, coedited by Delmez and Laura Hutson Hunter and published by Vanderbilt University Press, will accompany the exhibition.

Works in the exhibition speak broadly to ideas of place—ranging from depictions of domestic spaces and regional landscapes to reflections on ancestral homelands and cultural histories. Featured artists include María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Ashley Doggett, Raheleh Filsoofi, Jodi Hays, Alicia Henry, Sisavanh Phouthavong Houghton, Karen Seapker, Vadis Turner, Yanira Vissepó, and Emily Weiner.

In their catalogue introduction, Clayton and Delmez write, “The title In Her Place challenges the long-held exclusion of women from the art world by asserting that these artists belong in museums, in critical conversations, and at the forefront of contemporary art. And it asserts that each artist is making this place, Nashville, their own … Ten years in the making, In Her Place is an important recognition of the decades-long impact women artists have had in defining Nashville's creative landscape.”

The exhibition will unfold across thematic sections including “Materiality and Memory,” “Cultural Foundations,” “Scenes and Dreams,” and “Patterns and Abstraction,” with works by artists such as Alicia Henry, Lakesha Calvin, Raheleh Filsoofi, Shannon Cartier Lucy, Marilyn Murphy, and Kelly S. Williams. An installation by Vadis Turner will also be on view for several years in the Turner Courtyard.

Filmed studio interviews with participating artists will be available in the galleries and online. Martin ArtQuest will feature new interactive stations developed in collaboration with exhibition artists, offering hands-on activities inspired by quilt-making, soft sculpture, animation, and drawing.

Artists in the Exhibition

Beizar Aradini
Alex Blau
Jane Braddock
Lakesha Calvin
María Magdalena Campos-Pons
Ashley Doggett
Raheleh Filsoofi
LiFran Fort
Lanie Gannon
Lauren Gregory
Kristi Hargrove
Briena Harmening
Jana Harper
Jodi Hays
Alicia Henry
Mandy Rogers Horton
Kimia Ferdowsi Kline
Shannon Cartier Lucy
Carol Mode
Elisheba Israel Mrozik
Marilyn Murphy
Sisavanh Phouthavong Houghton
Kit Reuther
Karen Seapker
Vadis Turner
Yanira Vissepó
Emily Weiner
Kelly S. Williams

Related Exhibitions and Projects

• Sistah Griot: The Iconoclastic Art of Barbara Bullock will be on view in the Gordon Contemporary Artists Project Gallery, curated with Carlton Wilkinson.

• Vadis Turner’s outdoor sculpture Venus in a Landscape will be installed in the Turner Courtyard.

• New interactive stations in Martin ArtQuest will connect directly to themes and materials from the exhibition.

Public Program

Artists’ Conversation: The Foremothers
Featuring Jane Braddock, LiFran Fort, Lanie Gannon, Carol Mode, and Marilyn Murphy
Moderated by Sai Clayton
Thursday, January 29, 6:30 p.m. — Auditorium
Free for members; $10 for not-yet-members; registration required.

Exhibition Catalogue

The 168-page hardcover catalogue In Her Place: Nashville Artists in the Twenty-First Century will be available in the Frist gift shop.

Nashville Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. HAIRSPRAY (Cumberland County Playhouse)

9% of votes

2. THE LITTLE MERMAID (Springhouse Theatre)

8.7% of votes

3. 9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL (Cumberland County Playhouse)

7% of votes

Vote Now!