Online Exhibition TEENS TAKE THE FRIST! Goes Live

The Frist Art Museum presents Teens Take the Frist!, an online exhibition of artworks by local teen artists. Prompted by the vision of inspiring people through art to look at their world in new ways, the exhibition is now live at FristArtMuseum.org/TeensTake.

This second edition of Teens Take the Frist! features approximately fifty artworks in a variety of mediums, created by emerging artists from Cheatham, Davidson, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, and Wilson Counties. This exhibition, along with other Frist initiatives like Teen ARTlab and the Teen Arts Action Group, is intended to give individuals ages 13-19 a safe space to express themselves and participate in activities with art professionals.

"With many schools shifting to online learning because of COVID-19 restrictions, art has become more important than ever as an avenue of communication and connection," says Frist Art Museum assistant director for community engagement and exhibition curator Shaun Giles. "The works in this exhibition provide a glimpse into the artists' personal observations and what is important to them."

Several of the works in the exhibition were made while in quarantine, including The Survivor by Eleanor Taylor. In her artist's statement, she writes, "The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the world into turmoil and uncertainty, affecting the lives of billions of people across the globe. And yet, hope remains. This piece shows an image of an old woman smiling over a COVID-19 newspaper article. It is a reminder to smile even during dark times." Other works, such as Annabelle Parrish's Soaked, address universal, social, and personal subjects. In her statement, Parrish writes, "The title Soaked refers to the enveloping of the model with heavy textiles and surrounding her in a waterlike atmosphere, symbolizing how intense pressure can cause one to feel as if they were wearing drenched, heavy clothing."