The Arts Company Celebrates 20th Anniversary

On December 3, 2016, The Arts Company, a small business visual arts gallery in Downtown Nashville on 5th Avenue of the Arts, and founded and owned by longtime arts leader Anne Brown, will beat the drums visually proclaiming a Happy 20th Birthday. The daylong celebration will include an exhibition of new art commissions created specifically for the anniversary, meet and greets with some of the most popular gallery artists, a variety of music performances inside and outside the gallery, and the always highly anticipated 20th Annual Holiday Arts Market.

Opening in 1996, the gallery was the only art venue downtown during its first ten years; and since that time, has been a guiding force in how the visual arts can be presented to a broader audience. As an art gallery and event venue, its professional presence on 5th Avenue of the Arts has helped pioneer this vibrant visual arts and entertainment district in the center of Downtown Nashville. The gallery's birthday also completes a year of downtown artistic anniversaries, marking the historical significance and modern vision of how Nashville's Music City has become a primary destination for the visual arts. The gallery is open during regular gallery hours, 11-5:00 pm, Tuesday-Saturday at 215 5th Avenue of the Arts, North. For more information, visit www.theartscompany.com.

This year, Frist Center for the Visual Arts celebrated 15 years since the historic Art Deco Post Office was transformed into Nashville's premier art center - hosting a spectacular array of art from the region, the country, and around the world.

In addition, the wildly popular downtown Nashville event, First Saturday Art Crawl Downtown (co-founded by Anne Brown), marked 10 years of presenting monthly visual arts events attended by approximately 2,000 attendees...with more than 20 participants, including art galleries and businesses presenting new exhibitions and diverse artistic experiences.

Other Downtown Nashville iconic venues enjoying milestones include the Bridgestone Arena, Downtown Nashville Public Library, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

"In the past two decades, Nashville has made its mark as a cultural destination for locals and tourists alike," remarks Nashville/Davidson County Mayor Megan Barry. "This year highlights how much Nashville has embraced all types of arts, with a special emphasis on the visual arts - presenting the opportunity to see magnificent art from all over the world, hosting large citywide artistic events and festivals, and featuring numerous successful art galleries that continue this commitment to position Nashville as a preeminent attraction for individual artists and professional organizations...resulting in a vibrant arts scene throughout Nashville's thriving neighborhoods."

EVOLUTION OF THE DOWNTOWN ARTS

On December 3, 1996, Anne Brown opened The Arts Company as the singular gallery on 5th Avenue, in a historic 6,000 square foot building, in an undeveloped space. Fortunately, the owner of the building was an architect and helpEd Gallery owner Anne Brown create an arts environment that became synonymous with her mission to offer fresh, original, and contemporary artwork. She was soon approached by and/or discovered such artists as legendary LIFE photographer and Nashville resident Ed Clark, the legacy of TIME/Fortune cover artist Ernest Hamlin Baker, legendary contemporary folk artists Thornton Dial and Gees Bend Quilters, and a fascinating Marianist monk named Brother Mel Meyer; along with such emerging artists as gallery favorites April Street, Brad Sells, Mandy Rogers Horton, Daryl Thetford, Edie Maney, Denise Stewart-Sanabria, Bill Steber, among a myriad of others. As the founder of a major arts festival and a former University theater professor, Brown set the stage for some grand moments not-to-be-missed, and with her landlord Ron Gobbell, decided to pursue the concept of an arts district called 5th Avenue of the Arts. In 20 years, she and her collaborative partners have succeeded in transforming the block with a new streetscape, launching a one-night-a-month art event that brings vast numbers of residents and tourists, diversifying her gallery into a venue for events and corporate projects and services, and continues to develop artist careers and profiles. Ironically, the gallery's 20th birthday is on December 3, 2016, landing on the first Saturday of the month, and will be lauded with a full-day of programming honoring the achievements of The Arts Company and the legacy of Anne Brown. The development of the arts downtown began by a group of passionate city leaders and art advocates and philanthropists literally building the arts in Downtown Nashville since the late 1970s, when the Tennessee Performing

Arts Center (TPAC) was conceived and built, as well as the launch of the first downtown arts festival, Summer Lights (founded by Anne Brown). The real downtown renaissance, however, happened in the 1990s with the revitalization of historic 2nd Avenue and vast new opportunities offered to experience the arts, including the development of Riverfront Park and the openings of one of the Nation's most acclaimed arenas, the NFL stadium, and downtown's first longstanding established visual arts gallery, The Arts Company.

Downtown Nashville, after many years of dormancy, began to come back to life - the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, reopened after having been shuttered for decades; TPAC was presenting the Symphony, Opera, and Ballet; and planning began for a new stadium to house Nashville's first NFL team, the Tennessee Titans.

Fifteen years ago in 2001, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts opened its doors, and the Downtown Library was erected and became the centerpiece of the city's literary scene. In the same year, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled its new facility; joined in 2006 by the Nashville Symphony opening its Schermerhorn Symphony Center directly next door - creating a quadrangle of music, adjacent to the Bridgestone Arena and Broadway's Honky Tonk venues.

Nashville has been under continuous construction ever since to build on its moniker Music City as a key location for all genres of art, including music, theater, film, literary, culinary, and of course, the visual arts...

In the past three years, since the 600-million dollar Music City Center, the city has been proclaimed across the globe as a primary place to encounter art, with a focus on music and culinary arts. This year, the moment has come to showcase the visual arts scene in Nashville, in every diverse neighborhood, and with a focus on how the downtown neighborhood has become a central location for the visual arts - acknowledged as part of the city's artistic signature.

ABOUT THE ARTS COMPANY/5TH AVENUE OF THE ARTS

The Arts Company, celebrating its 20th Anniversary, continues as a primary arts destination in Downtown Nashville. The gallery is celebrating by offering a year-long exploration looking back at selectEd Gallery artists; as well as looking forward to discovering fresh, original, and contemporary artwork from ongoing and new gallery artists- including sculptors, painters, and photographers, representing artwork from emerging to legendary artists; presenting 12 exhibitions each year; collaboration with other galleries statewide; partnering with 5th Avenue of the Arts District to initiate the First Saturday Art Crawl Downtown; and specializing in artistic services and resources for businesses and individuals. 5th Avenue of the Arts in Downtown Nashville is a vibrant urban and entertainment district for the visual arts offering a diversity of artwork in a variety of galleries. Residents and visitors visit this key location where they are invited to walk, linger, look, dine, shop, and explore a wide range of distinctive venues; and enjoy a number of artistic events, including the wildly popular First Saturday Art Crawl Downtown Nashville, welcoming approximately 2,000 monthly attendees.

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