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The Soundwaves Gallery: “The He(art) of Nashville”

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Since 2021, The Nashville Soccer Club (Nashville SC) and the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville (ABC) have collaborated on different community arts initiatives, like the Soundwaves Gallery. This project has showcased the work of countless local Nashville artists in the premium club areas of GEODIS Park. On May 6th, I had the opportunity to tour the current collection titled, “The He(art) of Nashville,” with two featured artists, Omari Booker and Arash Shoushtari (artist name IMGRNT), who provided valuable context to the relevance of their works in the gallery. We were also joined by Jill McMillan Palm and Jennifer “Ennie” Brosius, the executive director and program manager of ABC, as well as Kensi Juskiewicz, the communications coordinator at the Nashville SC. Their discussion helped me to understand the significance of the collaboration of the Nashville SC, GEODIS Park, and ABC as an important point-of-reference for the interaction of art and identity in Nashville.

Jennifer Haston, Love Story

The gallery consists of 44 works from 44 local artists across several different mediums like oil on canvas, fabric on wood board, and even fused glass. The works span an entire hallway, beginning with abstract works, then moving towards portraits and landscapes. One of the first works to strike me was Love Story by Jennifer Haston. A mixed-media work featuring different colored silhouettes of real people from Haston’s life over sheet music, it is a unique representation of how these different people work together to create a harmonious life experience, uplifting and supporting one another. The vibrant blues, pinks, and reds over the distressed sheet music create a distinct juxtaposition between expectation and reality. There is never any color to sheet music, only white and black, yet the combination here is fitting. The piece that these figures are printed over is titled, “Love Song, further embracing the notion of love and peace as a shared effort.

Works like Nightlights by Rhiannon Guppy and Petrichor by Will Maddoxx follow, using bright colors to develop the idea of Nashville’s community and nightlife as both a blur, but also something controlled and focused. Max by Carrie DePauw and Glass Kite by Lauren B. are works that use color to represent the individuality and warmth that makes up the Nashville community. These two artists, as well as Jennifer Haston, are part of the Friends Life Community (FLC), which is a Nashville organization that provides opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities to grow, develop, and be active members of the community.The gallery features many artists from different cultures with different backgrounds and different stories – this is an extremely important idea of this project. Our differences should be what bring us together and deserve to be represented. These identities are Nashville. There could not have been better representatives of this idea than the two artists I had the chance to speak with, Booker and IMGRNT.

IMGRNT, BWGRS

BWGRS is a triptych from a larger 7-panel work that draws inspiration from Persian textile patterns to create a mesmerizing visual and provide an outline for a deeper element of storytelling. In this piece, IMGRNT tells the story of his two uncles, represented by red and green diamond shapes, connected by a vertical gold line. Their story is a deeper reflection of the artist’s Iranian roots, as well as the immigrant experience, two themes that are present through the artist’s visual and performative works. It was interesting to me how well the three panels worked together, though taken from a larger work – IMGRNT explained how the triptych was always present in the work. This adaptability is an important component of his art and helps expand upon the artist’s interest in immigrant communities as growing in significance to Nashville’s identity. As previously mentioned, IMGRNT also does performance art, as a more direct and explicit form of representation for immigrants and the immigrant experience – his War & Beat (in A natural Minor) was discussed in a previous Music City Review article that covered the Kindling Arts Festival in 2024.

Omari Booker, Alex and Ash

Alex and Ash is the featured work of Omari Booker, a multidisciplinary artist based in Nashville, TN and Los Angeles, CA. In this work, Booker paints the scene of Alex Lockwood and Ash Atterberry, two prominent members of the North Nashville art community, from a recent meeting at Elephant Gallery. a Nashville art gallery that Alex opened around 2016. Though a very real image, this painting is dreamlike – the blue highlights around Alex’s eyes and throughout the piece and its color spread are standout elements that add to the work’s lively nature. Booker described how his art is heavily influenced by his “surroundings, family, and friends, and a deeper story revealed itself. For these galleries, artists can submit up to 5 pieces. Many submit preexisting works, while others create specifically for the theme of the gallery. Alex and Ash was the only work that Booker submitted, but perfectly encapsulated the idea of Nashville art, not only being diverse, but also self-sustaining and connected. Booker discussed how he felt Alex and Ash are important artistic role models for not only himself, but Nashville as a whole, as their focus on art from local and regional artists as a reflection of Nashville’s true creative identity is an important distinction, especially in a time and place where gentrification has had a significant impact on the arts and black communities.

The Soundwaves Gallery is displayed for the entire season of the Nashville SC, starting in February, and is shown on various stadium tours throughout the year. Its inclusion at GEODIS Park captures the point of the stadium being a place of unity for all of Nashville, bringing people from all walks of life together to enjoy their shared interest in soccer. ABC and the Nashville SC are working together on newer projects, such as the recently announced Starting XI. This is an exciting endeavor that commissions 11 local artists to create soccer-related artistry from recycled soccer items. The first of these works is an upcycled pair of soccer cleats, now on display at the Soundwaves Gallery. Throughout the season, these items will be displayed one at a time, and aim to highlight the interaction of sustainability and art. Be sure to keep up with Booker and IMGRNT, as well as ABC and the Nashville SC. All are working to keep local art alive and to better represent us, the diverse population of Nashville.



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