Artville is a visual arts festival featuring public art installations, art collecting and immersive experiences highlighting the creative culture of Nashville.
American Artisan @ Artville
The American Artisan Festival, one of Nashville’s longest-running art festivals, will move from its event date in June in Centennial Park to September in Wedgewood Houston. As a part of Artville, the festival will continue to showcase over 100 local and national contemporary craft and fine artists up Chestnut Street weaving through the murals and public art installations.
The festival will continue its tradition of hosting a live-music stage throughout the weekend, which will be located in the Outfield next to The Nashville Warehouse Company. There will also be a wide selection of delectable food trucks, beverages and sweets as well as several opportunities for kids art activities.
Imagine the long-term economic and cultural impact of an immersive, high quality art fair experience right here in Nashville – visitors and residents alike are looking for new ways to experience art and Artville is it.
Founders Samantha Saturn and Jack Davis envision Artville becoming a city-wide art festival, however starting in Wedgewood Houston Chestnut Hill made sense for a host of reasons. It is the home of several art galleries, restaurants, design businesses and more - its also where many artists and creatives call home.
Additionally, the developers in the neighborhood understand the need to support the creative community and they led the creation of the Artville public art fund. The Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp followed on recognizing the opportunity to create something uniquely Nashville.
Like many growing cities across America, Nashville has an opportunity to invest in local artists' projects and create art-focused programming on a large scale to drive arts-related community engagement and tourism, further supporting Nashville’s growing community of visual artists, galleries, as well as art museums and cultural institutions.
Public Art
Creating space for public art for all to see and experience is the heart of community engagement. We are excited to kick off what we think can be a large-scale public art event - this year will feature 20 artists in all.
The Artville Public Artists include (in alphabetical order) Andres Bustamante, Lindsy Davis, Troy Duff, Brett Douglas Hunter, Alex Lockwood, Bryce McCloud, Beth Reitmeier, Kit Reuther, Camilla Spadafino, Vadis Turner, Yanira Vissepo, and Herb Williams.
Artville Walls, the mural project will feature unique works and murals by Jeremiah Britton, Joe Geis, Violet Hill, Meg Pollard, Xavier Payne, Maggie Sanger and Brian Wooden.
Community Art Show
The Community Art Show will be a space for a curated selection of Nashville’s contemporary art galleries and dealers collectively exhibiting some of their top local and national artists for collectors to view and enjoy. It will be a wonderful representation of our Nashville artists and gallery community.
Live Music and Afterdark Events
Right under the big guitar in the Outfield we will host our American Artisan @ Artville stage with live music every day throughout the weekend. The neighborhood will also come alive at night with Artville After Dark, a series of night-time events focused on bringing the community together to celebrate art-experiences together.
Founders
Samantha Saturn, Artville Co-Founder
Co-founder of Artville, Director of American Artisan Festival based in Nashville, TN.
Derek Wiggins, Program Curator
Cultural Producer based in New York City
Jack Davis, Artville Co-Founder
Co-Founder of Artville, Founder of Good Neighbor Festivals based in Nashville TN.
Joe Geis, Creative + Branding
Partner and co-founder of creative studio, Also Dept. based in Nashville and Flint.
Karen Wong, Program Curator
Former Deputy Director of New Museum and Cultural Producer based in New York City
Jeremiah Britton, Creative + Branding
Partner and co-founder of creative studio, Also Dept. based in Nashville and Flint.