Public Art
2025 Public Art Application
Applications are open May 9 - June 4, 2025
Application Deadline: Wed June 4th
Festival Dates: Friday, September 26 – Sunday, September 28
Artville is Nashville's premier public art festival, transforming the city's urban landscape each fall with murals, installations, art fairs, and immersive art experiences. Artville invites both local and national artists to submit proposals for temporary site-specific public art projects to be showcased throughout Nashville during the festival weekend.
Artville Artist grants will be awarded to innovative and dynamic public art installations that demonstrate high-quality artistic value as well as demonstrate the opportunity for public engagement. Selected installations will be featured within several high-traffic Nashville locations, including Walk of Fame Park and The Arcade in Downtown, Nashville, as well as at events and community partner locations in Wedgewood Houston and Germantown neighborhoods.
Applications can be submitted for large-scale 2D fiber-art installations, 3D art and sculpture projects, and Illumination/Projection Projects. Works should be created primarily for outdoor locations, but there will be some indoor spaces available as well, and preference will be given to large-scale projects.
Following the close of the application window, selected artists will be invited to accept a grant to bring their creative visions to life in Nashville for the festival weekend September 26-28, 2025. Please note, the grant amounts awarded may not match the full-amount requested, as the selection team is focused on providing funding to support a wide range of public art projects. If a minimum level of funding is required to execute the proposed project, that needs to be specified in the application.
Additionally, the Artville Best in Show awards will provide $10,000 in cash-prizes. There will be a public vote for the $3,000 Artville Community Award Winner. Two additional cash awards of $3,500 will be given to jury of local Artville Advisors including art curators, gallerists, and museum administrators recognizing outstanding works; one for Best in Show and one for Best Community Engagement Project.
We look forward to seeing how your work can shape Nashville’s urban landscape!
Key Dates
Applications Open: Friday May 9th
Application Deadline: Wednesday June 4th
Notifications Sent: Wednesday June 18th
Festival Installation Window: September 25
Festival Weekend: Friday September 26 – Sunday September 29
GROW LOVE was our first ever public art installation hosted at the American Artisan Festival in Centennial park back in 2017. Created by FOREST ALCHEMY. artists Tracy Ginsberg and Theodore Lillie use an interdisciplinary approach that combines installation, sculpture, video, photography, painting, drawing, sound and performance and immerses viewers in transformational art in nature. The artists created a large scale white labyrinth in the shape of a magnolia flower, which is native to Centennial Park. Thousands of people walked through it during the festival weekend meditatively, leaving behind written messages of hope.
GROW LOVE has always been an inspiration for us fueling the dream and possibility of Artville - an event that provides opportunities for other artists to create public art for our community. While the festival has moved to urban spaces and parks, we want to honor the legacy of GROW LOVE as our muse and our inspiration and thank FOREST ALCHEMY for their vision. We hope to activate all of Nashville’s amazing parks in future years of Artville!