One of Nashville’s fun visual artists, Trevor Mikula, is moving on to bigger and better things. “I'll certainly be sad to leave, but know I’ll be back. I've loved living in Nashville and watching the city grow especially the art scene,” Mikula said.
He has had Provincetown, Mass., on his radar for a while, care of Tribe owner David Taylor. “For years he and his partner have gone up there and he’s always been like, ‘You should go up there and just paint and hang out!’ And this year I was talking to him and I thought, ‘That’s kind of a cool idea,’” Mikula said.
So soon, in an old whaling house on a commercial street, Mikula will be opening a gallery of his own in Provincetown. “It’s a great space,” he says. “I think it’s going to be really cool. You get the New York and Boston people without having to pay Boston or New York rent. “
A Nashville resident for the past 25 years and having only visited Provincetown twice, Mikula is understandably anxious. “It’s real nerve-wracking to uproot and especially to go someplace where you don’t know anyone,” he said. “Being able to be close to my friends and family is going to be a bit more challenging. With my career I’ve built up a great clientele and a lot of them are my friends, who I’m not going to be able to see as frequently.”
Even so, he is optimistic. “So far, just from… trying to get into the space, I’ve met some cool people that have been super helpful. I don’t think it’s going to take long or be hard to find a group of friends.”
Mikula’s optimism is not misplaced. In addition to his promising Provincetown venture, he’s got eggs in all kinds of baskets, all over the country.
He will be doing a show in Venice Beach in early March, and his gallery in Santa Fe is doing a show for him in the spring as well. “It’s not like I’m just relying on one thing,” he said. “I’ve got stuff in all these different places where if everybody sells one or two paintings, then I’m fine.”
He hopes to do well enough to spend more time traveling and visiting friends and family here in Nashville and in New York City. Based on how bright his future seems and how astute he is, it certainly seems to be a very realistic goal for this talented Nashvillian.