On Saturday, March 3 in the Cannery Ballroom from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. there will be a revolution going on: The Revolution of Craft.
The Nashville Craft Mafia is one of a handful of spin-off chapters from the Austin Craft Market to take root and start to grow. Similar revolutions are taking place in Louisville, Ky. and Atlanta, Ga. There will be 55 vendors at the afternoon market with handmade items ranging from jewelry to ceramics and kitting to screen prints.
The three founders are Lauren Briggs, Jennifer Crigger and head revolutionary, Amy Culbertson. Culbertson is a Nashville native that saw the visual art world of Nashville evolving and is now happy to see the galleries and artists all ready to be supportive and help each other exceed their goals.
“We are a network of crafters, artisans and designers working together to promote and support each other in what we like to call ‘The Revolution.'" The event is free and open to the public. Bring some cash and put it right into the hand of the maker of the work. Culbertson indicated that although there will be some high end items, most works will be priced under $50.
If you're reading this after March 3 – don’t fret! – visit the Web site at www.nashvillecraftmafia.com to see links on where to find the participating crafters. One of my favorites is Tiffany Dyer-Denton at www.tiffanysfiberart.com.
You can also see Dyer-Denton's fiber art through March 24 at The Daily Fiber show at Ruby Green Contemporary Gallery, located at 514 5th Avenue South, Nashville. Call 615-244-7179 for hours and directions. Make it a point to see what is at Ruby Green once a month.
A permanent exhibit is now up at the Seigenthaler Center at 1207 18th Ave South, Nashville. Call 615-727-1600 to schedule a walk through of “Protest – The Power of Petition and Assembly in American Society.” Curator and executive director of the Freedom Forum, Gene Policinski, told the Tennessean, “I wanted to show parts of our history that some people never learned.”
The exhibit includes over 70 works, mostly photographs that show protests in various forms and settings from the 1770 Boston Massacre to the ERA movement of the 1970s and the 1980-1990 America’s Soap Box. I’m not sure there are photos of the Equality Yes! candle light vigil at the Nashville courthouse, but if you have one, feel free to drop it off at the desk. The exhibit is self guided and can be viewed Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Allow one hour to view the entire exhibit. For more information go to www.freedomforum.org or www.newseum.org.
Barry Noland has a Plowhaus opening Saturday, March 17. "Home" will feature editorial images from his hometown area of Cairo, Ill. and portraits of his grandmother. Of course, you can expect signature elemental images of architectural decay in color, as well as flower and plant portraits in black and white a la Mapplethorpe. This show will raise money for the Comprehensive Care Center (CCC), the premier HIV/AIDS treatment clinic in Nashville and the Southeast.
Denise Stewart-Sanabria is having an opening reception Saturday, March 3, at the Tennessee Art League Premiere Gallery located at 808 Broadway. It is an installation piece involving both life-size 2D and 3D charcoal portraits of contemporary people on cutout plywood. The exhibit runs through April 21.