Art
Current Exhibitions
2019 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence Umwelts 2019 (As the Crow Flies): David Brooks
September 19, 2019 – January 5, 2020
2019 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence David Brooks’ work explores the connection between the built and natural worlds. This site-responsive body of work explores the idea of how the natural world is perceived as a physical image – representing the directional landscapes of Cheekwood as an uncontainable commodity of visualization. Brooks’ multidimensional imageries act as instinctual statements of that which is invisible to the visitor but present within other non-human species’ perceptual capacities.
Brooks is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work has been on view at Storm King Art Center and MoMA PS1. The artist was recently named as a recipient of the Rome Prize for 2019-2020.
Selections from The Cheekwood Collection
October 5, 2019 – January 5, 2020
Selections from The Cheekwood Collection includes works by Jacob Lawrence, William Merritt Chase, George Inness, William Glackens, Stuart Davis, Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, and others. Visitors will see significant works from Cheekwood’s permanent collection holdings acquired from the 1960s to the present. Representing important historical movements such as American impressionism, modernism, pop art, and minimalism, this installation will be on view in both the historic rooms, as well as the exhibition galleries.
Perle Fine. Pure Myth, 1948-49. Oil on canvas. Gift of the Berezov Family. 1994.21.
Upcoming Exhibitions
2020 Middle Tennessee Scholastic Art Competition
February 1 – March 29, 2020
For the twenty-ninth consecutive year, Cheekwood will join the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers to host the Scholastic Art Competition and Exhibition. Creative, imaginative and talented teens from across middle Tennessee submit works of art in a variety of categories.
2020 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence Hiroshi Sato
February 1 – March 29, 2020
Hiroshi Sato was born September 1987 in Japan. From the age of three to fourteen he spent his childhood in Tanzania. His childhood exposure to alternate cultures, class, and language has served as a backdrop to his interest in human perception.
Hiroshi Sato is focused on contemporary realist oil painting. He is best known for paintings of figures in an interior environment. He draws influence from past and present artists including Vermeer, Degas, Andrew Wyeth, Euan Uglow, Hopper and Chuck Close. Sato’s work shows his interest in geometric design principles of the old masters and is currently exploring the simultaneous illusion of form and flatness in space. His goal is to portray, and better understand our various states of consciousness within ourselves through the visual medium.
Hiroshi Sato’s work has been featured in various publications such as Kunstenaar Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, Juxtapoz Magazine, Visual Art Source and Art Business News Magazine.
Chihuly at Cheekwood
April 25 – November 1, 2020
Cheekwood is delighted to present Chihuly at Cheekwood in the spring of 2020, together with the reopening of its acclaimed Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail. Chihuly at Cheekwood will feature large-scale installations in the gardens of the historic estate as well as pedestal works presented in the Cheekwood Mansion art galleries. Outdoor installations will include two pieces on the newly-accessible Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail Hickory Loop, as well as two new, site-specific works created for this exhibition. A monumental sculpture will be on view in the Frist Learning Center Great Hall.
Opening April 25, 2020, Chihuly at Cheekwood celebrates the 10th anniversary of Chihuly’s 2010 blockbuster success at Cheekwood while also commemorating the 60th anniversary of Cheekwood as a public institution.
Visitors may view the exhibition during the daytime as well as during evening hours on Thursday through Sunday.
Dale Chihuly, Sapphire Star, 2010 © Chihuly Studio
Chihuly at Cheekwood is presented by 
Leadership support is provided by Barbara and Jack Bovender
and Mrs. James C. (Tooty) Bradford, Jr.
Major support is provided by Lisa and David Manning.
Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence Program
The Cheekwood Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence program brings national and international artists to Nashville to create and exhibit site-specific works at Cheekwood, while allowing artists the opportunity to interact with staff, visitors, and the arts community throughout the creative process. With its renowned museum and gardens, Cheekwood offers the Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence a unique resource which broadly reflects nature and sustainability within a global art practice. The residency program provides living arrangements for the artist while he or she are in residency.
Mr. Shallenberger’s connection with Cheekwood has great length and significance. In June 1971, Shallenberger, the artist, exhibited 40 paintings at Cheekwood. Visitors who attended this exhibition were afforded a worldly experience with Shallenberger’s renderings of New York, Paris, Florence, Amsterdam, and Cologne. As a citizen of the world, he enjoyed experiencing and capturing the many sites he visited on canvas. Shallenberger knew the world of art had and would continue to expand without borders. The residence program is made possible with the generous support of a private foundation.
Permanent Collection
The Cheekwood Permanent Collection of Fine Art includes paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, and sculpture, with an emphasis on American Art produced between 1910 and 1970. The Cheekwood Permanent Collection regularly rotates.
Ann and Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail
The Ann and Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail was established in 1999 through the generosity of Ann and Monroe Carell Jr. and features contemporary sculptures on a woodland trail, a concept not commonly found in American museums. The Trail is a loop of approximately one mile, and includes eleven sculptures by internationally recognized contemporary artists such as James Turrell, Sophie Ryder and Jenny Holzer. Many of the sculptures were commissioned for their specific location, emphasizing the beauty of the Cheekwood landscape.
Cheekwood’s Riverview Gardens and Art Installation at Riverfront Park
Since 2015, Cheekwood has been partnering with the Metropolitan Government to present a garden and art installation at Riverfront Park. Cheekwood contributes to the overall care and oversight of the garden, maintaining the perennial plants and regularly installing annual plants that mirror the coinciding displays at Cheekwood. For example, in spring, Riverview Gardens features thousands of tulips reflecting the 150,000 blooming bulbs at Cheekwood.