Exhibitions
Upcoming Exhibitions
Chihuly at Cheekwood
July 18, 2020 – January 10, 2021
Cheekwood is delighted to present Chihuly at Cheekwood in the spring of 2020, together with the reopening of its acclaimed Ann & Monroe Carell Jr. Family 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 art galleries. Outdoor installations will include two pieces on the newly-accessible Ann & Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail, 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 July 18, 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 select Thursdays through Sundays.
Dale Chihuly, Sapphire Star, 2010 © Chihuly Studio
En Plein Air
July 18 – September 6, 2020
Painting en plein air, meaning “in the open air”, was a core practice for artists in Europe in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century. In America, beginning with the Hudson River School, to the American impressionists, painting in the outdoors became an integral part of art education. Intrepid painters—developing the ability to quickly capture effects of light—made sometimes arduous journeys to study landscapes at magnificent sites. In this spirit of traditional plein air painting, Cheekwood invites distinguished Nashville artists to gather across the grounds as a public display of painterly talent and nature appreciation, creating original work for a juried exhibition entitled En Plein Air. Drawing on the reopening of Cheekwood’s fifty-five acres, this exhibition of work made outdoors across the estate explores the variety of inventive ways in which enraptured artists record their moments in nature.
En Plein Air is organized by Campbell Mobley, Curator of Paintings and Works on Paper, Cheekwood. En Plein Air is juried by Mobley, James W. Tottis, VP of Museum Affairs, and Katelyn Bennett, Curator of Furniture, Decorative Arts and Architecture.
@home
July 18 – September 6, 2020
@home invites visitors to reflect upon the past, observe the present, and hope for the future through the work of three Nashville artists, Nuveen Barwari, Alex Blau, Paul Collins and KJ Schumacher, as they encountered what Collins refers to as The Great Pause. In times of a global pandemic, art can save us. It can enlighten, inspire, and empower. When Cheekwood reopens its indoor spaces for the first time in over four months, visitors will be welcomed with open arms through the power of art. The exhibition will feature new, original work created by the artists during the period of isolation, this pause, this temporary stop, a moment to linger a little longer in the present.
@home is organized by Campbell Mobley, Curator of Paintings and Works on Paper, Cheekwood.
Nuveen Barwari is a Kurdish American multidisciplinary artist. Barwari’s art is influenced by her family histories, being born in the United States in 1995, and spending her adolescent years in Duhok, Kurdistan. She received a BS in Studio Art from Tennessee State University in 2019 and is a 2022 MFA candidate at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.
Alex Blau is an artist and educator living in Nashville, TN. Blau has had solo shows at several venues, including Firecat Projects in Chicago, Gallery Seomi in Seoul, Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica, Kevin Bruk Gallery in Miami, Barbara Davis Gallery in Houston and the New Britain Museum of American Art. Blau is a member of the COOP Curatorial Collective and teaches at Vanderbilt University and Austin Peay State University.
Paul Collins is an artist and teacher in Nashville, TN. Paul has an MFA from Yale University and has been a resident at Skowhegan, the MacDowell Colony, the Anderson Ranch Arts Center, the Hambidge Center and the Vermont Studio Center. Paul teaches at Austin Peay State University.
KJ Schumacher lives and works in Nashville, TN. He studied Art History, Fine Arts and Painting at Parsons School of Design in Paris and the George Washington University in Washington D.C., where earned the Presidential Arts Scholarship, graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts and received his Master’s of Fine Arts in 2016 from the Transart Institute in New York and Berlin. Schumacher’s work is included in prominent collections throughout the Southeast and has been exhibited in solo and groups shows in Nashville, Los Angeles, London, New York, Berlin, and Miami.
KJ Schumacher. c034, 2020. Collage.
Holiday LIGHTS
November 21, 2020 – January 10, 2021
Savor the sights and sounds of the season at Cheekwood and make lasting holiday memories with fun activities for all ages. Our enchanting Holiday LIGHTS experience was voted the best event in Nashville by Nashville Scene and is Nashville’s favorite holiday tradition, with one mile of lights glowing throughout the gardens. And visitors every weekend can take part in Holiday at Cheekwood festivities, including Santa visits, gingerbread decorating and meeting Santa’s reindeer. This year only, experience Holiday LIGHTS with the addition of Chihuly at Cheekwood lit up throughout the estate.