FirstBank First Saturday Art Crawl spotlights Nashville art scene
This article was provided by North Point Hospitality, who developed the new tri-brand Marriott hotel now open in Nashville.
Nashville is a city for the arts. Known worldwide as Music City for such institutions as the Ryman Auditorium, Fisk Jubilee Singers, and the Nashville Symphony, Nashville offers an abundance of artistic expression with both performance and visual arts.
Nashville has long celebrated the arts and education and through the years has developed monuments to the arts. The Parthenon, the Carl Van Vechten Gallery at Fisk University, and the Frist Art Museum have all grown followings from art lovers and explorers both locally and internationally. 12 years ago, the city looked for an outlet to encourage art enthusiasts and collectors to visit the burgeoning art galleries that were cropping up downtown. Thus, the monthly art crawl was born.
Fifth Avenue has always been a very significant street in Nashville’s history. It was once the center of Nashville’s Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s with lunch-counter sit-ins taking place at prominent lunch spots like Woolworth. After years of decline, the street got the attention of prominent Nashville architect and art collector Ron Gobbell of GHP. After purchasing a building for office space, he looked for opportunities to showcase the street level space with something that would attract locals. He was approached by Dr. Anne Brown to create a gallery space that would encourage new collectors to visit and learn about the art she showcased in her gallery. Dr. Brown also partnered with up-and-coming artists to give them a space to show their art.
Fifth Avenue hosts many galleries included in the Art Crawl and has now become the premier art district of downtown Nashville.
Recently, the art crawl received generous support from FirstBank which is now the presenting sponsor for the event. With a three-year agreement, the sponsorship is intended to refresh the branding, update the look of Fifth Avenue, and increase the programming during the event. Held on the first Saturday of every month, the FirstBank First Saturday Art Crawl is a fun, free way to explore art in Nashville. More than a dozen venues in downtown Nashville participate in the Art Crawl with open studios, artist collectives, and pop-up events in and around the galleries. The galleries open their doors from 6:00 to 9:00 PM for the event every month. For those in Nashville with children, this is a great family-friendly event. Additionally, many of the galleries offer free drinks to guests over 21. This is a great way for locals and visitors alike to discover new and innovative art while they explore downtown Nashville. The art crawl typically welcomes around 2,000 attendees in downtown Nashville.
A visit to the FirstBank First Saturday Art Crawl should be a must-see for any traveler with plans to visit Nashville. With a strong dedication to artistic spaces, the new design-driven SpringHill Suites/Residence Inn/AC Hotel is the perfect hotel to help guests understand the art crawl and the growing art scene in Nashville. While offering areas for reflecting within the hotel, the AC Hotel team is a group of experts when suggesting where to find contemplative spots for the curious traveller. The team can provide guests with tips and tricks to navigate the art crawl and other features of Music City. If a stay in Nashville doesn’t line up with the art crawl schedule, guests have no need to worry. There are many art galleries in downtown Nashville which visitors can tour any day of the week.