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Nashville, TN – If you are an individual artist/artist or a community organization whose programs support Nashville residents in all forms of arts and culture, Metro Arts has some exciting events in store for you. Metro Arts is the arts and culture office for Nashville and Davidson County. Part of their notable work is helping local arts and talented artists become a more vibrant and equitable community. Metro Arts is committed to ensuring a creative life for all Nashvillers through community investments, artist and organizational training, coordination of public art and creative space creation, and direct programs that engage residents in arts and culture in all its forms.
Metro Arts Executive Director Daniel Singh answers 5 questions about upcoming events with local artists and community organizations starting this month.
forum: From what I understand, Metro Arts offers an exciting array of community-based initiatives and events for the Nashville community, especially arts individuals.
singh: We have several key events coming up. We are embarking on an ambitious cultural planning process that will look at what local artists and arts organizations need as the city grows exponentially…it’s a way of looking at how we plan for a long-term vision of what we can do for music city. In order to execute this plan, we really want to focus our efforts on the input of the community.
forum: Share listening lessons with us.
singh: We will be holding three listening sessions in late April and early May, at which artists or organizations in the community can provide feedback on their experiences, both the opportunities our funding programs offer them, and what their dreams and aspirations might be. It’s about the future and how we can do it better. We’re also very interested in looking at differences in funding. There are a lot of questions about how artists and arts organizations can have fairer access to arts funding and really focus on understanding whether arts organizations experience disparity in any way…the listening session will focus on our research on disparity…these three sessions will be right on period of April and May. But after that, we’ll have cultural planning and listening sessions, town halls and surveys, which will continue over the next year or so.
forum: It sounds like various nonprofits and community organizations could definitely benefit from these sessions. But what about individual artists, painters, sculptors, musicians, etc.? Is it the same for them?
singh: Yes, exactly. We certainly want independent artists, whether they’re painters, muralists, solo dancers, or solo musicians. If you’re an artist or an aspiring artist, or one who’s been forced to leave Nashville due to gentrification or other reasons, we want you there.
forum: Tell us about upcoming Cultivate events.
singh: Cultivate is scheduled to start on April 15th. It was launched to build, strengthen and nurture our communities in Nashville and Davidson County. This program supports direct response to immediate or urgent needs that artists or arts organizations may have due to emergencies or professional development opportunities… It is a product of our analysis of what is happening during the pandemic and what artists need at that time. We hope to further refine this information by providing applicants with up to $2,500 in funding within approximately 45 days of application.
forum: Is there a fee to participate in Cultivate or Listening Sessions or any other activities?
singh: Absolutely not. They are free to attendees. We will also provide dinner or lunch depending on which activity you sign up for. We want everyone to come and be a part of the events, network and learn about Metro Arts. We want to get to know you and hear your story… For more information on listening classes, development, difference research and more, visit our website at https://www.metroartsnashville.com/listening-sessions or www.MetroArtsNashville. com
NOTE: To listen to this interview in its entirety, visit: www.TnTribune.com
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