CITY Issue 55 - (Page 60) ART CHANGE OF TUNE Although country is still king in Nashville, a thriving new arts scene is taking shape downtown, attracting both local and national artists to the Music City. Kristine Hansen peeks into the galleries of a Fifth Avenue down south. J eff Rymer saw the potential immediately. In a city known for the G and Ole Op y, the Count y Music Hall of Fame, and honky-tonk ba s galo e, anothe fo m of cultu e — this one not so musical — had a chance to b eak th ough in Nashville: fi ne a t. So Ryme , a vete an of Chicago’s a t scene, whe e the Betty Ryme Galle y inside the t Institute of Chicago is named fo his late mothe , sold his house in the Windy City and moved to the Music City, whe e a small a ts dist ict was just sta ting to eme ge in the city’s downtown a ea. long with cu ato and sculpto He b Williams, Ryme then emba ked on a oad t ip with a mission: to fi nd a tists inte ested in exhibiting in Nashville, many as thei fi st show in the egion. The duo visited a total of galle ies f om New o k to tlanta to Chicago. Today, many of thei discove ies, including wo k by New o k a tist Hunt Slonem, a Tennessee native who le the state du ing the s, a e on display at The Ryme Galle y ( Sixth ve. N., -, www.the yme galle y.com), which opened in Septembe adjacent to the He mitage Hotel. This sp ing, the contempo a y-focused galle y elocates to a , squa e-foot space at Fi h ve. N., in the hea t of a neighbo hood al eady pumping with a tistic talent. “I was angling to get that space fo two yea s because I knew downtown Nashville was going to wake up,” says Ryme . “We’ e kind of li ing the ba . The a t we’ e ep esenting he e is egional and national.” Indeed, in the past two yea s, both homeg own and out-of-town a tists a e fi nding new galle ies like Ryme ’s to show thei wo k on Fi h venue, ecently enamed Fi h venue of the ts, fo the blocks between Chu ch and Union st eets. On the fi st Satu day of the month, galle ies stay open late, hosting a t love s with wine, snacks, and (what else?) live tunes. ecent visit to the a ea happened to fall on Fi st t Satu day: Music, conve sation, and laughte spilled into the st eets, while p ices fo much of the a t emained affo dable, with many pieces hove ing a ound . While The Ryme Galle y emains a top d aw, he e a e a few mo e wo th d opping into on you next visit to Nashville: The rts Company th ve. N., ( ) , .a tscompan .com Opened yea s ago, the ts Company focuses on up-and-coming a tists, many of whom live locally o have egional oots. Two floo s (a total of , squa e feet) a e fi lled with a mix of sculptu e, potte y, landscape a t, and photog aphy. This yea , a monthly se ies called “The t of Books” will inte p et the impo tance of new and vintage books in a tists’ lives. CITY 60: MPH you can reach in 5.1 seconds with the all-new BMW 135i Coupe http://www.artscompany.com
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