In plain sight! An en plein air artist pays homage to our local art colony by showing what it was like when the original artists settled here.
Home, home on the range. Brown County has not always been the modern hub of tourism it is now, but it has always been a place of community and local artisans.
The Nashville Arts and Entertainment Commission, Pioneer Women and Brown County History Center are working together to present the Living Art Colony. It is a four-Friday and four-month project with the intent of drawing people into the heart of Nashville to reflect on Brown County traditions as artisans, artists and musicians, and to bring awareness to the Pioneer Village and History Center, Nashville Arts and Entertainment Commission President Melanie Voland said.
“We determined we would have these four Fridays that would be intergenerational, a mix of both traditional music, art and craft demonstrations, storytelling, blacksmithing, en plein air painters, textile crafters and really anyone who fit within that niche of things,” said Voland. “Our idea was, we would have two short afternoons that coincided with the monthly art walk, and then would have two long dates.”
While two of the dates have already passed, Aug. 23 and Sept. 27, there are still two more opportunities to see the Living Art Colony this year.
Upcoming dates are Oct. 25 from 4 to 7 p.m. and Nov. 29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pioneer Village by the Brown County History Center (90 E. Gould Street).
The event on Sept. 27 was focused on educating the children from local elementary schools and Brown County Middle School who visited on a field trip.
Voland estimated between 75 and 100 people in attendance at the first three-hour event in August. She said that this is the first year they have put the event together with hopes to make it an annual thing.
“Everyone is dressed in period costume from roughly 1890 to 1925 and the Pioneer Women are operating the weaving room and the cabin, giving tours and explaining what kind of textile crafts were done at the time.”
The next event on Oct. 25 will include textile crafts, blacksmithing, an apothecarist, storytellers, en plein air artists and traditional musicians. The event will lead into the Village Art Walk in Nashville.
The last date in November is scheduled to focus on traditional holiday themes.
“Some people dress up as costumed characters from old Nashville, others dress in period costume from the pioneer era,” said Voland.
People interested in volunteering can show up in costume, or contact the Nashville Arts and Entertainment Commission by contacting Town Hall and leaving a message for the commission at (812) 988-5526.
“It is really immersive, entertaining, interesting and quite the learning experience for people,” Voland said. “And that’s another thing we would like to see is to let our young people know that they too can take on learning these traditional crafts and keep these traditions, especially those specific to Brown County alive and well into the future. We want to foster that intergenerational sharing of information, knowledge and enthusiasm for these kinds of things and focus on our cultural district and bring attention to that. If you want to just come and be a part of the village experience, just come in your costume and hang out with us, stroll around, talk to people just like you are a village member. It really was quite charming and a very lovely experience.”
