As we get ready for our six 2023 STATE Studio artist recipients to move in to their studios on July 1st we are committed to raising $12,000 to solidify our 2023 program. Thanks to a generous anonymous donor - we will MATCH your total giving up to $12,000. Can you join us to help us raise the additional $6,000 needed to match their challenge before the end of June?

The important work we do is made possible by donors like you who give whatever they can to demonstrate their belief in our mission. Please help us meet this challenge and make a difference for emerging artist in the Nashville community!

Over the course of its first two years, STATE Gallery + Studios has helped advance the trajectory of fine art in Nashville. The only program of its kind, STATE has cultivated the careers of 13 individual artists over 24 months, providing them with three vital resources: a year of subsidized space, a solo exhibition and consistent artistic mentorship.

Last year, 72%. of our recipients were from underserved groups; this year, that number has risen to 100%. We are proud to welcome in our six new artists and look forward to expanding the scope of the program's offerings.

MEET THIS YEAR'S ARTISTS

SAI CLAYTON is a Nashville-based artist whose work deals with racial hyperawareness, the transcultural experience, and American biraciality, in hopes of these themes relating to others. Sai seeks to “actualize the racial representation that I sought as a child by creating visibility of the American biracial experience. My work is very therapeutic in this way– at the most basic level my artwork soothes my soul and expresses feelings and concepts that feel more authentically conveyed visually rather than through words. I hope my transcultural perspective invites other biracial Americans to embrace the nuances of their ethnic heritage.” Her interest in STATE began two years ago: “I first heard about the STATE residency program through social media during its first year.

T.C. CARRUTHERS is a multimedia artist and fashion designer originally from Memphis TN, T.C. draws heavily on their upbringing for inspiration when conceptualizing their work, which often takes the form of collage. “I’m from Memphis, and a lot of people from Memphis don’t really get far with their dreams, mainly because we’re fighting just to survive everyday. I love creating art and characters that look like me and represent where I come from because it gives hope to the younger generation.” While at The Forge, T.C. looks forward to branching out into screen printing, building panels in the wood shop, and delving deep into the mentorship process to grow their work. Later this year, T. C. will participate in an exhibition with The Frist Museum highlighting the prevalence of Black collage artists. An often overlooked type of expression, collage remains culturally relevant as a found or outsider art form; T.C.'s practice of collage exemplifies their mission to showcase creativity despite a lack of resources.

HANNAH EINHORN is currently working in a combination of collage, painting, ceramic, and sculpture materials, Hannah Einhorn describes her recent practice as an in-depth exploration of “fear, neuroticism, safety, and the home, and how these concepts interact with gender and societal perception.” Her inspiration stems from personal experience, film, political landscapes, and most of all - her assemblage of a vast array of materials. While she would like to explore all of the resources The Forge has to offer, most of all, Hannah looks forward to the collective aspect - in her application to STATE, she writes, “I am so encouraged by how community-oriented the artists at the Forge are and I would be honored to be part of that this year.

JERNICYA ONYEKWELU is originally from Memphis, TN, Jernicya is a 21-year old artist and senior art student at Middle Tennessee State University whose work explores African and African American identity through culturally significant color, textiles, pattern and traditional dress. As Jernicya states, “My artwork is inspired by my research of different cultures and ethnicities; I hope to provide representation of people of color and indigenous tribes. Through this program, I will be able to further my skills as an emerging artist though producing original artworks of different scales and higher quality within the studio space. I will have room to research, practice, and create artwork that represents me as an artist." During her residency, Jernicya also intends to utilize our wood shop to begin building her own canvas stretcher bars and panels from scratch, components that she has always wished to add to her practice. With the resources of The Forge and access to tutelage, Jernicya will be able to realize her process from true start to finish.

BROOKE SCHNEIDER works with materials that have cultural and historical significance, including cotton, indigo, sourced textiles, handmade paper, natural pigments, found materials, clay, and teabag paper. Brooke utilizes processes that reference historical trades and incorporate repetitive acts of labor, like hand sewing, natural dying, paper making, and hand building. Originally from Greenville, South Carolina, Brooke’s own heritage merges with her concepts; or, as she describes, “My practice looks closely at the traces of labor found in lived experiences, memory, history, and the land. My art practice is personal, and I consider my work to be documentary, not because it is entirely faithful to historical fact but because it is speculative while investigating the intricacies of collective and cultural memory and myth.”

ALENA MEHIC is originally from Zavidovići, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Alena considers herself an interdisciplinary artist, but primarily uses oil and acrylic paint on canvas and panel. In her work, she explores ideas of utopia, world- building, and collective memory politics. Describing her experience as an immigrant and how The Forge would transform her practice, Alena relates, "I think possessing an immigrant status inherently makes one feel like they're stuck in between two places, but losing a homeland to violence adds an additional political layer to it all that warrants even more investigation.

STATE Studio 2023

By The Forge Nashville

STATE Studio 2023

Support our 2023 State Scholarship Program with a one to one match!

Team Members