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The Art House Gallery & Studio is unique to Nashville as it is the only gallery focused solely on the work of local artists. While the definition the Art House assigns to “local” is a broad one—John Hung Ha, one of its top-selling artists, currently lives in Brooklyn, but grew up in Nashville—the Art House is committed to its community and the people that make it up. Located in a small bungalow home dating back to 19__, the Art House is part of the 12th Avenue South district, an oasis of small, eclectic businesses, many of which are housed in converted homes like this one. |
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The Art House Gallery & Studio – Becca Durnin
The Art House Gallery & Studio is unique to Nashville as it is the only gallery focused solely on the work of local artists. While the definition the Art House assigns to “local” is a broad one—John Hung Ha, one of its top-selling artists, currently lives in Brooklyn, but grew up in Nashville—the Art House is committed to its community and the people that make it up.
Located in a small bungalow home dating back to 19__, the Art House is part of the 12th Avenue South district, an oasis of small, eclectic businesses, many of which are housed in converted homes like this one. The architecture of the Art House lends a feeling of comfort to the space, a feeling that is not exactly what one expects when one walks into a gallery. While the walls are, for the most part, white (a couple are purple and blue), the other aspects that one may associate with a gallery space have been eliminated. Sterility and stuffiness are traded in for a sense of home.
Christy Shuff and Whitney Ferre, co-owners of the Art House, each owned separate businesses in the 12 South District before joining forces three years ago. In 1996, at the age of 26, Ferre opened the Creative Fitness Center, a space dedicated to giving both children and adults a location to exercise their creativity through art classes and workshops. In 2001, then 28-year-old Shuff opened Rumours Gallery down the street from the Creative Fitness Center. Three years later, Ferre and Shuff decided to combine their businesses under one roof. The Art House was formed.
Situated next door to Shuff’s first gallery, the Art House is both a gallery and a studio, a space where art is both made and sold. The Art House’s next-door neighbor is Ferre and Shuff’s second shared business, Rumours Wine & Art Bar. The wine bar was opened as an extension of the gallery, a way to bring more people to art. Today, it is Nashville’s premier wine bar.
When it comes to its artists, the Art House is less concerned with lengthy resumes and more concerned with the art itself. Because of its focus on providing a place for young, emerging artists to display their work, several of Nashville’s top artists of the day, such as Julia Martin and Trevor, began their artistic careers at the Art House. Today, its roster of artists is an exciting combination of more established local artists and up-and-coming ones. The seductive, large-scale mixed media paintings of local favorite Mandy Lawson hang alongside the intimate, expressive portraits by 24-year-old Margaret Elliott; Caryn Cast’s gorgeous pastel women are found next to co-owner, Whitney Ferre’s, bright, textured canvases. The artists represented by the Art House display the vast range of local talent as well as the energy of Nashville’s growing art community.
When one first steps into the Art House, he or she is immediately greeted with the gallery space, which occupies the main floor. The studio side of the Art House is a bit more difficult to find—it is tucked above and below the gallery—but it is an integral component of the Art House. Upstairs, in the Art House’s attic, one finds the painting studio, where artists represented by the gallery teach classes in painting, drawing and pastels to adults. Downstairs, in the basement, one finds a full-fledged pottery studio. The Art House encourages all who enter its doors—not just its professional artists—to satisfy their creative urges, and provides them the space in which to do so. As a result, the Art House’s gallery and studio work hand-in-hand to create a place where local art is both celebrated and created.
