Statements

Mission

To provide affordable, world-class art education to students of all ages, abilities and income levels in the historic heart of North Nashville. Buchanan Arts believes that all lives are improved through contact to art - some dramatically. We also believe that a city with affordable access to meaningful art education is a better place to live. Buchanan Arts increases access to high-quality visual art instruction. Buchanan Arts creates positive art experiences for students of all ages, abilities and income levels by offering affordable after school and continuing-ed programming led by top-notch instructors in professional grade facilities. The confidence and skills students gain will illuminate paths to rewarding careers in a wide array of creative fields and build self confidence through personal growth. Through rigorous programming with an emphasis on community access and engagement, Buchanan Arts will help elevate the arts in our city and take a position of leadership in affordable community-based education.

Background

Buchanan Arts was established as a 501c3 nonprofit in May of 2021, with planning initiated by artist/educator John Donovan and artist Alex Lockwood in October of 2020. Early in the planning, Buchanan Arts was envisioned as a safe space for the cultivation of creativity in the heart of North Nashville, servicing adult and youth students who might not have access to outlets for self expression. Before the end of the year in 2020, artist/educator Kristi Hargrove joined the team, helping develop a curricular strategy that would offer something new to the existing community education landscape in Nashville. Early in 2021, positions on the Board of Directors were filled by leaders in the Nashville business community and regional creative leaders. In July 2021, housed in a 2500 square foot studio initially designed for the production of ceramic tableware, Buchanan Arts opened its doors to the public, offering adult continuing education classes, weekend workshops and holding a national invitational exhibition of cutting-edge contemporary ceramic art "States of Clay" at Elephant Gallery. Designed to establish Buchanan Arts as a competitive, forward-looking community art resource, the July launch featured world-class artwork and talent in a hands-on setting for students to more directly access the potential rewards available through creative practice. This theme has been reiterated at following events, including participatory art-making opportunities at Open Streets Nashville 2021 and a Holiday Art Sale featuring the work of noteworthy regionally and nationally recognized artists.

Impact

Buchanan Arts has successfully established itself as a leader in creating high-quality art education opportunities by planning and executing a national survey of contemporary ceramic art, introducing our community neighbors to the work of many nationally recognized artists and inspiring individuals to actively engage in creative learning opportunities. Buchanan Arts has successfully implemented a series of adult continuing education art courses, 3 ceramics classes running 16 weeks long from August to December 2021, and 4 courses (ceramics, collage & book arts) running 8 weeks from January to March and again from March to May 2022. An enthusiastic turn out of participating community members attended an open house event in July and during Open Streets Nashville in October, both of which provided hands-on creative opportunities for attendees. In November of 2021, the first annual Holiday Art Sale made available the work of over thirty regional artists/craftspeople to our community. In January 2022, Buchanan Arts will host the pre-board meeting hands-on creative experience for members of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville, and a formal internship program with the Department of Art at Austin Pea State University will be launched. In March 2022, Buchanan Arts will occupy a second teaching space in the neighboring Elephant Gallery building, allowing for a wider variety of courses and opening up the opportunity for after school programming for middle and high school students.

Needs

Currently, upgrades to our facility to allow for after school programming are needed in the way of plumbing and ventilation, a utility sink installation ($2000) and kiln ventilation hoods ($6000) are both integral to our moving forward. Payroll funds for securing experienced/talented artist/teachers are also in demand, as our plan is to compensate artists at a competitive rate to broaden our pool of talent. Our current salary for adult continuing education instructors is $1500/8 week class ($31.25/hour), and roughly $2000/month for artist/instructors in our Young Artists Program. If fully staffed, our YAP faculty would require roughly $24,000 in payroll per semester, $48,000/year. Fundraising for our YAP is essential, as our tuition/fees for after school classes will potentially be deeply discounted through substantial financial aid. Costs associated with our facility (utilities & rent) will become a significant financial need in our second year of operation, when an in-kind donation of rent ($3500/month) and utilities ($400-$750/month) will no longer be available. General funds of roughly $1000 are needed on a monthly basis for materials/tools/equipment associated with the delivery of our courses.

CEO Statement

Buchanan Arts is founded on the mission of providing world-class art education experiences to youth and adult students in North Nashville. We are also equally committed to providing teaching opportunities to artist who might not have the chance to serve as mentors in a meaningful way due to lack of terminal degree or access to established educational institutions. Everybody involved in the process, our students, teaching artists, staff and administrators will be actively engaged in creating a safe space for cultivating creativity for all involved. At Buchanan Arts, there are no sidelines, everyone is in the game.

Board Chair Statement

Buchanan Arts benefits from a board of directors populated by committed professionals from the art, education and business community who all have a sincere commitment to our mission statement and actively assist in implementation of our programming. We are committed to vital, contemporary artists/art educators steering our curriculum, which is why several seats on our board are reserved for active members of that community. We are equally committed to the successful accomplishment of project goals, which is why the remaining seats on our board are populated by members of the business community familiar with maintaining a timeline and budget for dynamic projects. A smaller advisory board has been established with the singular purpose of evaluating on an annual basis all programming efforts as they relate to our core mission and values. As we launch our first year of programming, we are indeed lucky to have a committed team of professionals interested in making Buchanan Arts a reality, each providing valuable assistance by way of their unique set of skills and abilities.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Arts Education
Secondary Category:	Education  - Secondary & High Schools
Tertiary Category:	Community Improvement, Capacity Building  - Urban & Community Economic Development

Areas Served

Located on Buchanan Street, Buchanan Arts serves the North Nashville community as much as possible, by providing creative opportunity to students and adults from and adjacent to the neighborhood. While we are happy & excited to offer after school programming to middle and high school students from the greater Nashville area, our mission statement mandates that we make every effort to ensure students from our immediate community have access to our classes and teaching artists.

TN - Davidson