For 20 years, Tinney Contemporary Gallery has helped shape Nashville’s visual arts landscape, evolving from intimate living-room pop-ups into a cornerstone of the Downtown Arts District. As founder Susan Tinney celebrates the gallery’s milestone anniversary with “TINNEY/20,” we caught up with her to talk about early risks, art and relationships worth investing in, and what’s ahead for one of the city’s most influential contemporary art spaces.
Tinney Contemporary began as pop-up exhibitions in living rooms. How did that become what it is today?
I began this journey simply interested in showing and selling the work of my local artist friends. The easiest and most affordable place to do that was in my home or the homes of generous art-loving friends.
After doing several of these over the years, I started contemplating expanding my interest into something more permanent. In 2006, a very forward-thinking developer had the idea of anchoring the Kress Building with an art gallery, and I was approached with a proposal that became the starting point for the gallery.
Having a gallery is not for the faint of heart! When I purchased the space, there were very few people living downtown. It is crazy to look back on the early days and remember when you wouldn’t see a soul walking down 5th Avenue North on a Saturday.
“TINNEY/20” is framed as a “recollection,” rather than a retrospective. What should folks expect?
Often, a “retrospective” exhibition arrives in the latter years (or even posthumously) of an artist’s career. By calling it a “recollection,” we intentionally imply that we look forward to many more years as a reliable cultural pillar in the fine arts community of Nashville and the Southeast.
Some of the artists represented in the “TINNEY/20” exhibition have been working with the gallery since day one. Others have only just shown with us for the first time in the last year. It’s a comprehensive exhibition of local artists who’ve helped define who we have been and who we are today.
We continue to offer programming in our space (and beyond) that speaks to broader conversations and global trends in contemporary art. And as always, we strive to feature local talent and bring in artists from around the country who intrigue and spark curiosity in our collectors and viewers.
Featuring more than 50 Tennessee-based artists, “TINNEY/20” feels both expansive and deeply local. Can you tell us more about it?
“TINNEY/20” features 52 artists who are living and working in Tennessee (with the exception of two artists who are no longer living but whose estates are represented by the gallery). With 20 years behind us, including nearly 200 total exhibitions, we knew we couldn’t feasibly include everyone who has shown with the gallery, so we had to set parameters.
We were also thinking about the Frist Art Museum’s upcoming exhibition, In Her Place: Nashville Artists in the 21st Century, and considering how there could be cross-pollination of promotion and community engagement. Several of the artists included in our exhibition are also featured in “In Her Place.”
Additionally, it was important for us to feature artists who are still actively working, speaking to our commitment to exhibiting contemporary work. Because of the sheer number of artists involved, we put a size limit on the individual pieces so everyone could be exhibited together as a collective in the gallery’s front room.
How has having a permanent home changed your relationship to artists, collectors, and the surrounding neighborhood?
When I finally had a permanent location, it was clear that the level of commitment in representing the artists and their respective careers had to shift from something that was just of-the-moment and informal to something much more defined and refined.
The artist/gallerist relationship is, in my opinion, critical to the success of both the artist’s career and the gallery’s. You have to trust each other. It’s a responsibility and honor that we take very seriously.
It has always been my hope that by providing a platform for artists to do what they do best, we could help continue to build a bridge to an engaged artistic community. We’ve always been keenly aware that we couldn’t do it alone and have strived to work with the creative community to acknowledge that we are much better when we work together.
The opening coincides with the Downtown Arts District’s Second Saturday Art Crawl. What does it mean to celebrate this milestone in the midst of that kind of public, shared energy?
We were one of the three galleries that started what was called the “First Saturday Art Crawl” 20 years ago. We are the only original gallery still standing, but I’d be remiss not to mention The Arts Company and Anne Brown, who were so important to the beginning of the visual arts on 5th Avenue.
What we created collaboratively was incredible and lasted as a city-wide event for almost two decades. With the beautiful renovation of The Arcade, the downtown art galleries decided it was time for a rebrand and a change to our opening night. That’s how DADA (Downtown Arts District Alliance) and the Second Saturday Art Crawl began.
We are thrilled that Art in the Arcade, 10 vibrantly run individual art studios and their engaging monthly programming, along with other galleries, studios, and museum-run art galleries, are also a part of the Second Saturday openings.
You are honoring the past with “TINNEY/20.” What does the next chapter of the gallery look like?
One of our central philosophies is to showcase a diversity of artists and the work they make. We are paying attention to how the larger art market is shifting and adjusting accordingly.
We’re very attuned to Nashville’s growing population and expanding commercial development. We are constantly working to be the go-to resource of contemporary art for those who call this city home.
What would people be most surprised to learn about you?
I have a science background — an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree in biology. And I spent the majority of my other career in the biotech industry. In the lean years of the gallery, this was critical to its staying afloat.
People often ask how I started the gallery with this background, and it’s a pretty easy story. I was raised in a very creative family, with artists, writers, and musicians, so I naturally gravitated toward the arts as my happy, familiar place.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
I was taught at a young age to “Trust your instincts.” It has served me well in so many instances, both personally and professionally. I have a great memory from the gallery during the period after the 2007 market crash. I was pouring money into it to keep it going, and I would go on these long morning walks at Radnor Lake with a group of friends.
After months of daily conversations about the struggles, one of my friends suggested I “just let the gallery go.” I can’t tell you what shifted in me, but I really thought about it — I’m going to “let it go,” and if it makes it, it makes it. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.
I knew I’d done the hard work and felt in my gut it would make it, but I had to be willing to let it happen on its own, without me financing its survival. I guess the rest is history!
Outside of faith, family, and friends, what are three things you can’t live without?
My morning walks at Radnor Lake. Lemons. The sound of my husband bringing me coffee in bed every morning.
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