The Metro Nashville Arts Commission (Metro Arts) has announced an expansion of their Lending Library Collection at the Nashville Public Library, as reported by the Nashville Office of Arts + Culture. This celebration is set to open with fifty-three new artworks at the Mezzanine Gallery of the Main Branch. Starting July 11, these pieces will be displayed until August 16, with an opening reception scheduled for July 18 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm.
The program, which originated as a part of a Metro Arts partnership with the Nashville Public Library, was established in 2021 and originally featured sixty works of local art available for the public to check out for up to three months at a time. The initiative aimed at providing immediate financial aid to artists affected by the March 2020 tornado and the COVID-19 pandemic. Metro Arts purchased this collection of sixty works from artists in Nashville and then made them available for checkout at two library branches, Madison and Southeast. However, the program is now growing.
Dr. Paulette Coleman, Metro Arts Interim Executive Director, emphasized the program's impact on the community, saying via the Nashville.gov news report, "The tremendous success of the Lending Library speaks to the desire of Nashvillians to experience art in the many places they live and work." She added, "We are excited to see this program reach even more of our community with the expansion of the collection to five new branches because all Nashvillians deserve access to a vibrant creative life."
With the new expansion, the Lending Library will now encompass five branches across Davidson County: Donelson, Green Hills, Old Hickory, Hermitage, and East. According to the official statement, this move is designed to make professional artwork more accessible to a larger public audience and to support local artists further directly. The fifty-three new pieces acquired for the expansion were all created by artists from Davidson County, enhancing the local focus of the program.
The Lending Library initiative has been backed financially by Metro Nashville’s Percent for Public Art Fund, a solution set up under Mayor Bill Purcell in 2000 that earmarks one percent of designated project funds in the Metro Capital Improvements Budget towards creating public artworks.
