In October, the Janet Levine March Gallery will feature the work of the Tennessee Art League. Founded in Nashville in 1954, the Tennessee Art League (TAL) is a nonprofit visual arts organization dedicated to creating opportunities for artists to exhibit, connect, learn, and grow. For more than seven decades, TAL has supported Tennessee's visual arts community through exhibitions, educational opportunities, artist development, and community engagement.
TAL welcomes artists across experience levels, from those beginning their creative journeys to established professional artists. That openness has been part of the organization's identity throughout its history: creating opportunities for artists to show their work, engage with other artists and art enthusiasts, and continue developing their artistic practice.
Today, the Tennessee Art League continues that legacy while expanding how it connects artists with Nashville's broader cultural community. Through exhibitions, partnerships, programming, and collaborative opportunities, TAL works to create spaces where artists can be seen, where new voices can emerge, and where visual art can encourage conversation, connection, and discovery.
Art belongs in community—and TAL exists to help artists become part of that community.
The title of this exhibition is "IDENTITY: Between Mask and Memory.” The works in this exhibition approach identity from many directions—personal history, ancestry, culture, gender, spirituality, memory, belonging, transformation, and self-perception. Some may speak directly. Others may communicate through abstraction, material, symbolism, portraiture, or metaphor.
Together, they ask us to consider: What do we reveal? What do we carry? What has been passed down to us? And what parts of ourselves are we still becoming?
IDENTITY: Between Mask and Memory invites us not only to see one another, but to look more closely at the layers, histories, and experiences that make each of us who we are.
The JLMG2 Gallery will feature the art of Eileen Wallach. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Eileen is a self-taught mixed-media artist, visionary non-profit leader, and advocate for creative healing. Her intricate fine art practice bridges contemporary acrylic painting and deep spiritual traditions, using a vibrant palette, detailed penwork, and diverse mixed media to explore the therapeutic and meditative power of visual expression.
Her artistic journey began in the 1980s during a pivotal women's gathering in the woods. Surrounded by nature, she discovered a profound connection to the earth by painting rocks and natural objects—an experience that sparked a lifelong dedication to the visual arts. In her early years, she was intuitively drawn to "dotting," a meticulous technique inspired by indigenous spiritual practices. For Eileen, the repetitive, focused nature of dotting became a vital form of mindfulness, as sitting for long periods of time quieted her mind and gave her a deeply peaceful space.
This profound personal transformation ultimately inspired her to bring the healing power of creativity to the wider community. Today, she is the CEO and Founder of Your Heart on Art, a Nashville-based nonprofit organization that uses the language of art to help individuals struggling from grief, fear, pain, and trauma "Art"iculate what they cannot express in traditional talk therapy. Deeply committed to accessible creativity, she also works closely with individuals struggling with cognitive decline, empowering them to create art entirely through their own choice and direction.
Over the decades, her creative practice has earned notable recognition in the contemporary art community. A landmark achievement in her career includes being selected for the prestigious GuitarTown public art project in Nashville, where she meticulously decorated an entire large-scale guitar sculpture with her signature dotting technique. Further establishing her artistic merit, her work was selected for the acclaimed Tri-State National Annual Juried Exhibition hosted by the Beaumont Art League. Through both her studio practice and her non-profit leadership, Eileen continues to invite others into a world of patience, healing, and spiritual reflection.
The Sig Held Gallery will feature the art of the Jewish Family Service’s OMA program. Helping Hands through Art is a program of Jewish Family Service of Nashville that utilizes an OMA (Opening Minds through Art) trained facilitator who builds bridges across age and cognitive barriers through art. OMA is an award-winning intergenerational art-making program for people with neurocognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
During the opening night reception of the show, the artists and their family members will be on hand to answer specific questions about their choices of paint colors, or to talk about the process of creating art.
The Senior Lounge will feature the work of Peggy Snow. Peggy embodies the art of plein air painting, spending months capturing architectural treasures of contemporary, and for the last 30 years, of bygone Nashville. Her work is both historic and archival in nature. Her style is inspired by Van Gogh, yet her signature style is all her own.
The House gallery will feature the Under One Roof collaborative exhibit.
The Exhibition Dates are Oct. 3 – Nov. 2. The Artist reception will be held on Oct. 14 from 6-8 p.m. and feature music by DJ Joseph Harris, Henna artist, and a special event of hair specialists doing Fairy Hair for a special cost.
The exhibitions are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the GJCC at (615)-354-1699, Curator Carrie Mills at carrie@nashvillejcc.org, or go to www.nashvillejcc.org.
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