Nashville Arts Magazine

Nashville’s Cumberland Gallery will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary in April of this year. Always on the forefront of the art scene in Nashville, the gallery is pairing with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to create The Food Show, an exhibit to raise awareness and funds for the non-profit from February 6–27. It is a grass-roots effort of artists who live in Middle Tennessee or its environs, including Andrew Saftel, Dane Carter, Jeff Danley, Kit Reuther, Marilyn Murphy, Jim Phalen and Billy Renkl. Fifteen percent of all show sales will go to the Second Harvest Food Bank. Show organizers ask that anyone coming to the opening, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 6, bring a can or a box of food or make a cash donation to Second Harvest. Caterers will provide snacks and hors d’oeuvres at The Food Show opening.

The idea came about this summer. And there was food involved. “It was during a pizza and beer party we had at the gallery. Many of our artists came, and we brainstormed to come up with ideas for shows,” said Cumberland owner Carol Stein. “We had a whole list of concept shows interfacing with the community and partnering with non-profits. This one is the second partnership fundraiser. The first one was with Tennessee Parks and Greenways, which was very successful.”

Stein said the concept shows give artists the opportunity to give back to the community and allow them to expand their horizons in terms of images. “There are a couple of people who are in the food show who have never painted food before,” she said.

Tasha Kennard, Second Harvest’s director of marketing and communications, agrees the show is a good thing. She says, “During a time when we’re experiencing an all-time high demand for food bank services, it’s critical for us to have partners like Cumberland Gallery to sustain our program in the community.” Second Harvest distributes over 40 million pounds of food a year, and demand is up 38 percent from last year.

Artist Billy Renkl relates art and food in this way: “The connection between what the gallery does and what a food bank does is especially poignant, and I’m really glad to be part of this show. Art isn’t ‘useful’ in the way that food is, but it feeds a real hunger in viewers, for something beautiful or meaningful.”

And so it follows, Cumberland Gallery is offering up a little comfort food for the soul.