Event Calendar - Frist Art Museum

Aug 15

A surreal painting of figures and objects melting.

Art History Lecture: “The Surrealist Movement: Its History, Mission, and Legacy”

Saturday, August 15, 2026, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Auditorium; Free for members; gallery admission required for not-yet members

Join Dr. Leonard Folgarait (distinguished professor, emeritus, of history of art and architecture at Vanderbilt University) for a closer look at the surrealist art movement, presented in conjunction with International Surrealism from Tate: Fifty Years of Dreams. Read More

Lectures + Gallery Talks

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Aug 20

Two girls move through a corridor with a sunflower.

Gallery Talk: “Beyond the Muse: The Women of Surrealism”

Thursday, August 20, 2026, 6:30–7:30 p.m.

Ingram Gallery; Free for members; gallery admission is required for not-yet members

Join Caroline Yates, the Frist Art Museum’s 2025–26 Susan H. Edwards Curatorial Fellow, for “Beyond the Muse: The Women of Surrealism,” a gallery talk that reconsiders the history of Surrealism through the work of its remarkable women artists. Read More

Lectures + Gallery Talks

Aug 27

A colorful striped graphic with the words

PechaKucha Vol. 53: The Dialogue of Space

Thursday, August 27, 2026, 6:00–8:00 p.m.

Auditorium; Free for Frist Art Museum and Civic Design Center members; $20 for not-yet members; Space is limited; registration is required

This edition of PechaKucha will explore the ongoing dialogue between our ideas and the physical spaces we inhabit. Read More

Lectures + Gallery Talks

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Sep 10

Two women look at an art tapestry with music notes on it.

Artist’s Perspective: “What Gets Amplified” with Raven Chacon

Thursday, September 10, 2026, 6:30–7:30 p.m.

Auditorium; Free for members; $20 for not-yet members

Join us in the auditorium for an evening with composer and multimedia artist Raven Chacon to learn more about Chacon’s recent works. Read More

Lectures + Gallery Talks

Register

Sep 25

An abstract technology based artwork with geometric shapes and bright colors.

Shimmer Symposium Keynote Conversation: Art, Technology, and the Posthuman Imagination

Friday, September 25, 2026, 6:00–7:00 p.m.

Auditorium Free for members and students; $20 for not-yet members Space is limited; registration is required and opens August 24

This conversation features Mark Scala, chief curator at the Frist Art Museum, in conversation with Christiane Paul, curator of digital art at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Tina Rivers Ryan, an internationally renowned expert on the history of art and technology. Together, they will explore how digital technologies are transforming artistic practice and shaping new ways of thinking about art, technology, and the posthuman. Read More

Lectures + Gallery Talks

Sep 26

Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman—A Symposium on Art, Technology, and Empathic World Building

Saturday, September 26, 2026, 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Auditorium; $18 for students; $25 for members; $45 for not-yet members; Space is limited; registration is required

Presented in conjunction with Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman, this symposium brings together leading artists, curators, and scholars for a day of thought-provoking conversations. Panelists will offer a contextual framework for the exhibition by discussing how, using both analog and digital technologies, art can give emotional resonance to such themes as… Read More

Lectures + Gallery Talks

Oct 16

The silhouette of a woman looks at an art projection of flowers.

Conversation: In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers

Friday, October 16, 2026, 12:00–1:00 p.m.

Auditorium; Free for members; $20 for not-yet members; Registration is required and opens September 14

After experiencing In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers—The Memory of a Season, join collaborators Robin Vuchnich, a new-media artist, and Emily Meineke, assistant professor of urban landscape entomology at the University of California, Davis, as they discuss the creative partnership behind the exhibition. Read More

Lectures + Gallery Talks