January 2026
Greetings, and happy birthday to the Frist Art Museum!
Twenty-five years ago, when Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr. first announced the plan to transform Nashville’s downtown post office into an art museum, he maintained it should be “a place that will bring the power of great visual arts to the center of our city and the center of our lives.” Since 2001, the museum has been dedicated to that vision. Seeking to enrich the life of our city through art, we have presented more than three hundred exhibitions of art from around the world and crafted countless in-gallery and outreach programs designed to connect art and people in meaningful ways. Early in 2026, we will welcome our five-millionth visitor.
This year we celebrate a milestone birthday, and I am amazed and humbled by how many people, inspired by the Frist’s commitment to art and connection, have become an enduring part of our community. More than 1,100 founding members—who joined on or even before April 8, 2001—remain active with us today. Each of them, along with the thousands of other visitors who participated in our opening day celebration, has fond memories of their first encounter with the museum. Now, families can count multiple generations that have experienced the museum; many who made art in Martin ArtQuest as children or displayed their creations in our school exhibitions visit us with families of their own.
To celebrate our birthday, we’ve prepared a suite of exhibitions that highlight the civic pride and cultural connections that our visitors share with us every day. We kick off with In Her Place: Nashville Artists in the Twenty-First Century, a large-scale exhibition that celebrates contemporary women artists and their collective focus on place and placemaking. Each of these Nashville-based artists has achieved national and international attention during the past twenty-five years, demonstrating just how much our city’s art scene has accomplished since the museum’s founding. It also highlights how much has changed about our museum. Those who remember our earliest years might recall that our primary focus was on importing great art; a project of this scale focused exclusively on local contemporary art is unprecedented for us. Even so, we continue to be strongly committed to bringing the finest examples of art from around the world to Nashville, opening shows of French impressionist masterpieces in February and international surrealism in May.
In anticipation of our museum’s birthday, many of you have shared your own recollections with us. Please keep them coming! In Dr. Frist’s original announcement, he called for community input, writing, “We welcome your guidance, counsel and support.” In the Conte Community Arts Gallery, we’ve organized an exhibition about the history of our building and its conversion into an art museum, and it includes a place for you to offer your memories. I hope you will let us know what the museum means to you, how it has shaped our city and community, and where you would like to see us twenty-five years from now.
June 2025
At the Frist Art Museum, we celebrate dynamism. I hope you feel this every time you walk into the building and discover exciting new exhibitions, stimulating activities, and vibrant events. Even our art deco building itself, with its repeating lines and curved motifs, expresses a sense of progress, energy, and change.
In the short span of this spring, you may have encountered dazzling French paintings from the age of impressionism, contemporary Haitian American art, and a network of African American modernists who were connected to Fisk University in Nashville. Then, poof—summer arrives and everything is new. This season, you’ll voyage to the Mediterranean, discovering the centuries long creative partnership (and rivalry) between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire; you’ll explore a sweeping history of American quilt making that presents the textiles as both practical and profound; you’ll examine meticulous renderings of everyday splendor by contemporary artist Ellen Altfest; and so much more.
At the Frist, things do indeed change quickly. Yet one of the key reasons we present art is because of its welcoming invitation to slow down. In a world that seems to be churning with change, art can even feel like an antidote, and this restorative power is expressly on display this summer. Spend some time looking closely at how Venetian painters adoringly depicted golden brocades and tufted furs; let your eyes dance across the patterning of American quilts, noting every hand-stitched thread; dwell on the details in Altfest’s precise depictions of waxy leaves, rough bark, and soft skin. Every work of art is an opportunity to take a beat, connect, recharge, and restore.
One strategy I use to slow down when looking at art is to reflect on what it takes to create a picture. Just think about the time artists devote to their subjects as they work to express them in paint, clay, or graphite. Note the care involved in beholding a thing and considering it deeply. To me, this slow, focused concentration is a sincere expression of compassion and connection, and one that it is available to us simply by taking a breath and looking closely. Let art be your invitation.
Seth Feman, PhD
Executive Director and CEO
October 2024
Art changes lives. At museums, we repeat this truism so often, we can sometimes lose sight of how significant art’s impact actually is. Indeed, the Frist Art Museum’s own vision statement hinges upon this fact—our aim is “to inspire people through art to look at their world in new ways.” Through our vast array of exhibitions; enriching programs, classes, talks, and tours; and wide-ranging artmaking activities offered both in the museum and at partner sites throughout the greater Nashville area, the Frist strives to broaden perspectives, helping us appreciate that beauty and complexity are all around us.
But did you know that every time you look at art, you are quite literally transformed? This change isn’t limited to learning about diverse cultures, appreciating different ways of thinking, or connecting with people who are new to you, although all of that certainly happens. Recent research, much of which has been gathered by the International Arts + Mind Lab and recently published in Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, demonstrates that looking at art also changes you at the neurochemical and physiological level. Indeed, we are coming to understand that much of what we take for granted in art museums—that art sparks joy, improves one’s mood, and deepens connections with oneself and others—is in part because the act of looking at art causes cellular changes that reduce pain, improve circulation, stimulate mobility, and induce neuroplasticity—the forming of new pathways and interconnections in your brain.
You know those magical sensations you have when visiting a museum—that feeling of ease, that inspiring sense of wonder, that heartening awareness of being connected to other times and places? New evidence appears every day that highlights how those positive feelings come about, and increasingly scientists are able to measure the health benefits of beholding a work of art. Encouraged by this evidence, healthcare providers in some communities are even prescribing museum visits as a form of physical and mental therapy.
The Frist strives to offer moments to breathe, process, and connect—vital needs especially during times of tension, distrust, and division. Think of the museum also as a place to do something good for yourself, a space to heal, keep mentally fit, and improve your overall well-being.
Seth Feman, PhD
Executive Director and CEO
December 2023
When people ask me how to get involved at the Frist, I always recommend becoming a member, then quickly share all the great benefits: access to exhibitions; invitations to receptions; discounts on parking, programs, and classes; and, at certain membership levels, free entry to other museums throughout the country. The value adds up fast.
A more rewarding motivation often skips my mind, however—maybe because I am privileged to witness it every day: memberships ensure the museum is able to constantly bring expansive art experiences to thousands of our neighbors through classes, outreach, and by finding new ways to make our exhibitions more accessible and inclusive. In the coming months, look for more information about the impact a Frist membership has on our community and how becoming a Frist member nourishes people within and beyond the museum’s walls. My hope is that knowing about the reach of your support will inspire you to get even more involved.
We piloted one example of this kind of engagement last fall with our community partner FiftyForward, an organization that ensures older adults in Middle Tennessee live longer, more fulfilling lives by forming deep connections through enriching programs. In our work together, the Frist hired local artists to develop a series of digital art-making workshops held at six different FiftyForward centers. The workshops teach participants to use art-making technology and traditional materials to create their own magazines. Inspired by what they experience during museum visits, these artists will also have an opportunity to display their work at the Frist.
This pilot program is supported by a grant from the E.A. Michelson Philanthropy, an organization that focuses on creative aging. As we expand the program by hiring additional artist-teachers to lead workshops at diverse community sites throughout the region, we will draw directly on support from our members. If you think of your membership as an investment in our community, the value tallies up even quicker.
I look forward to sharing these stories of impact with you in the months and years ahead,
Seth Feman, PhD
Executive Director and CEO
January 2023
When I first sat down to write this letter, I intended to discuss the theme of wonder—a topic very much on my mind since arriving in Nashville to join the team at the Frist Art Museum. Since day one here, wonder has appeared at every turn in delightful and often unexpected encounters. Simply witnessing other people’s wonder has often sparked my own sense of awe. During the run of Knights in Armor, I saw a little guy cut loose from his mother in the Martin ArtQuest Gallery and bolt down the hall toward the exhibition. He came to a screeching halt when confronted by a glittering suit of armor, letting out wide-eyed “WOW!” At the Frist, wonder abounds.
While penning these meditations on wonder, I took a break to attend the annual Frist Volunteer Recognition Party, where I experienced an entirely new sense of amazement. Decked out with flowers, adorned with a cornucopia of food, and sparkling with good cheer, the festive setting and mood offered plenty to marvel at. Yet a true sense of wonder—that feeling of surprise when the familiar gives way to something unexpected—struck me profoundly when I realized the enormity of support the Frist receives from our devoted Nashville community.
Volunteers support the museum by sharing their time, knowledge, and deep commitment with every person who enters the building. Walking arm in arm with our Guest Services staff, educators, and guards, they hold open doors, point the way to the restrooms, help parents talk to their kids about works of art, and guide visitors making beloved creations in ArtQuest. During the last five years, our volunteers have clocked in an average of 18,636 hours of service annually, which amounts to a whopping $2.5 million in service value over the five-year period. Often when you visit the museum, the first person you will encounter is a volunteer. They serve as our front line and are ambassadors of our hospitable brand. They are, in a word, amazing.
This season, when you visit the museum to see the contemporary works by Jeffrey Gibson and Otobong Nkanga, participate in a workshop, or take in a talk or tour, be sure to join me in thanking our volunteers for their extraordinary service to the Frist Art Museum and the entire Nashville community. We may marvel at the soaring lines and shining marble of our extraordinary art deco building or the glorious works of art in our galleries, but our volunteers are at the heart of everything that makes the Frist wonderful.
In gratitude,
Seth Feman, PhD
Executive Director and CEO
May 2022
I am thrilled to join the incredible team at the Frist Art Museum, and I look forward to collaborating with the talented, mission-driven staff, devoted board, and supportive community in Nashville. Together, we will continue to ensure the Frist is a vibrant source of inspiration and meaningful connection for people throughout the region and beyond.
With a deep appreciation for the city’s culture and ambition, I have long admired how the Frist has developed its exhibitions and programs to enable visitors to experience a diversity of cultures from around the world and work by artists from the region. Over the years, I have had the great fortune of collaborating with the excellent staff at the Frist on planning touring exhibitions, and I am consistently inspired by the team’s collegiality, creativity, and drive. This opportunity is the fulfillment of a long-term dream. I am profoundly honored and elated to come home to serve a community and state that I love.
Seth Feman, PhD
Executive Director and CEO
