In 2016, Ground Floor Gallery + Studios was host to 18 different artists. The Gallery witnessed a particularly political group of shows, but didn’t we all? Looking back at our year at Ground Floor, the turmoil of 2016 can be read almost like a timeline.

Amanda Joy Brown explored the relationship between paint and textiles in her exhibition Resurface. She showed a body of work that included paint skins that were folded and weaved in the way one may work with fabric.

The Gallery’s floors and wall were transformed into interactive surfaces in Danielle McCleave’s The Touch Room. The artist’s multiple installations encouraged the audience to interact with the art as well as each other in an intimate way. A desire to reconnect was met.

How to Love Living Things was a gorgeous show put together by artist Meg Stein from North Carolina. Her soft sculptures explore political and social ideas of domestic life, particularly “women’s work.” The titles of the work originating from poetry added another complication to the issues Stein addressed.

Jovanni Luna brought paint skins back to the gallery walls in his exhibition Universal Spaces. His show featured rolls of paint skins meticulously gathered on shelves within a stretcher. Luna invited to explore the possibilities of what a painting can be.

In History Repeats Itself, Katie Hargrave directly pointed to our dystopian election year. She showcased a giant game of Jenga, videos of Democratic debates being balanced on balloons, and highlighted Republican speeches.

We opened our studios for a group show, Aggregate, in October. Featured artists included: Anna Merrill, Bobby Becker, Carrie Jobe, Cassie Harner, Devin Goebel, Dez Hough, Georganna Greene, Janet Decker Yanez, Jovanni Luna, Mandy Brown, Meg McGregor, Mihail Tomescu, and Sibley Barlow.

Jason Stout’s Thrown From the Storm added one final punch to our particularly political year with his complex paintings. His images explored the overwhelming noise of social issues being dished out by the media.

2016 has left everyone, including the art world with plenty to say and much to ruminate on. Here’s to the New Year and a new group of artists showing in Nashville! In the meantime, check out some of our major upcoming shows:

Art of the South 2017

Les Femme Folles curated by Sally Duskins

5th Annual Juried Art Exhibition (submit here!)