Metro Parks Centennial Art Center Gallery surprises viewers with pop-up Perceptions exhibit in July

The Metro Parks Visual Arts Division (MPVA) has maintained an impressive roster of talented teaching artists for more than 50 years. Perceptions, the new summer pop-up exhibit at Centennial Art Center features Visual Art’s newest visual arts instructors, Lindsy Davis, Ripley Whiteside, and Donna Woodley. In this exhibit, each artist explores the perceptions humans share on both physical and emotional planes. Their work creates a connection with the viewer through form, subject matter, and color choices and reflects an image greater than the sum of its parts. In addition to being professional studio artists, they are also educators who regularly share their skills and experience with students through Metro Parks Visual Arts classes and workshops. Perceptions opens with an artists’ reception on July 15 from 5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. and will be on display July 11-28, 2022.

Mixed-media sculptor Lindsy Davis works with gesture and negative space to create work that pushes and pulls the eyes’ perception of depth and dimension. Working prolifically and in series, her compositions question ideas of one’s perception through Gestaltism. Lindsy has exhibited internationally, and her artwork is featured in collections throughout the United States, Canada, England, and South Africa. Lindsy received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Boston, 2014). Lindsy currently lives, works, and gardens in Nashville, Tennessee. Lindsy is represented locally by The Red Arrow Gallery.

Ripley Whiteside explores the inter-connectedness of nature in his landscape paintings. Flowing between representation and abstraction, his watercolor paintings present unique perspectives of depth and space. Themes of ecological awareness and human interaction with the natural landscape often surface in his work. His paintings capture atmosphere and ephemeral moments in nature. His artistic process and application of the material is largely linked to his own desire to practice responsible stewardship of the environment.

Ripley received a Master of Fine Arts from the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY) in 2012 after earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, 2008). He has participated in solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and Canada, and his artist residencies include: Willapa Bay A.I.R., The Peanut Factory, I-Park, and The Vermont Studio Center. His work is represented by The Red Arrow Gallery (Nashville) and Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain (Montreal). He lives in Nashville and teaches as an adjunct professor at Austin Peay State University and as a guest instructor with Metro Parks Visual Arts.

Donna Woodley paints portraits that explore the intricacies of human relationships and the complexities of their accompanying emotions. Studying the impact of stereotypes via cultural similarities or differences, Donna uses her paintings of individuals to challenge societal perceptions of beauty and self-esteem. The figures in her oil paintings focus on the visibility and value of Black people within American society, both historically and present day. Donna often paints subjects that she knows personally and injects subtle humor into her work to create an environment conducive to healthy dialogue.

Donna received her Master of Fine Arts from the College of Art and Design at Lesley University in Boston, MA (2016) after completing her Bachelor in Science degree in Studio Art from Tennessee State University (2011). She currently resides in Nashville where she maintains her practice and teaches as an adjunct professor at Tennessee State University. Donna is excited to join Metro Parks Visual Art’s roster as a guest instructor and is currently working with a group of local artists to develop a mural to be installed at Centennial Art Center at a later date. Donna will be conducting a free oil painting demonstration at Centennial Art Center on July 27 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. sponsored by Creative Parks Nashville.

Perceptions opens with an artists’ reception on July 15 from 5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. and will be on display July 11-28, 2022.