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Pictured: James Rudolph II & Jessica Carter performing in All the Dead Things, created and assembled by Nate Eppler and directed by Alicia Haymer. Royal Circus, Kindling Arts Festival 2019.
MISSION
Kindling Arts develops innovative new works by Nashville’s experimental artists, empowering diverse creators with the resources required to explore challenging ideas in a multidisciplinary context.
VISION
Kindling Arts supports innovative artists working in contemporary forms that challenge the limitations of conventional art and performance, providing audiences with exceptional experiences made possible through singular and often unclassifiable collaborations. Focusing on artists rooted in Middle Tennessee and the Southeast region, Kindling Arts will create a network for professional growth and artistic exchange in the contemporary South. This service to artists fills a gap in the cultural landscape, providing local creators with a home to experiment with the creation of new work and explore interdisciplinary collaborations in a safe, encouraging environment. By fostering an inclusive, artist-centered process, facilitating developmental opportunities, and providing producing support through an annual Festival and unique year-round programming, Kindling Arts will continue to raise Nashville's reputation as an extraordinary artistic force in the national cultural landscape.
VALUES
ARTIST-CENTERED
Our process focuses on the health and equitable care of artists by prioritizing fair pay, inclusive spaces, safe experimentation, sustainable practices, and ample development opportunities.
COMMUNITY DRIVEN
We believe that art is a public good and seek to facilitate the creation and presentation of work that responds to the needs of the citizens of Nashville and provides tangible resources, learning opportunities, and meaningful inspiration to our community.
AUTHENTICALLY DIVERSE
We are committed to being a diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization where all people, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education, or disability, feel valued, respected, and invited into the art-making process.
JUSTICE-ORIENTED + ANTI-RACIST
As a justice-oriented and explicitly anti-racist organization, we amplify the voices of marginalized and underrepresented artists by producing art that advocates for social justice and prioritizes the work of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ makers while actively investing in members of historically under-resourced communities.
CROSS-POLLINATED
We believe in the innovative power of multidisciplinary collaboration to cultivate new creative aesthetics and foster meaningful change within the arts industry and the greater community.
COLLABORATIVE
We believe in collaboration over competition -- the generous sharing of resources makes more diverse and inventive work possible, and we actively seek to pool resources to support the production of art that may otherwise be impossible.
TRANSPARENT
We believe that a budget is a moral document and aim to be open and accountable to our community who will hold us to the standards of fairness and equity at all times, in all of our decision making, financial and otherwise.