ART ROUND TENNESSEE'S STORY​:

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ART Prowl was the vision of Adrienne Stone and Sandi Bos— born in their backyard gallery before relocating to the Square in Cookeville, TN. In a great step for visual arts in Cookeville, Adrienne procured ART Prowl’s first grant from the Cookeville Arts Council, an organization which continues to be a strong and steady ART supporter, and they were off and running! Sally Crain Jager, who to so many was at the heart of visual art in Cookeville, injected her energy and vision. Painters from the Cumberland Art Society, along with invited 3D and mixed media artists, participated in that first show in 2001.

 

In the years since its inception, ART Prowl and the surrounding community has grown substantially. A non-profit organization, Art Round Tennessee (ART), was formed in 2005 to steer ART Prowl. In the years since, ART has organized art-related workshops and events, summer programs for children, and, in 2018, installed and dedicated to the City of Cookeville a beautiful sculptural bicycle arch (SPOKES) as a tribute to the citizens of Cookeville. In 2019 ART began hosting monthly First Friday artist pop-ups from June through October each year. In 2023, ART held its first Art + Business Symposium, a professional development opportunity for early-career artists which has continued has an annual event. The Marilee Hall Scholarship for the Arts, an annual scholarship for graduating high school students planning to pursue an education in visual fine arts, was also formed that year. Art Round Tennessee continues to pursue growth in its current programming, scholarships, and events to work toward our mission of engaging all people in the Upper Cumberland with experiencing and creating visual art.