Who we Are
The Arts Council of Williamson County (TN) is committed to connecting the arts in Williamson County through programming, arts education and arts advocacy.
The Arts Council of Williamson County (ACWC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) service organization that exists to enrich the lives of the citizens of Williamson County, Tennessee by bringing the arts and people together. The Arts Council envisions a dynamic, lively and diverse arts community which is accessible to all and which is a major cultural destination.
The arts play a major role. They are a stimulus for imagination and innovation, an engine for economic development, a proven platform for community building, and a vehicle for diverse cultural expression. The Arts Council recognizes that support for artists is more critical now than ever before, and supports the arts primarily through artists working at the local level in the community context.
As a leadership organization for the arts in Williamson County, the Arts Council promotes artistic opportunities by providing financial support, fostering coordinated cultural planning, offering programs to educate and develop future audiences, providing forums of expressions for local artists and by advocating for arts and its member organizations at the local, state, and national levels.
Our History
The Arts Council of Williamson has been a community partner since 2006 and was started to promote and support the arts in Williamson County starting with a newsletter, ArtFusion a visual, performing, and culinary arts festival the Factory and a collaboration with Waves, Inc showcasing the abilities of adults with disabilities. The following years, the Arts Council developed Brown Bag Lunch Bunch and Art: Up Close & Personal, two lecture series programs. The Arts Council was awarded a Tennessee Outreach Award for An Artists Window. In 2009, the we participated in the Landfill Art Reclamation Project in which the Arts Council took rusted metal refuse and created fine art. In 2010, we hosted Encore! Reclaim the Sound, a collaborative black tie evening event with Steinway & Sons where artists created masterful pieces of art from piano parts. Continued ArtFusion, the lecture series and 4th Annual Artist’s Window and the 5th Annual Holiday Party.
Historic stARTS was launched which was a historically inspired children’s visual arts program at Carnton Plantation and Carter House. ACWC Board of Director’s were finalists in the 2011 for the 25th Annual Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Award for the volunteer innovator award, present by CMT One County. Our partnership with Williamson County Library continued to grow through Grid Row, where artists exhibit their work in the library for the public. Additionally, our cornerstone project, Artist in Residence was launched with the first site at Grassland Elementary. In 2012, ACWC started Canvassing the County which is a rotating art exhibits in non-traditional galleries throughout the county. The Artist in Residency continues at Longwood Elementary, Franklin High School and Grassland Elementary. The 1st Annual Chalk it Up Art Show was held in 2013 at the Meridian Complex with food, music and chalk art competition. ACWC assisted with Franklin Art Scene’s Art Crawl. We also continued Grid Row, Canvassing the County, Brown Bag Lunch Bunch, Art Up Close & Personal and the Holiday Party.
After an amazing tenure and Linda McLaughlin became President Emeritus and Nan Zierden was voted in as president for the Arts Council in 2015. Community outreach continued with Connections Art Show at BGA, PorchFest at Westhaven and the AIR was at Ravenwood High School. Collaborating with Davis House Advocacy Center and the Cumberland Valley Quilt Guild, we created the Happy Quilt and launched MeetUps. For two years, we held a chalk art Critter Invasion in conjunction with Heritage Foundation and the Art Scene. In 2017, working with local artists, we developed the Artist’s Studio Tour to showcase local artists and open their studios to the public. AIR continued to support schools throughout the county.
The history of collaboration with community partners and supporting artists is vast however, we are always looking for more opportunities to do more and to continue to contribute the art scene.