The gallery at Nashville’s Downtown Presbyterian Church

Downtown Presbyterian Church, known for its artists-in-residence program and studio spaces (see Carol Howard Merritt’s “Revived by the arts”), is now bringing in the local urban community. With a gallery space that incorporates older architectural features and a contemporary look (complete with high-end track lighting), the church is part of Nashville’s growing gallery scene, with increasing foot traffic from the city’s monthly First Saturday Art Crawl. Artist-in-residence Cary Gibson has been key in developing the space and curating shows. One of her works, Triptych, includes images from a Cairo protest photo that went viral during the Arab Spring uprisings. The triptych incorporates several quotes (partially obscured), including one by Henri Nouwen: “You are Christian only so long as you constantly pose critical questions to the society you live in . . . so long as you stay unsatisfied with the status quo and keep saying that a new world is yet to come.” Downtown Presbyterian is committed to posing these critical questions, with its church doors flung open in invitation.