Our Town Everywhere

media release: Our Town Everywhere is a combined exhibition featuring work made in Nashville, Tennessee, from 2014 - 2015 along with new work being made in Madison in 2022. The exhibition is organized by Bubbler Staff and Bryce McCloud of Isle of Printing. Support for this exhibition is provided by the City of Madison and the Madison Public Library Foundation.

VIEWING THE SHOW

Our Town Everywhere is on display at the Diane Endres Ballweg Gallery on the 3rd floor of Central Library from 9/22/22 - 12/31/22. This exhibition will be available for viewing during open library hours. Call the library before traveling to confirm viewing hours for the exhibit at 1-608-266-6350, at times the gallery is closed due to private event rentals that share the space. (Including Dec. 9-11.)

Our Town Nashville was a community art project in Nashville, Tennessee from 2014-2015. The work that you see on this side of the gallery came out of this project and is here as inspiration for Our Town Everywhere: A Self-Portrait of Madison (beginning Fall 2022). 

For two years, letterpress printmaker Bryce McCloud traveled around Davidson County inviting people from all walks of life to participate in a public art project titled Our Town Nashville. Actively engaging folks in a conversation about community, Our Town Nashville created a space where people unlikely to otherwise participate in art-making could use handmade stamps to create their own self portrait. With funding and support from the Public Art Fund managed by the Metro Nashville Arts Commission, the Our Town Nashville project appeared in 50 locations across town including shelters, concert halls, police stations, community events, coffee shops and everywhere in between—inviting Nashvillians to step out of their comfort zone and join in a community-wide art experience.

Collecting more than 1,000 portraits, Our Town provided a platform for Nashville to create a more inclusive picture of itself. Our Town gave people a chance to share a human experience that linked them together beyond the confines of class, race, gender, age, culture of origin, or neighborhood.

A collection of Our Town portraits was added to the permanent archives of the Nashville Public Library and digitally on the Our Town website. For more information, visit ourtownnashville.org or isleofprinting.com.