Nashville, TN – Nashville visual artist Ashley Mintz will present the exhibit “Being Black in America: A Comparison of Past and Present” of artwork at the Scarritt Bennett Center, Laskey Gallery, which runs from Oct 5 through Dec 20, 2016. An artist reception will be October 7th from 4:30 – 6:30pm. (Free & open to the public). “This exhibit is based around different things,” shares Ashley. “It touches on the shootings of black men by police officers. So there are some paintings that depict this. There are a few paintings based around the identity of black people and the treatment of blacks during slavery, and how that all plays out in the black community today.”
Ashley is also a talented songwriter. The new exhibit will also feature some of her spoken words poetry and poems, along with the respective paintings.
Mintz originally moved to Nashville from Las Cruces, N.M. in 2007, to pursue a career as a songwriter. Just a few months after moving, several of her drawings were chosen to be in an art show. This sparked further interest in visual art. Since then she has had her art shown in galleries, a boutique, festivals and cafés, all of where she has sold several paintings, prints and postcards. Ashley has also had her art and poetry included in literary and online journals, such as Nashville Arts Magazine and Arts Nash. Aside from that, she’s had music instrumentals used in an independent film, a short film, a play and several promotional videos.
Ashley has received a Music Technology Certificate and an Associate of Applied Science degree in General Technology with a focus on art and music, both from Nashville State Community College.
She continues to write poetry, compose music, paint and draw. Next summer Ashley will have a new art exhibit featured at Tennessee State University. But she hasn’t abandoned her dreams of becoming a songwriter. Between artwork she continues to write music and songs, while playing her piano.
During the upcoming Scarritt-Bennett exhibit, selected pieces of her artwork and prints will be available for purchase during the reception. Some of these items can be purchased through her website: www.ashleymintz.weebly.com/
Ashley adds, “With this exhibit, I want to challenge people to look at why we interact with each other the way we do and why we believe the stereotypes we do. This will be an exhibit of paintings and writings that look at Black Identity and what being Black means.”
