Woolworth Window Art Gallery
WOOLWORTH WINDOW ART GALLERY
Featuring a selection of works from Daybreak Artist Collective
May 3, 2021- July 19, 2021
Opening reception: Saturday, May 29, 2021 from 6-8pm
Woolworth Window is pleased to present a selection of works from Daybreak Arts Artist Collective on view at 221 5th Ave N from May 3 to July 19, 2021.
The Woolworth Window is a new contemporary, non-traditional art gallery located in the front window of the Woolworth building on 5th avenue in downtown Nashville. It is always open. Just walk by.
Incorporating various media and techniques, the works on display are alike in their use of vivid colors and varied approaches to abstraction. The artists featured are Edwin Lockridge, Sam Fulks, Thaddaeus Tekell and Kateri.
The Woolworth Building was the location of the lunch counter sit-ins in Nashville that helped bring an end to racial segregation at lunch counters and bring the civil rights movement into focus. These peaceful protests were organized by the Nashville Student Movement and the Nashville Christian Leadership Council, and were notable for their early success and emphasis on disciplined nonviolence. This movement led the way for desegregation in Nashville and many other states.
"I can now say that there is a Lockridge in the window on 5th avenue."
Read below about how exhibiting at Woolworth Window as a Black man who grew up in Nashville during segregation has impacted Daybreak Artist, Edwin Lockridge.
"In 1963, I was 5 years old and remember my mother and father walking me and my sister in downtown Nashville. I didn’t understand what was going on because I was too young, but I definitely remember feeling the tension; sensing something was wrong. I knew there were certain things we were not allowed to do and certain places we were not allowed to go. I remember walking up and down 5th avenue and seeing art galleries with my father. I would see something and say “Let’s look at the picture!” and he would tell me, “We cannot go in there.”
My father was a painter. He went to Tennessee State when it was Tennessee State A&I. He went for 3 years, but did not graduate. He worked and sold paintings all over Nashville. When we would go downtown and see the art galleries I always wondered and asked, “Pop, why isn’t your art in the windows? Why don’t you go there and sell your art and paintings?” And he would explain to me the best he could to his child.
I was not able to process it as a kid...even moving on up until about 20 years ago. As a kid, I would walk by there and dream about the day that there would be a Lockridge on 5th avenue in one of the windows. I’m sorry that it could not have been my father’s work. I would rather have seen his work in there any day than to see mine. But to see my artwork in at Woolworth Window when I know what he went through and what I went through, to see my work in that window has been a life changing event for me. I can now say that there is a Lockridge in the window on 5th avenue. I know my dad, Clant Lockridge, would be so proud.
The contributions that African Americans have made to this country come through in visual art. It will bless this city, country, and world.”
When describing his pieces on display, Edwin explains:
"Climb the Valley II"...as an African American, I am climbing the valley. The other one “The Glass Dream”...my dream is that we are going to crack that glass ceiling. We are going to pray for better days. Great strides...
we have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go."
