OUR MISSION
To advance BIPOC artists in north Nashville by providing access and opportunity to equitably thrive and to foster a community that enriches the legacy of art in Tennessee.
OUR VISION
To have a permanent safe place as a haven for BIPOC artists to create, celebrate, educate, and preserve the cultural legacy of North Nashville
OUR HISTORY
For some, the 37208 zip code is the Harlem of the south with 3 HBCUs and major black religious organizations including Fisk University, founded at the end of the Civil War to educate the children of enslaved Africans and their capturers. Now, the historic culture is being destroyed and the rich legacy woven by threads of tribulation is jeopardized by gentrification. In the tradition of black people in America and everywhere in the diaspora, the North Nashville Arts Coalition, a non-profit congregation of artists, is dedicated to supporting the arts and artists of North Nashville.
Our dedicated professional artists and volunteer community members aim to provide space, education, and access to BIPOC artists with a connection to north Nashville. We will provide a permanent home for the arts in north Nashville and keep the art flowing in perpetuity. We operate largely through strategic partnerships with mission-driven organizations that share our vision of seeing black artists thrive in Nashville and have a voice in imagining and designing our future city.
In 2015, we introduced north Nashville to the world as a premier creative with the Jefferson Street Art Crawl. The JSAC brought dozens of disenfranchised artists to an audience which resulted in both national opportunities and shows with major Tennessee institutions like the Frist Art Museum. We hosted monthly crawls up until the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The importance of JSAC really was the access it allowed for black artists and those new to the art world to have a safe space to curate, fellowship, and build career momentum as they gained valuable feedback on their work.
The JSAC which later became North Nashville Arts Coalition was created by culture bearers of North Nashville as an all-volunteer curated event with an only in-kind donation with the understanding that this investment would be invaluable for black artists in north Nashville. The Jefferson Street Art Crawl formed a tree with many programmatic branches to support the development of black artists in north Nashville. The annual Portfolio Day was formed to give professional artists much-needed fellowship to offer critique and advice to one another. The event drew artists such as Ashley Seay, a professional artist that took constructive criticism all the way to Best of Show at the 2021 Tennessee Arts and Crafts Festival! She among others has expressed how important JSAC and the programs it birthed are to their career, to them, and the community in which they live.
In 2018 the artist-founders worked to receive the 501c3 non-profit designation setting the organizational mission to flight. Unfortunately, the non-profit status didn’t guarantee a slew of funding and the JSAC carried on with no budget while North Nashville Arts Coalition was under development. The combined difficulty of the tornado and pandemic of 2020 saw some establishments that supported JSAC lost and members and founders pulling away to more pressing family matters. In late 2020, Elisheba Mrozik, one of the artist-founders, decided to pull the organization back together and rebuild it from scratch. She has continued doing various small-scale programs using her for-profit business resources in lieu of appropriate traditional non-profit funding sources.
The North Nashville Arts Coalition has a goal of supporting the organizational mission and the menu of programs with grantee funds and in-kind donations moving forward. The NNAC will also fund the mission and the menu of programs with monetizable program offerings to Tennessee and beyond.
Our dedicated professional artists and volunteer community members aim to provide space, education, and access to BIPOC artists with a connection to north Nashville. We will provide a permanent home for the arts in north Nashville and keep the art flowing in perpetuity. We operate largely through strategic partnerships with mission-driven organizations that share our vision of seeing black artists thrive in Nashville and have a voice in imagining and designing our future city.
In 2015, we introduced north Nashville to the world as a premier creative with the Jefferson Street Art Crawl. The JSAC brought dozens of disenfranchised artists to an audience which resulted in both national opportunities and shows with major Tennessee institutions like the Frist Art Museum. We hosted monthly crawls up until the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The importance of JSAC really was the access it allowed for black artists and those new to the art world to have a safe space to curate, fellowship, and build career momentum as they gained valuable feedback on their work.
The JSAC which later became North Nashville Arts Coalition was created by culture bearers of North Nashville as an all-volunteer curated event with an only in-kind donation with the understanding that this investment would be invaluable for black artists in north Nashville. The Jefferson Street Art Crawl formed a tree with many programmatic branches to support the development of black artists in north Nashville. The annual Portfolio Day was formed to give professional artists much-needed fellowship to offer critique and advice to one another. The event drew artists such as Ashley Seay, a professional artist that took constructive criticism all the way to Best of Show at the 2021 Tennessee Arts and Crafts Festival! She among others has expressed how important JSAC and the programs it birthed are to their career, to them, and the community in which they live.
In 2018 the artist-founders worked to receive the 501c3 non-profit designation setting the organizational mission to flight. Unfortunately, the non-profit status didn’t guarantee a slew of funding and the JSAC carried on with no budget while North Nashville Arts Coalition was under development. The combined difficulty of the tornado and pandemic of 2020 saw some establishments that supported JSAC lost and members and founders pulling away to more pressing family matters. In late 2020, Elisheba Mrozik, one of the artist-founders, decided to pull the organization back together and rebuild it from scratch. She has continued doing various small-scale programs using her for-profit business resources in lieu of appropriate traditional non-profit funding sources.
The North Nashville Arts Coalition has a goal of supporting the organizational mission and the menu of programs with grantee funds and in-kind donations moving forward. The NNAC will also fund the mission and the menu of programs with monetizable program offerings to Tennessee and beyond.
MEET OUR TEAM
ELISHEBA MROZIK
PRESIDENTElisheba Israel Mrozik is a fine artist and International award-winning Tattooist. In 2011, Elisheba became the first licensed black tattoo artist in Middle Tennessee and opened One Drop Ink Tattoo Parlour and Gallery. Now, the 2020 Nashville Emerging Leader Award winner is shifting her focus to providing fine art with community purpose in the form of large scale public art and community engagement. Elisheba’s purpose is to leave a sustainable and substantial impact organization to those creatives in need in a place she loves.
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ANGELA MCDOWELL
SECRETARYAngela McDowell is the founder of I Love Paperwork, LLC, a literary service provider for grant writing, academic research and papers, and assistance on forms and applications. A Fisk University alum, Angela is deeply involved in the creative community, serving as Secretary for the North Nashville Arts Coalition and as an Artistic Evaluator for the Minnesota State Arts Board. She is a gifted writer and self-described and self-authorized veteran 37208 performing artist and culture bearer.
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DREW LAMB, CPA
TREASURERDrew Lamb has a heart for the community around him and the path it took to get where he is. After graduating from Belmont in 2014, Drew worked for the signature bank of Nashville Avenue Bank as a Concierge Banker, building relationships in the bank and the surrounding community. When Avenue Bank sold, he followed some fellow Avenue alumni to Vanderbilt to pursue his Master’s in Accountancy and ultimately become a CPA and starting his accounting firm KLLW focused non small businesses and non profit accounting.
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BOARD MEMBERS
LAKESHA MOOREAfter earning her degrees at Washington University in St. Louis (B.F.A. Painting) and University of Tennessee, Knoxville (M.F.A.Painting), Lakesha completed her education studies at Lipscomb University (M.Ed Instructional Practice). Lakesha has worked in the North Nashville community in both Metro Nashville Public Schools as a secondary art teacher. Following her time in MNPS, she served as Assistant Professor and Art Education Coordinator in Tennessee State University’s Art & Design Department. Currently, Lakesha is the Gallery Coordinator at Fisk University. She has a strong commitment to mentorship, youth empowerment and has had the privilege of leading art workshops and giving talks to all ages. Her work can be found at www.lakeshasmoore.com.
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DONNA WOODLEYDonna Woodley is a visual artist whose works primarily discuss the relationship between Black culture and American culture. Donna was named Nashville’s Best New Artist in 2016 by the Nashville Scene publication and has continued down a path of success. Most recently, she was one of the featured artists for the creation of the Representative John Lewis Mural installed in downtown Nashville, TN. Some of her works are displayed at Vanderbilt University and University of Tennessee at Martin, TN. As a professor of art at Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN, she has integrally served by helping to develop students technically and critically.
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KATHRYN DELMEZKatie Delmez has been a curator at the Frist Art Museum since 2001. She has organized numerous exhibitions including LeXander Bryant: Forget Me Nots; Terry Adkins: Our Sons and Daughters Ever on the Altar (with Jamaal Sheats, Director and Curator, Fisk University Galleries); Murals of North Nashville Now; We Shall Overcome: Civil Rights and the Nashville Press, 1957–1968; Nick Cave: Feat.; The Prison Industrial System: Photographs by Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick. She was also the curator of a major retrospective on photographer Carrie Mae Weems that traveled to four venues, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Ms. Delmez has been the editor of several accompanying books and overseen the presentation of more than 35 touring exhibitions at the Frist. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Boston University.
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CAITLIN MELLOLocal artist, Caitlin Mello, not only creates her own work - she works to cultivate partnerships, and connect other creatives with dynamic, inclusive opportunities nationwide as the Creative Community Partner for global brands at We Are Rosie. She is proud of her work as the Creative & Marketing Director for our city's newest professional MLS soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club, for their first three seasons. At NSC, she focused on taking the creative strategy beyond the field, engaging the community through soccer, and including over 60+ local artists featured in the environmental design of the new 30K seat stadium, championing and curating one of the most inclusive local art and sport initiatives in the world.
Outside of work, you can find Miss Mello on her way to the ocean with Marley, her 15-year-old-daughter and greatest love. She is fluent in Spanish; loves Pablo Neruda, red lipstick and a perfect juicy mango. 
ROBERT JONESRobert Jones is an artist, musician, and entrepreneur. In 2018 He founded his arts and picture framing business Overton Arts, with an emphasis on community support and engagement. He also works as the building manager at the 100 Taylor Arts Collective.
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