Monthaven Art and Cultural Center

Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center
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Art Phenom Autumn De Forest Returns To The Monthaven Arts And Cultural Center With A New Exhibition For Mother’s Day

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (April 19, 2021) – One of America’s foremost young artists will showcase a new exhibition at the Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center (MACC) in Hendersonville, Tenn. The exhibit, titled The Artistic Evolution of Autumn De Forest, will run May 8 to June 13 and serve as the official opening of a new spring event called Monthaven Mayfair, featuring art, music and more. 

“We are thrilled to invite Autumn de Forest back to the Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center,” says Cheryl Strichik, the MACC’s executive director and CEO. “Her 2017 exhibition at the MACC was one of our most popular and successful shows, and her new exhibit promises to be just as extraordinary.” 

Autumn de Forest, who is now 19, has been an important professional artist for most of her life. Her works are collected around the world and sell for upwards of $25,000. The Discovery Channel featured her on a child prodigy special and referred to her simply as “an artistic genius.”

 Over the years, she has done numerous national media tours, has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, and has been featured on Inside Edition, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC news spots. She has lectured throughout the country for global corporations, universities, charities and organizations of all kinds. In addition, she has made appearances at both the White House and the Vatican, where at age 14 she met Pope Francis and received the International Vatican Award in Painting and Art.

De Forest’s exhibition at Monthaven will show the breadth of her style, which ranges from pop art to pure abstraction.  Legends such as Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keefe and Pablo Picasso have influenced her artistic approach, prompting her to create works that are remarkable for their color and energy. It’s worth noting that Autumn’s prodigious gifts are firmly imprinted on her DNA. She descends from a distinguished line of artists that include such luminaries as George de Forest Brush (1855-1941), Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932), and Roy de Forest (1930 to 2007). 

The opening of De Forest’s new exhibition will correspond with a weekend of Mother’s Day festivities at the MACC. On Saturday, May 8, the MACC will stage its first ever Monthaven Mayfair, a special evening of art and music that will include both silent and live art auctions, kids craft pavilion, aerial dancers, and live music featuring Stephen Flatt performing songs from his solo debut album Cumberland Bones. Monthaven Mayfair begins at 6 p.m. and tickets are $25 per person.

De Forest will also conduct a pair of Mother’s Day master classes from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 8, and from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 9. Tickets for the master class are $35 per person and include a box lunch and special Mother’s Day portrait of class participant and guest. For reservations and more information about Monthaven Mayfair and the master classes, visit monthavenartsandculturalcenter.com or call (615) 822-0789.

Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center is conveniently located off Gallatin Pike just three miles east of Rivergate Mall. The place serves as a haven for the arts, hosting major art exhibitions throughout the year.  It also offers classes and summer camps on art and film for children and adults. Monthaven Mansion is available to rent for weddings, receptions, showers, corporate team-building classes and private parties.  For more information, visit www.monthavenartsandculturalcenter.com or call (615) 822-0789.

Robin Willis

HEALING ARTS COORDINATOR

Robin Willis is the MACC’s Healing Arts Coordinator. She also works as the Exhibition and Events Manager and Director of Outreach. Robin has a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Clemson University with a minor in Entrepreneurship. She is a multi-discipline artist with emphasis in writing, mixed media abstract painting, alternative process photography, collage, and book arts and binding. In addition to her art practices, she holds several healing modalities certificates, such as extensive kundalini yoga teacher training and education, Reiki master, systemic family constellation facilitator, and depth psychology-based therapy trainings. As an avid learner, she explores and encourages others in their exploration in art, psyche, and our relationship to the micro and macro worlds within and around us. Influenced by John Muir’s quote, When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe, she fuses art, healing, and organization throughout her work and personal life as a creative-scientist minded person.

Kaylin Warden

Creative Design and Operations Manager

Kaylin Warden serves as the MACC’s Creative Design and Operations Manager. In this post, she oversees the organization’s graphic design work for exhibitions, events and special projects. She also coordinates the MACC’s arts outreach activities and assists with bookkeeping, among other duties. Kaylin, above all, is passionate about the arts. It comes as no surprise, then, that she is now pursuing a master’s degree in art history. When she’s not at the MACC, you can find her reading her favorite books (especially ones dealing with maritime mysteries), cooking, gardening, playing with her cat and two dogs, and cheering for the Nashville Predators.

Ruth Chase

Regional Arts Director
Ruth Chase is the Regional Arts Director of Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center, joining the team in 2023. For Ruth, the job is all about community, bringing people together to uplift and educate artists and art lovers alike. Her role at Monthaven is to strengthen the local artist community and build connections that will enrich Hendersonville and our surrounding communities through art exhibitions, art education, and opportunities for regional artists.
 
Prior to joining Monthaven, Ruth worked in the arts for over 30 years and is a multimedia artist and graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute. Her artistic practice is inquiry-based and engages in community bridge-building. She was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Los Angeles, curated and juried exhibitions, and has taught at the Crocker Art Museum.
 
Ruth was awarded an Artist-in-Residence for Artist Activating Communities through a grant from the California Arts Council for three consecutive years. Her film Belonging screened at both the 18th Annual Nevada City Film Festival and Wild & Scenic Film Festival. She has received the Legendary Female Artist of Venice award, and she has exhibited in The Crocker Kingsley, the Museum of Northern California Art, and the Diego Rivera Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute. Ruth also continues her work as a Curatorial Consultant and Art director for the Californian Indigenous Research Project, where she has worked with the local tribe since 2018. 
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