Monthaven Art and Cultural Center

Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center
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Art of Love

Monthaven

The Paintings and Sculptures of Polly Cook and Somers Randolph

The Art of Love

Monthaven welcomed Valentine’s Day with an exhibition titled “The Art of Love: Paintings and Sculptures by Polly Cook and Somers Randolph.”

Polly Cook, a Texas-based artist,” has long been inspired by themes of love. Indeed, love is at the heart of all of her artwork, along with the accompanying emotions of longing, regret, desire, passion, joy and hope. Cook insists that her works not be interpreted as literal stories. Rather, they are emotional narratives and visual poetry. They are meant to be experienced as well as seen.

A California transplant, Somers Randolph became a pioneer of Nashville’s coffee culture when he lived here in the 1990s. He opened Blue Sky Court in 1991, which is considered Music City’s first true coffeehouse, predating Bongo Jave, Fido and Starbucks. As an artist, he quickly became known for his abstract sculptures, with their delicate curves and arcs, intricate whorls and spirals, and sensuous undulating Knots.

Randolph, whose studio is now located in Santa Fe, NM, showcased his spectacular abstract sculptures at the MACC over the summer of 2025 as part of an exhibit titled “Canvas + Stone,” which also featured the encaustic paintings of Nashville artist Kathryn Dettwiller. For his Valentine’s exhibition, Randolph brought some of his stylish sculptural hearts. Like all of his works, these colorful hearts are polished to absolute perfection. They certainly got our visitors into the Valentine’s spirit.

 

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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