Katie Delmez: Celebrating Nashville’s Women Artists at the Frist
Women have played an oversized role in shaping Nashville’s contemporary art scene. That’s the theme of a new exhibition at the Frist Art Museum titled In Her Place: Nashville Artists in the 21st Century. The exhibit features nearly 100 works by 28 prominent Nashville women artists. In this episode of MACC Talk, Frist Senior Curator Katie Delmez joins host John Pitcher to discuss the women and art in this groundbreaking exhibition, which marks the Frist Art Museum’s 25th anniversary. The episode is sponsored by the Samaroo Group.
PHOTO ABOVE: Art lovers view artist Jodi Hays’ mixed media work”Lamentation (Aches for P. and D.) 2025.” It’s part of the exhibit In Her Place: Nashville Artists in the 21st Century, on display at the Frist Art Museum through April 26, 2026. Photo by Heather Hillhouse.
Frist Art Museum Senior Curator Katie Delmez.
Alicia Henry’s “Untitled (Inspiration for Clerestory) 2018.” This mixed media work by the revered Fisk University art professor takes pride of place near the entrance of Ingram Gallery. Henry passed away in 2024. Photo courtesy of Frist Art Gallery.
Marilyn Murphy’s “Air and Dreams, 2020.” Women in Murphy’s artwork often appear to defy gravity. Photo courtesy of Frist Art Museum.
Sculptor Vadis Turner creates her remarkable artworks from curtains and bed sheets, among other materials. “Flower Mouth (after Ada Limon’s poem ‘The Rewilding’) 2024,” is one of nearly 100 works currently on display. Photo courtesy of Frist Art Museum.
Yanira Vissepo’s “Star Seed, 2025.” Colors in Vissepo’s works often reflect the colors of her native Puerto Rico. Photo courtesy of Frist Art Museum.
Karen Seapker’s “You Are Spring, 2023.” Seapker is one of the best known artists affiliated with East Nashville’s highly influential Red Arrow Gallery. Photo courtesy of Frist Art Museum.
“Unicorn in Captivity, 2024” by Lauren Gregory. Photo courtesy of Frist Art Museum.
BONUS ART: MACC Talk announcer Kennedy Galpin’s favorite woman artist is Knoxville’s Anne E. Rochelle. Pictured below is her watercolor Appalachian Primavera (Dolly and Ephemerals), 2019.
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.
