Located in the Main Lobby

The Nashville-based artist doughjoe worked to engage the community through a series of events hosted at a numerous of cultural hubs in Nashville. The installation draws inspiration from the mantra of The Jonah People which Hannibal says came to him in a dream written in sand. With this project, the sand was to become the sky through a process of reclaiming natural cotton fabric and traditional indigo dye. Both cotton and indigo were the nation’s most profitable, global exports during the period of American slavery. The activations for this project serve as an act of healing and reclamation.

Starting at Archive South and co-curated by Lexander Bryant, doughjoe completed a pop-up installation where he invited the community to contribute prayers for humanity on the cotton fabric in solidarity. The same fabric was then installed at Fisk University Gallery with the same activation for prayers. At Fisk, the broader Nashville community was invited to participate as well as share in other exhibits on campus. The residency there spanned several days and allowed for engagement with people from different states as well Fisk students. Finally, the fabric was installed at the Nashville Black Market, a monthly event gathering thousands of local residents and people visiting from near and far.

After the process of collecting prayers, doughjoe further collaborated with local artisans to dye the fabric with a natural indigo process, revealing the prayers written by the community.

Located in the West Artium

Inspired by the libretto for The Jonah People as well as countless conversations between doughjoe and Hannibal Lokumbe, doughjoe’s Rebirth represents light and transcendence.

Located in the East Atrium

In this work, doughjoe was inspired by Hannibal’s vision of a drummer’s hands lifting toward the sky and transforming into butterflies.

Located in the East Lobby

doughjoe created a triptych celebrating Music City’s past, present, and future musical influences that have made our city great. The three panels honor Deford Bailey, Ella Sheppard Moore, Shonka Dukureh, Shannon Sanders, Jimi Hedrix, Daru Jones, Joshua Odie, Aida Victoria, and The Shindellas.