The Forge Nashville is a nonprofit organization founded in 2012 with their mission to advocate for artists and makers and provide a pathway and place to pursue their craft in the community.
Located on 217 Willow Street, The Forge offers a makerspace, wood and metal shops, art gallery, private creative offices and artist studios. This Saturday The Forge Front Lawn will be a celebration of all the makers and artists who call The Forge their creative home and future makers of the space.
“My mission for The Forge is to talk to people and help them be as creative as they can be, and to expand themselves into different realms of creativity,” Jacob Foster, who is on the board of directors and member liaison said. “I just want to foster a open environment where people feel comfortable. Come here and not only build art, sculptures, furniture, but to build community and friendships. That’s what I want for this place and that’s what I’ve found here myself having moved here from Chicago seven years ago. What I love about this place is that if you are trying to do something that you’ve never done before, there’s probably somebody in this building who spent five or 10 years doing it professionally and will teach you for free. My mission is to just keep that going.”
“It truly is all different kinds of human beings, creative, blue-collar people that don’t know anything, they’re totally green, or people that are high-end hobbyists, people who are really young people and people who are really wise,” Director of Community Engagement and Events Alie Stewart said. “As somebody that came from New York City and wanted to get to know Nashville well, I think it actually represents what Nashville is, and it fosters incredible environments to have some of the most special gatherings ever. Whether that be a gallery, an exhibition or a show, or I do a little show here called Never Sent, which is like a storytelling series. The types of people that it attracts and the types fun that we have here is a really special thing that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else in Nashville. And I get to come here to work every single day. All the different types of mediums of work. Someone that’s making something that’s really practical, that’s a piece of furniture and then somebody making bubbles on a flamingo and everybody’s excited about both. It’s a really healing and nurturing environment.”
Additional event opportunities in the next week:
Wednesday (Sep 17) with Pixies performing at The Pinnacle. At Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday (Sep 18) the band Beaches performs and at the same venue Friday (Sep 19), Durand Jones and the Indications take the stage. Also on Friday and Saturday (Sep 20) at the Blue Room two-nights with Foxwarren and Lorde kicks off her two-nights at The Pinnacle.
Three more shows are on Sunday (Sep 21) with TV on the Radio at the Ryman, The Marias at Ascend and Johnny Marr at Brooklyn Bowl. On Monday (Sep 22), the band Slow Pulp performs at the Basement East and we wrap up this week’s listings Tuesday (Sep 23) with Rilo Kiley at The Pinnacle and Wet Leg at Marathon Music Works.