Coop Gallery

Artist-run project space in Nashville, TN.

THE COOP

Coop is a curatorial collective made up of artists, curators, thinkers and professors who are committed to expanding Nashville’s dialogue with contemporary art by presenting challenging new or under-represented artists/artworks in the community. COOP is committed to exhibiting art of diverse media and content, with a goal to provide an alternative venue for artists free from the constraints of the retail market. COOP seeks to initiate a discourse between Nashville and art scenes across the country by inviting artists to show, develop projects and interact with the Nashville community.

09/14/2026

Artist Chansong Woo transformed the COOP space with her installation When We Drop Fear, a participatory exhibition in which visitors are welcome to interact with the drawings by expressing their personal memories related to fear.

Participants encounter large drawings hung from the ceiling as visual remnants of the artist’s personal memories, transformed from intangible to tangible form. Visitors are encouraged to tear pieces from the drawings and write or draw about their experiences on them, or simply leave them on the floor. Over the course of the exhibition the space evolves into a shared experience and collective memory, growing and transforming as more participants contribute.

By engaging with When We Drop Fear, viewers have the opportunity to express, confront, or release something related to fear within themselves. The fragments they leave behind will live on as part of our shared story. Watch this short video to hear from the artist herself.

📍 Join us Saturday, September 19 at COOP for Second Look Saturday at the WEHO Art Crawl | Nashville, TN and your last chance to see this phenomenal exhibition in person––and participate yourself. We look forward to seeing you!

09/02/2026

Join us this Saturday not only for the opening of When We Drop Fear, a participatory installation inviting viewers to engage directly with the artist’s personal memories, but also a talk with artist Chansong Woo.

Chansong Woo’s work explores how personal memory and trauma can be articulated through art. By engaging with themes of vulnerability and subjectivity, her art invites viewers as a post generation from diverse backgrounds to reflect on how history is learned and remembered across generations. She received her MFA in Studio Art from Florida State University and her BFA and MFA degrees in Painting from Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea.

📍 Woo’s artist talk will begin at 4 PM at COOP Gallery on Saturday, September 5. We look forward to seeing you!

08/31/2026

COOP is pleased to present When We Drop Fear, a solo exhibition by Northwest Arkansas-based artist, Chansong Woo (Chansong Woo).

In this participatory exhibition, visitors encounter large drawings hung from the ceiling as visual remnants of the artist’s personal memories, transformed from intangible to tangible form. Visitors are welcome to interact with the drawings by expressing their personal memories related to fear, something they wish to forget, or something they don’t want to forget. Visitors may use the torn pieces to communicate this memory in any way that feels right to them: verbal/written words, sentences, drawings, paintings, or other visual forms. This project begins with the artist’s personal memory and evolves into a shared experience and collective memory, growing and transforming as more participants contribute.

Chansong Woo is an interdisciplinary artist based in Northwest Arkansas. Her artwork explores how personal memory and trauma can be articulated through art. By engaging with themes of vulnerability and subjectivity, her art invites viewers as a post generation from diverse backgrounds to reflect on how history is learned and remembered across generations. She received her MFA in Studio Art from Florida State University and her BFA and MFA degrees in Painting from Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea.

📍 Join us THIS Saturday (September 5) for the opening reception 1 PM - 9 PM at COOP. We look forward to seeing you!

08/29/2026

Did you know your license plate can help fund the arts across Tennessee?

As an entirely volunteer-run, registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, COOP relies on grants as one way to keep our doors open, pay our artists, and bring challenging, new, and underrepresented work to Nashville.

On average, 80% of TN arts grants are funded by the purchased of specialty license plates. That means one of the easiest ways to support COOP as well as artists and arts organizations all over Tennessee is sitting right on the back of your car!

These specialty license plates:
🚗 Are available to all Tennessee residents.
🚗 Require an annual fee of $35; of that fee a portion is allocated to the Tennessee Arts Commission.
🚗 For an additional fee of $35 your specialty plate can be personalized between three and seven characters.

And you don’t have to wait for your renewal; just bring your current plate to the county clerk and they’ll prorate your fees.

Every plate helps keep spaces like COOP alive. Visit the TN Arts Commission for more information. Thanks for your support! 🐓

08/27/2026

This week’s COOP member residency arcadeartsnash is Rae Young (Rae Young).

Rae Young is a Nashville-based multidisciplinary artist, fashion designer, and arts educator. Their work explores the intersections of technology, spirituality, identity, and transformation through textiles, sculpture, installation, performance, and wearable art. Rae has spent more than a decade as an arts educator with organizations including the Frist Art Museum, Turnip Green Creative Reuse, and Nashville Public Library. Selected exhibitions include Spirit Play, The Forge (2024) and Q***r Futurity, Zeitgeist Gallery (2022).

Rae Young will be artist in residence from August with 24-30 open studio hours Thursday-Sunday from 1-6 PM.

📍 COOP x Art Between the Avenues Artist in Residence | The Arcade

08/21/2026

COOP is excited to show you a selection of the work that will call our drawers home for the 2026-27 cycle. COOP’s Flat File program allows visitors to browse original works from 20 artists, with prices $400 or less. All pieces are max 16” x 20” and available to view + purchase at COOP Gallery through June 2027.

Next Friday’s opening, Southeastern Blaze, is your chance to support living artists and find something to take home with you! 🗄️ Swipe to see just a small selection of the paintings, drawings, prints, and more you can find in our flat file →

📍Southeastern Blaze | Friday, August 28 from 6-9 PM at COOP Gallery
Additional open gallery hours Saturday, August 29 from 11 AM - 3 PM

08/17/2026

This week’s COOP member residency arcadeartsnash is Amanda Lomax (Amanda Lomax).

Amanda Lomax is an inter-disciplinary artist living and working in Nashville, TN. With a background in photography, she transitioned from commercial work to fine art in 2016 and now works in various 2D and 3D mediums. Her work employs the formal language of color to explore psychological, physical and spiritual frameworks. Amanda is a grant recipient of Tennessee TriStar Arts, a graduate of Periscope Arts Program, and a member of COOP since 2023, where she serves on the Curatorial committee. She has been exhibiting since 2018, and Open Gallery hosted her first solo show I Project What I Reflect in May 2025.

Amanda Lomax will be artist in residence from August 17-23 with open studio hours Thursday-Sunday from 1-6 PM.

📍 COOP x Art Between the Avenues Artist in Residence | The Arcade

08/12/2026

Mark Rospenda discusses the origin, materials, and interactive nature of Temple of Janus, his exhibition at COOP Gallery this August.

Janus is the Roman god of beginnings, endings, transitions, passages, time and doorways. He has two faces—one which looks to the past, the other to the future. Paper coins embossed with Janus’ likeness are available outside the temple. Visitors are invited to take one and imagine a world they wish to see or recall something they want to leave in the past. Following a moment of reflection, these coins can then be dropped into one of two offering boxes within the temple.

Rospenda’s Temple of Janus echoes the historic architectural forms of ancient temples, including colonnades, pediments and areas for offerings. Rospenda utilizes paper pulp in his 3D work because it symbolically represents change and transformation. The pulp is created by hand and all sculptures are the result of reprocessing, reusing, repairing, and reforming the same paper pulp 2x4s the artist has been using since 2020.

Watch this short video to hear Mark speak about Temple of Janus while walking through the installation. Learn more about the artist at markrospenda.com.

📍 Temple of Janus is on view at COOP Gallery August 1 – August 22, 2026. We look forward to seeing you!

08/10/2026

Haniyfa Muhammad Branka is a creative artist working across mixed media, fiber art, and ceramics. This week, she’ll be working on and sharing pieces from her latest project, Unraveling.

Haniyfa Muhammad Branka’s residency runs August 10–16, with open studio hours Thursday–Sunday, 1–6 PM.

Stop by, say hi, and see what she’s working on!

07/25/2026

COOP member and curatorial director Sai Clayton (Sai Clayton) discusses a few more works in her solo exhibition as well as material, process, occupying the in-between, recurring characters, and pairing old photographs to draw visual connections between both sides of her family.

Blood on My Hands, Fish in My Veins closes tomorrow, July 25! Don’t miss Community Art Making from 1-3 PM + the Closing Reception from 4-7 PM at radartdesignarchitectureresearch.

Address

507A Hagan Street
Nashville, TN
37203

Opening Hours

11am - 3pm

Website

http://www.coopgallery.org/

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