This year marks the Arts & Business Council’s 20th Anniversary, and we’re celebrating by spotlighting the people, ideas, and creative energy that have shaped Nashville’s arts landscape. Each month in 2026, we’ll be sharing a themed “20 for 20” post highlighting voices, milestones, ideas, and inspiration from across our creative ecosystem.
We’re starting the year by looking forward. January’s theme is creative resolve: the commitments, hopes, and purposeful intentions that artists, leaders, and creative partners are carrying into the year ahead. We invited members of our staff, board, and community to share their creative resolutions, and together they paint a powerful picture of what it means to keep Nashville creative.
Anna Zeitlin
ABC Board Member / Zeitgiest Gallery
“I would love to support more independent arts events, I really love everything I’ve seen at Kindling Arts Fest and I want to go to more of their shows and experience more off the beaten path art happenings.”
Bryan Ruby
Musician / Periscope Class of 2024
“My creative resolution for 2026 is to say “yes” to joining more rooms I’ve never been in.”
CK Stone
ABC Director of Development
“This year I’m resolving to make more things; to honor my inspiration and ideas by putting in the time and effort needed to turn more of them into reality.”
Clay Williams
Arcade Arts Artist in Residence
1. Write out my ideas more often to see where they lead
2. be in my studio every day, even if I’m not working on anything.
3. Be more vulnerable with my work
4. Get coffee with other local artists
5. Set more deadlines for myself
6. Sketch at least every other day
7. Collaborate with another artist
8. Lead a creative workshop that builds community!
Daniel Jones
Kindling Arts Producing Artistic Director
“In 2026, I’m resolved to exercise my creation muscles more—to look for opportunities where others can help produce and facilitate work so I can explore my artistic side in a more deep and meaningful way. I keep wondering what else I have to say, and this is the year to figure that out!”
Elisheba Mrozik
President of North Nashville Arts Coalition
“Our resolution is to build long-term sustainability by bringing artists and the wider community closer together. We will continue showing how art shapes culture and why funding creative work is vital for a thriving, connected Nashville. We will remind people why art is human.”
Emmanuel LeGrair
ABC Board Member / RH Boyd Creative Director
“In 2026 I want to create MORE!”
Hilary Tomlinson
ABC Marketing & Engagement Manager
“My creative resolution for 2026 is to stop letting ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘done’ and actually complete some personal projects.”
Jacki Artis
Former ABC Board Member / United Talent Agency
“I would like to be a little more artistic myself. In my day to day I’m surrounded by people who are focused on their artistry, and I tend to put it more on the backburner. I’d like to be more in tune with my own creative side, like my drawing.”
Jennifer “Ennie” Brosius
ABC Program Manager
“I’m a creative dabbler embodying the meme of the person with two 6’ bookshelves, a filing cabinet and a closet all filled with art supplies, tools, and unfinished projects. I hereby declare that in 2026 I will finish at least three projects (jewelry, clothing or decor), and take at least one dance lesson.”
Jonathan Harwell-Dye
ABC Director of Programs
- 1. Be intentional about showing up for more arts events. As the parent of a toddler, it can be hard to get out of the house. This is especially true during the crucial bedtime routine in the evenings. Still, building connections within the creative community begins with being there, so I want to recommit to being present in 2026.
- 2. Center community and creativity in the work. As an arts administrator, I approach this work as a form of civic engagement and social practice in which our team co-creates programs with the communities we serve while recognizing artists and creativity as linchpins to building more equitable, thriving communities.
3. Make some art just for me. In 2026, I plan to maintain my personal artistic practice untethered from outside professional goals. Building a career as an artist is incredibly important and worthwhile (and something we passionately work to help artists to achieve), but carving out time to make some art just for you is a valuable form of self-care.
Kate Formway
ABC Volunteer Services Coordinator
“In 2026, I want to take a crochet class at Smart Art + Craft Supplies and then put my new skills to work on a sweater or a blanket!”
Katie Miller
Holladay Ventures Marketing Manager
“I would like to get back in the pottery studio after taking a few months off!”
Kirsten Jacobsen
ABC Board Secretary/Immediate Past Chair
“My goal is related specifically to my creative practice of improv. I really just want to sit in the moment and ENJOY being creative, and maybe that’s an anti goal, but I don’t want to always be working towards a certain outcome or following a certain path. So much of what improv is about is following what’s in front of you, and I really want to carry that over into my day to day life.”
Mariela Moscoso
Executive Director, YEAH! Youth Empowerment through Arts & Humanities
“In 2026, YEAH! resolves to deepen co-creation with young people by expanding the ways youth artists and storytellers shape decision-making. Through youth-led leadership, storytelling, and creative friction, we’ll strengthen collaborative music-making programs that are inclusive, relevant, and impactful, expanding access to creative opportunities and empowering young people from diverse backgrounds to imagine positive futures and evolve the communities we serve, together.”
Rory Levine
ABC Board Vice Chair
“Our resolution is to build long-term sustainability by bringing artists and the wider community closer together. We will continue showing how art shapes culture and why funding creative work is vital for a thriving, connected Nashville. We will remind people why art is human.”
Sai Clayton
Visual Artist and Curator
“My resolution is to have more artist friends and colleagues over to the studio for studio visits. I want to increase community in the personal sphere of my artwork, and engage the trusted advice and support of my peers.”
Stephen Francescon Jr.
Government & Community Relations Manager Piedmont Natural Gas
“My resolution derives from some recent internal self-observations and thought processes; my goal in 2026 (and in perpetuity) is to view all creative outputs from others, whatever medium, in a way that shatters any implicit biases based on personal preferences, prior influences or trends, or deficiencies in my education or exposure. Essentially, to absorb all individual creativity as a fact that, even though I may not understand and view it in all its might, that the creator, many others, or someone somewhere understands that creativity as something so very, very special, extraordinary, and dear.”
Téa Chura
Creative Producer + Promotional Strategist for Visual Artists
“I’m doing the 13 nights of winter solstice ritual. Each night I’m gong to tear up a piece of paper with a resoluation written on it as if it has already happened. One of mine was simply “this is the best year of my life so far.” I don’t know how it’s going to happen, but I’m trusting it will happen.”
Violet Zhang
VLPA Volunteer
“This year, I want to learn a new creative tool or medium that pushes me to think and communicate differently. The goal is not mastery, but growth through experimentation, storytelling, and expression.”