SMYRNA, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nashville may be Music City, but tucked away in Smyrna is a dedicated nonprofit focused on training the next generation of artists.
Each room at Carpe Artista sounds and looks different.
“We have, in our DNA, a bend to create,” CEO and founder of Carpe Artista, Ron Alley, said.
In 2011, Carpe Artista opened its doors as a place to enjoy coffee, art and music. Since then, it has developed into a nonprofit for art educational services. Alley told News 2 that he hopes to bring a new generation of creative minds from Smyrna to the entertainment industry.
“There needs to be new leadership — new trained leaders with an idea of affecting culture in a different way and more positive way,” Alley said.
The program includes both young students and adults.
“Adults have creativity too,” art student Meg Elisabeth Kazmark said.
“I come in and even at 47 and still go, ‘I don’t know how to do that,” art student Lindsay Schultz explained.
Each instrument of creativity lets students find their voices, express themselves and shape their futures.
“I can just create whatever I think of and just kind of release all those emotions,” Kazmarck said.
“It develops your heart, too, and that is what Carpe Artista is really about,” Academy Director for Carpe Artista, Rob Higginbotham, said.
With music lessons, visual arts, and musical theatre, Alley told News 2 that the nonprofit is a unique necessity for the city.
“[We] Accomplish more for the community as far as entertainment and the arts than was previously there and kind of raise the bar,” Alley said.
“Sometimes art can be seen as a nice hobby, not necessarily something that contributes to society,” art teacher Larissa Reed said. “I do see it as a foundational thing.”
Not only is Carpe Artista providing another place for creativity to shine, but according to a joint report from Americans for the Arts and the Tennessee Arts Commission, Rutherford County’s art sector generated more than $52.3 million in fiscal year 2022.
“They do have economic benefit, not just quality of life benefits,” Alley said.
Carpe Artista will soon expand into a new building in the heart of Smyrna’s Historic Depot District. The building will serve as a one-stop shop with a café, arts training facility, music venue and community gathering center. Alley told News 2 that it was all to give back to the community of Rutherford County and Middle Tennessee.
“You are not just learning it for you,” Alley added. “You are learning it for other people and to bless them with what you are learning and your creativity because it makes a difference.”
