Brooklyn-based mixed media artist Tamara Kostianovsky has been selected as Cheekwood Estate & Gardens’ 2025 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in- Residence.
Kostianovsky’s sculptural installations, often crafted from discarded textiles, transform personal materials such as old clothes and linens into surreal forms. Her work combines
realism and surrealism, and often evokes themes of vulnerability, ecology, and the environment. Through her careful manipulation of fabric, stitches, and textures, Kostianovsky creates dynamic works that explore memory, nature, and renewal.
The residency will culminate with a large-scale installation exhibition on view within the
Museum’s temporary exhibition space from April 26, 2025, through June 15, 2025.
“We are thrilled to welcome Tamara Kostianovsky as this year’s Artist-in-Residence,
seeking inspiration from Cheekwood’s gardens, historic mansion, and surrounds. We look
forward to sharing her captivating installation and art making process with the Nashville
community,” said Sarah Sperling, Cheekwood Senior Vice President of External Relations
and Museum Affairs.
About Tamara Kostianovsky
Kostianovsky has presented solo exhibitions at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature
in Paris, France, The Baker Museum in Naples, FL, Denver Botanic Gardens, Smack
Mellon in Brooklyn, NY, Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA, Ogden Contemporary Arts
in Ogden, UT, SLAG&RX Gallery in New York and Paris and many others.
Her work has also been featured in group exhibitions at venues including the Brooklyn
Museum, El Museo del Barrio, The Jewish Museum, Nevada Museum of Art, The
Rockefeller Center, BIENALSUR in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the Musée du Textile et
de la Mode, Cholet, France.
She is the recipient of distinguished awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, and
grants from NYFA, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and The Virginia Groot Foundation.
Her work has been reviewed in publications such as The New York Times, Art in America,
The Wall Street Journal, Madame le Figaro, Liberation, Colossal, and Hyperallergic.
Kostianovsky is Argentine American and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from
the National School of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1998), and a Master of Fine
Arts degree from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia (2003).
Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence Series.
The Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence series is an initiative focused on bringing
innovative, dynamic and intriguing artists to Nashville. The residency enables artists to
create and exhibit site-specific works at Cheekwood, while allowing for the opportunity
to interact with staff, visitors, and the larger community. The program provides living
arrangements for the artist during the multi-week residency.
Past Artist-in-Residence participants include Dorothy O’Connor, Soo Sunny Park, Hiroshi
Sato, Michael McMath, Craig Black and Sarah Nguyen.
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