View or download our informational flyer by clicking below:
Connecting Creatives and Community: We want to know about your events!
One of the main missions of the Rutherford Arts Alliance is "Connecting Creatives and Community!" If you are a current RAA member, we’d like to know about your Rutherford County creative event and help you get the word out!
Click here to submit your event info
Note: Please submit at least two weeks prior to the month of your event for optimum chance of promotion in our newsletter; if later, we encourage you to promote your event on our Creative Connector Facebook group. Although we will try our very best, please understand submitting does not guarantee promotion. RAA can promote and encourage any member, but not to the exclusion of others. Likewise, no social media may support a specific political candidate or agenda.
Not yet a RAA Member or need to update your membership?
We encourage all local artists
to share their events on
our Creative Connector Facebook group!
Arts in Rutherford County have reached a critical mass
An Americans for the Arts national study showed that the arts in Rutherford County generated $31.2 million in annual economic activity—and that was a conservative estimate.
Arts & Economic Prosperity 5:
The Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN area ranks 4th for communities of over one million in population, according to the SMU National Center for Arts Research Arts Vibrancy Index:
Recent growth in the arts and promoting arts in Rutherford County include:
The Tennessee STEAM Festival recently had a 2nd successful year after being founded by the Murfreesboro Discovery Center. STEAM is the acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) plus Arts. The festival has won “Best New Event in the Southeast” from the Southeast Festivals & Events Association (SFEA) and an Award of Excellence from the Tennessee Association of Museums.
Carpe Artisa took home a 2018 Firefly Award as the best nonprofit in Smyrna and continues to take a lead role in cultural change and downtown revitalization.
The Smyrna Outdoor Adventure Center (SOAC), part of Smyrna Parks and Recreation, includes a gallery, exhibit hall, and lecture space. These entities, as well as the Smyrna Artist Cooperative and others, are collaborating on numerous projects.
Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department is creating spaces for public art, having art shows on their greenways and considering an amphitheater in future plans.
Part of Parks & Rec, Cultural Arts Murfreesboro established an Arts Laureates program in 2017. The inaugural laureates identified a need to better connect area creatives, and this put in motion a series of meetings that led to the Alliance formation. Cultural Arts Murfreesboro also provides many arts opportunities, especially to children and families.
The Boro Art Crawl, back in operation after the pandemic, showcases a wide variety of cultural arts in our historic downtown area.
MTSU ARTS connects many of the university's creative studies to market events beyond the campus.
Murfreesboro hosted the Tennessee Arts Commission state-wide arts conference, Collective Impact, in 2017.
The CVB recently completed a Heritage Tourism Development Assessment, which has a list of recommendations that may inform work or decisions of the Rutherford Arts Alliance.
In addition to many established groups of artists, performers, and more, there are relatively new movements such as Photography Connect and the Focus on the Boro photo show, Poetry in the Boro, the Rutherford County Shakespeare Society, and more.
Are you or your arts event listed on VisitRutherfordTN.com?
The website of the Rutherford County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) now features a prominent Arts and Culture area. There are also areas for sports, Civil War heritage, events, venues, and more.
The Arts and Culture Events page can be found here.
Organizations and artists are encouraged to submit events for the calendar here.
An artist directory can be found here, where local artists in all genres are encouraged to create an account and add their own profile.
are you planning an event the alliance is promoting or cross-promoting?
Question mark image credit: Unsplash/@jontyson
