When fine art photographer Catherine Era invited Memphis Grandview Garden Club members to bring flowers to her speaking event, she didn’t know what to expect. In lieu of planning a lecture about her photography, Catherine asked her audience to harvest blossoms from their gardens so she could stage a demonstration—and they brought buckets full. Not just any old flowers came that morning. Everyone had proudly harvested their very finest, plumpest, most radiant blooms. Originally, it was planned to be a quick snapshot. But as Catherine set up her equipment to work on layering panels of florets, she stopped. “I had to go get my best camera because the flowers were magnificent.”

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David Lusk recently announced its acceptance into the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA), a prestigous non-profit organization representing many of the country's most influential galleries. With all other newly admitted galleries located in New York and California, David Lusk Gallery becomes the first Tennessee gallery and the only gallery in the Southeastern United States to join the organization.

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Following a landmark debut that raised more than $31,000 for advocacy and artistic support, David Lusk Gallery is set to host the return of pARTisan, an exhibition examining the intersections of art and politics in Tennessee. Running August 18–23, 2026, the second annual collaboration between the gallery and Tennessee Rise seeks to expand upon what organizer Sarah Baer describes as a successful “proof of concept”—evidence that Tennessee audiences are eager for spaces that encourage meaningful civic dialogue.

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For a few years at the turn of this century, Nashville was home to a remarkable carousel. Described by its artist-creator Red Grooms as a sculpto-pictorama, the “horses” were 36 whimsical figures related to Tennessee. Legendary country musician Chet Atkins rode the neck of a guitar. Davy Crockett wrestled a bear. You could even ride a chigger, a summer mite that latches onto ankles causing an intense itch. The Tennessee Fox Trot Carousel was magical but was perhaps in the wrong place at the wrong time, perched on the riverfront at the edge of downtown Nashville when the area was up-and-coming but not quite the tourist draw of today. When it could no longer support itself financially, the carousel was disassembled and given over to the care of the Tennessee State Museum, which placed it in a storage facility where it sits to this day. Now, more than 20 years later, momentum is building for the carousel to ride again.

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Artist Mary Sims took an unusual photograph of Rodgers Menzies in 1978: with a cocked eyebrow and raised arm, he stood by a stone lion wearing a yellow caftan, purple cloak and cone-shaped hat made of newspaper. They were outside a Union Avenue mansion that was later demolished — the lion statue and its identical counterpart are now at the Brooks Museum of Art — and Menzies, a friend and interior designer, was modeling for a painting she planned to do of Merlin the wizard. Now, everyone can see the Merlin painting — as well as a wide range of the artist’s other works — at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens’ sprawling new exhibit, “Mary Sims: A Retrospective,” which began on April 19 and runs through June 7. It’s the first major exhibition in decades that’s dedicated to the work of the beloved Memphis and Eureka Springs artist, who died in 2004 at the age of 64...It’s hard not to be impressed by the variety of Sims’ work on display at the Dixon.

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David Lusk Gallery was recently accepted into the prestigious Art Dealers Association of America, and it’s hard not to think of this phenomenal exhibition of paintings by John Roberts as a bit of a victory lap. Lusk, which has locations in Memphis and Nashville, is the only gallery in the Southeast in the ADAA.

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Expanding the ADAA’s geographic and programmatic breadth, this year’s cohort reflects a wide-ranging view of the American gallery landscape—from pioneering print workshops and long-standing regional leaders to younger galleries shaping new models of engagement. Across disciplines and generations, these members bring a shared commitment to rigorous programming, sustained artist support, and meaningful contributions to the broader cultural conversation: AH Arts (New York), Rebecca Camacho Presents (San Francisco), Gemini G.E.L. (Los Angeles), Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl (New York), Jane Lombard Gallery (New York), David Lusk Gallery (Memphis, Nashville), Moskowitz Bayse (Los Angeles), and Mrs. (New York).

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In his first solo project, the New York–based Californian expertly curated mid-century-modern and contemporary finds with warm woods and a palette of natural colors and materials.

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Pinkney Herbert’s exhibition “In Between” at David Lusk Gallery regards a painting less as a finished image than something unfolding in time. The title points to a place of transition where matters are not fully settled but are still taking shape. Herbert has long divided his time between Memphis and New York, and itineracy seems to carry into the work. Structure, rhythm, color, and pace energize paintings that never completely resolve. Across the exhibition, Herbert denies the viewer a stable place to land. Lines shift direction, forms collide, and constructs loosen almost as soon as they appear.

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This display smartly focuses on formalist concerns rather than resorting to cliché critical content and activist lecturing. Painting and Her Women foregrounds the materials and processes that sustain artistic practices. Of course, these include paint palettes, but also implements like the biscuit cutters and rolling pins associated with traditionally feminine domestic chores. The results are elevated artworks with advocacy baked into their textured surfaces and colorful gestures. The show highlights process, labor and material intelligence as key components of authorship, challenging the meanings of labels such as mother, woman and lady painter.

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