Hiram Van Gordon Gallery

 

Hours: 

Monday - Thursday

10:00am - 4:00pm 

Location:

TSU Main Campus, 1108 37th Ave N
Elliott Hall, Room 118

 

About the Gallery

The Hiram Van Gordon Gallery offers approximately six exhibitions yearly that highlight the works of Tennessee State University students, faculty and alumni in the visual arts, African American and African artists, social and civic engaged work along with conversations regarding sustainable environmental practices in art.

The gallery is named after former Professor and Chair Hiram Van Gordon (1918-1979). Artist, Military cartographer and longtime chair of Tennessee State University’s Art Department was a graduate of Pearl High School and enrolled at Tennessee A&I in 1940. He enlisting in the Untied Sates Army in 1942, returning to attain his bachelors and Masters Degree in Art. He began his teaching in 1951, while still a student. In 1958 he began his twenty-one tenure of head of the department. 

Fall 2024 Gallery Schedule 

Hiram Van Gordon Gallery Spring 2025

 

JAN/FEB 

As We Speak 

Cymone Wilder 

January 13 to February 6, 2025

Reception: Thursday, Janurary 30 (4-6pm)

As We Speak is a celebration of language in flux. 

The themes in Cymone Wilder’s work strive to bring clarity to the chaos, using accessible materials like paints, pencils, markers, and everyday household fixers, to navigate subjects that range from the frustrations of being a Black woman in America to the persistence of colloquialisms lodged in memory. Each piece is anchored by bold, grounding shapes, layered with textures that suggest a life lived, as though the canvas has accumulated time. Off-kilter letterforms, tight color sets, and lively scribbles work together to create a magnetic tension—equal parts deliberate and intuitive. Her goal is to make each work hum with the messy, complicated rhythms of human expression. 

Cymone Wilder captures the echoes of conversations past and present. The elevating overlooked moments where words take shape and meaning emerges. A graphic designer and art director, she is often preoccupied with replicating the sensory world in digital deliverables—attempting to imbue each pixel with the textures of touch, taste, and smell. “My goal was always to create illusions convincing enough to make viewers question the smoothness of their screens.” Now, in her painting practice, these impulses are channeled into physical works. Inspired by the jazz records of Blue Note’s heyday, she notes borrowing from the aesthetic tension of worn, weathered covers and the improvisational energy of the music itself. 

In As We Speak, Wilder brings these elements to life, funneling unrelenting phrases, the blues, and fragments of introspection into hand-painted lettering. The script becomes art. Each painting is a declaration and testimony with color, form, and play as the praxis.

As We Speak flyer

 

FEB/MARCH 

The Classes 

February 17 to March 20, 2025

Reception: Thursday March 13, 4-6 pm

The Classes will showcase TSU Art and Design students at their best work. Professors will choose from undergraduates to fill the Hiram Van Gordon Gallery’s walls with work that shows what scholars are accomplishing in their studies.

The Classes flyer

 

AUG/SEPT 

Seniors TBA

April 7 to May 3, 2024

Reception: Thursday, Arpil 17, 4-6pm

Ehren Adams, Matthew Avery, Gracie Gary, Myles Jones, Samaria Jones, Synia Malbrough, Ashley Mintz, Kimya Savage   

 

Virtual Artist Talks

in Space for New Media (unless noted otherwise)

Our artists' talks and lectures are geared at creating forums for artists and students to talk about their work in a supportive open environment. In the process of creating a line up of artists and speakers that relate back to our exhibit schedule in the Hiram Van Gordon Gallery, Space for New Media, and M-SPAR, connecting what is learned in classroom courses and seminars to real-world applications. We will invite organizations and artists from a variety of perspectives to talk about their work. You can view previous lectures on our YouTube channel TSU Art and Design. 

ART Talk

Spring 2025

Cymone Wilder 

Space For New Media 

January 30, 2025 from 1-2pm

Cymone Wilder is a senior art director and lettering artist based in Nashville. Since 2013 she has collaborated with amazing clients (see Netflix, Nickelodeon, HBO Max, Cosmopolitan, Planned Parenthood and New Belgium) –creating custom lettering artwork for established brands, books, apparel, and much more. She is fiercely passionate about producing meaningful and long-lasting work, drawing inspiration from the black experience. In her spare time she enjoys ~pretending~ she’s super outdoorsy, and laughing with friends around bonfires. She doesn’t enjoy running, but does it a lot anyways. 

Past Exhibitions

Space for New Media

new media gallery

The Space for New Media gives students and artists a place to produce and display digital, experimental, and performance-based work, using our state of equipment to bring innovative ideas and images to campus.

McGruder Social Practice Artist Residency, M-SPAR

The McGruder Social Practice Artist Residency, M-SPAR provides artists opportunities to impact the social landscape and engage with McGruder Family Resource Center, local Historic Black College and University’s (HBCU), and the community of North Nashville. Artists engage with community through an artist’s residency. Artists are provided studio space in exchange for community activated work leading to the conception, development, and execution of viable, transformative art projects.  

Art Collection

Over the years the art department has amassed a permanent collection of African and Alumni artwork in a few notable collections: the Art Eubanks Collection, the Ruth Witt Collection, and the Dr. Richard and Sharon Edwards Collection.

Directions

1108 37th Ave N 

Parking Pass

Elliott Hall is locate on the back side of Tennessee State University main campus. From I-40 East, take a Right on 28th Ave/Ed Temple then Left on Walter S Davis. Left on 39th Ave N, Left on John L Driver Ave, past the guard station, Left on 37th Ave N.

From I-40 West, turn left of Jefferson St. take a Right on 28th Ave/Ed Temple then Left on Walter S Davis. Left on 39th Ave N, Left on John L Driver Ave, past the guard station, Left on 37th Ave N.

From Charlotte Ave, take a Right on 28th Ave/Ed Temple then Left on Walter S Davis. Left on 39th Ave N, Left on John L Driver Ave, past the guard station, Left on 37th Ave N. 

Parking is lots K and L. Enter Elliott Hall from front of building and proceed to back right side, enter Hiram Van Gordon Gallery.

map to Elliott Hall on Tennessee State University

Contact Us

Courtney Adair Johnson
Gallery Director
cjohn173@tnstate.edu
615-963-5921

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