Funding for Nashville arts organizations that are driving change in our city must be a priority and, I would argue, should be deepened.
Tennessee Voices video podcast: Nick Mullikin, Nashville Ballet CEO
Nick Mullikin, artistic director and CEO of The Nashville Ballet, spoke with The Tennessean Opinion and Engagement Director David Plazas.
- Nick Mullikin is Nashville Ballet artistic director and CEO.
For nearly my entire life, I have either danced or worked in ballet — everywhere from Salt Lake City to D.C. and now Nashville, which I have called home for nearly a decade. Ballet has had a profound impact on my life, without it I do not know who I would be. Ballet has offered a sense of healthy escape, a way to process challenging emotions and ideas, and a conduit to seeing the world through perspectives other than my own. Having this creative outlet allows me to dream bigger and push for more out of life.
As the leader of an arts organization in our city, I have the unique vantage point of seeing ballet, and all art, provide those very same experiences to our community. It’s what drives me — and anyone passionately working in the arts — to do what we do every day. Backed by the power of art, whether that be through dance, music, theater, visual exhibitions or spoken word, we each have the opportunity to be transformed and ignite real change both within us and the world around us.
With Nashville’s explosive growth and change, I am certain of one thing: our thriving arts community is the lifeblood of our city. A city filled with creatives, it only makes sense that our rich arts scene has been woven into the fabric of our community and continues to define Nashville’s unique personality and cultural landscape. As one of the most vibrant cultural hubs in the country today, it’s vital that we continue to invest in our local arts community so that we can ensure it stays that way. If we do, we will help both our community and those living within it to live up to our collective full potential.
Tennessee Voices video podcast: Nashville Ballet CEO Nick Mullikin shares his journey from dancer to director
Here’s how Nashville Ballet has served the community
Just the last year alone, Nashville Ballet has served over 12,000 community members of all ages across 21 Metro Council districts with free or low-cost access to the arts. For the last several years we have made it part of our holiday tradition to broadcast Nashville’s Nutcracker on TV for free.
We’ve even presented world-class dance created in Nashville on PBS to reach audiences worldwide, which featured a one-of-a-kind collaboration with Grammy Award-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens and Nashville’s own Caroline Randall Williams.
We served more than 70,000 people last year through performances, community engagement initiatives and digital programming. And Nashville Ballet also provided $108,000 in scholarships to students last year while teaching more than 2,000 community members of all ages at School of Nashville Ballet.
These are just a few examples of how we are making the artform more accessible to our community. We strive to be part of the solution to make Nashville more inclusive, provide more equitable access to the arts and offer opportunities for all community members to experience how the arts can change their lives for the better. But, we can’t do it alone.
Nashville is what it is today because of the arts
Funding for arts organizations that are driving change in our city must be a priority and, I would argue, should be deepened.
With meaningful and sustained funding, Nashville Ballet — along with other peer arts organizations — can continue to offer programming for our community that has the power to change the trajectory of someone’s life, produce meaningful work that sheds light on injustices and builds perspective, and even ensure we protect Nashville’s character in the face of extreme change.
Nashville is what it is today because of the cultural landmarks that have helped shape it, and the future looks incredibly bright.
We must prioritize investing in the arts so that we can continue driving meaningful change and protect our cultural identity. We owe it to our neighbors. We owe it to our city.
Nick Mullikin is Nashville Ballet artistic director and CEO.