Shelley Liles
Chances are, if you have an appreciation for contemporary fine art, you have an appreciation for a wide variety of contemporary fine art. You like a little abstract sculpture with your hyper-realist works, a series of color field paintings to offset your encaustic piece. Historically, though, you've had to visit multiple galleries to satisfy your diverse tastes— until now. Shelley Liles's Gallery One, at 5133 Harding Pike in the Belle Meade Galleria, is the city's newest showplace for the entire spectrum of contemporary fine art. After all, you wouldn't limit your diet to just one type of food, would you?
1. When did you first get seriously interested in art? I studied art history in college some, but I became seriously interested in art seven years ago through close friendships forged with artists in this city and others. My husband is an accomplished photographer, and I began taking drawing and painting classes and workshops myself five years ago.

2. What was your experience in the art world before opening Gallery One? This is my first gallery and foray into the business of art, and it marks a major career shift for me. I've been blessed to have had two careers I've loved, having been a print journalist and later an advocate for girls and women as the senior vice president of development and marketing for Girl Scouts. I'm not averse to risk, and love the challenge of change and building something from scratch.

3. How does Gallery One differ from other galleries in the area? There are several fine galleries in town, and when you go into them you know exactly what kind of art you'll find. They fill a niche, and they do it well. I wanted a warm and inviting gallery with substantial exhibition space that featured a wide and varied selection of work, a space that could accommodate - without visual dissonance - many styles and approaches. I was initially a little hesitant about this strategy, but I hear repeatedly from customers that it's what they most appreciate about the space, the variety. The key is consistency in the quality of the work.

4. What's the art scene like in Nashville? Nashville has a talented pool of local artists, and as a board member of Friends of Watkins, I'm appreciative of the work that it does. The Frist has helped tremendously in raising awareness of the visual arts, and there is a base of serious collectors in Nashville. Having said that, I also think there's a great amount of indifference to fine art. I've seen people fork out millions of dollars for a Williamson County mansion then go out and buy a mass-reproduced image transfer on canvas to showcase in their home. And it's not always an issue of pricing. There are several "galleries" and art brokers around town that sell that stuff for the price of original work, but often people don't know the difference.

5. Is it difficult for a new artist to find space in a gallery? Evidently, as I've had a steady stream of artists visiting my gallery searching for a venue. I would love to see more galleries in Nashville, and I'd like to see galleries working together in an organized way to promote the visual arts and our collective success. I think the competition is good for both.

 6. In your experience, what type of art does best in Nashville? On the whole, I'd say very traditional representational work, specifically landscapes and still life paintings in oil - "art that matches the sofa." Having said that, I also believe there's a demand for art that can be appreciated on its own merit and not for purely decorative purposes.

7. Do you - or do your customers - ever find it confusing that in this town country singers are also called artists? No. I think most people understand the difference between performing artists and visual artists.

8. How do you feel about installations (as opposed to traditional "wall art" or sculpture)? I think of a lot of sculpture as installation work, but more broadly, I think installations can be wonderful, particularly if they're interesting from a conceptual or technical-execution point of view. One Seattle gallery, Artelier 31, carries an artist who does amazing installations in cast dirt, which I find intriguing.

9. What's your response to the perennial assertion that children can paint better pictures than certain "modern" artists? Children can certainly be gifted artistically, but when I hear that comment it's usually coming from someone who doesn't care for modern art in general. A lot of skill and training can go into creating non-objective art.

10. Define "contemporary fine art"... That's probably a question for the art historians, which I'm not. I guess I'd loosely define it as art in the current period, art that is marked by creative expressions of experimental themes and using an expanded selection of modern materials.

11. Are you an artist yourself, and if so, what type of art do you make? I paint in oils. I enjoy plein-air landscape painting, and also experiment with large-format abstracts in acrylic and oil.

12. Are artists as difficult to work with as Hollywood would have us believe? I love working with the artists and try to gain a better understanding of their technique, conceptual process and motivation. It's what I enjoy most about my job. Creative people in general can be eccentric, whether they're artists, journalists, chefs or brick layers, but they keep life interesting.

13. If you were stuck on a car trip with an artist, what media would he or she use? In other words, generally speaking, would you rather be trapped with a sculptor, a watercolorist, an oil painter or someone else? Therein lies my dilemma, and the reason my gallery offers such a varied selection. I have an appreciation for many approaches to art, and many mediums.

 		14. How do you find your out-of-town artists, or how do they find you? Being a brand new gallery, most of the artists I carry are artists I've pursued. About 85 percent of the artists at Gallery One are from out of town and have never shown their work in Tennessee. I spend a lot of time researching artists, looking at their histories, gallery representation, base of collectors, and personal stories. I visit as many galleries as I possibly can and find certain internet-based resources very helpful.

15. Among the other galleries in town, which do you think consistently show the best work? I like several galleries in town, and all for very different reasons. But being the "new kid on the block," I'll remain mum on this one.

16. Aside from wall space, is lighting the most important physical consideration when building a gallery space? Lighting is critical, but so is the placement and exhibition of the work. Jim Schippers, a former long-time curator for the Tennessee State Museum, is a dear friend who enjoys helping me hang the work. I also consulted with the museum's current lighting expert, Mark Haggitt, in lighting the gallery - down to the product number on each bulb. My goal was not to have people notice what great lighting I have in the gallery, but to notice what great artwork I have that's also well lit.

17. When it comes to art openings, are sales ever fueled by all the free wine? That's not been my brief experience. I find that people like to deliberate. They may return to the gallery two times before they buy.

18. What piece of public art in Nashville do you most admire? The Sea Serpent by Pedro Silva in Fannie Mae Dees Park for largely nostalgic reasons: I have good memories of my children enjoying that sculpture when they were young. Of course I also admire the work of Russ Faxon and Sydney Reichman.

19. Musica, the Alan LeQuire sculpture at the Demonbreun Street roundabout: inspirational or profane? You can call Musica many things, but profane isn't one of them. People who think it's profane need to get a grip. Really, it's a great addition to a city in dire need of more public art.

20. Do you think that art imitates life or life imitates art? That's a little akin to asking, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" 1 guess I'd say that art imitates life, in that all art is borne in some fashion from the human experience. Whether it's on a conscious or subconscious level, we contribute something of ourselves in the creation of art.