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I’m not sure there’s a more prolific art writer in Nashville than Joe Nolan. He’s been writing about art ever since I moved here in the late Aughts, and in addition to his ongoing work with the Scene, he’s written about art in Nashville for The Contributor, Number, Burnaway and more. It was only a matter of time before he put all that wisdom into a book, and Nowville is his eagerly awaited debut. It’s organized as an oral history, so it’s easy to take in piece by piece. Whether you’re interested in how Aaron Douglas founded Fisk University’s art department in the 1930s, why William Edmondson was the first Black artist to have an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1937, or how the Wedgewood-Houston district took off in the past few years, Nolan’s your guy.

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