Visit the New Woolworth Window Gallery

It’s hard to imagine a more appropriate pairing than this: Woolworth on Fifth, the site of the lunch-counter sit-ins that brought desegregation into the public discourse in Nashville, is launching a gallery in its front window, and the first exhibit pays tribute to Black victims of gun violence. “Target #2,” by Nashville native Ashley Doggett, is a portrait of a young man wearing a hoodie with a target across its front. The painting is rendered in dreamy reds, pinks and turquoise, and the man’s gaze is solemn but focused on the viewer. Its combination of the traditional and contemporary puts Doggett in line with important artists like Kehinde Wiley and Kara Walker. “Doggett’s paintings are each battlegrounds on which racist narratives might be contested, reclaimed, and overthrown, one-by-one,” says the exhibition statement. Using a storefront window as a display case is a smart and meaningful way to engage with the public while giving local artists extra visibility. Through Jan. 4 at Woolworth on Fifth, 221 Fifth Ave. N. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER