Nashville has a lovely new reason to slow down and look closely. Cheekwood Estate & Gardens has opened Verse and Vision: Of Earth and Sky, a Graphic Arts exhibition of works on paper from Cheekwood’s permanent collection, on view from October 24, 2026 through January 3, 2027 in the galleries of its Historic Mansion & Museum.
What makes this show special is its conversation between two art forms. Alongside the drawings and prints, visitors will find ekphrastic poetry written in response to selected artworks. Ekphrasis — a Greek word meaning “description” — is the practice of reflecting on a work of visual art through poetry, and here poets including Rachel Bartek, Didi Jackson, Margaret Kingsbury and Sydney Mayes answer the images in words.
The shared theme is the natural world: landscapes, atmospheres and quiet moments that shape our relationship to nature. Among the works on paper is A. C. Webb’s Empire State Building Girders (1930), drawn in charcoal and pastel and given to Cheekwood by Ms. Ellenna Webb Douglass — a striking reminder that “earth and sky” can meet even in steel and city light.
Cheekwood is at 1200 Forrest Park Drive in Nashville. Come for the gardens, stay for the poetry — and leave seeing both a little differently.
Photo: Vandore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
