Fine Art Collection 1

This year, art hosted online in this format will be alphabetical order. To find your submission and view others, please scroll down. If you do not see your submission here, please check this page as well.  They are in order of a

A small dragon with outstretched wings soars at the center of the image, surrounded by a hazy, fiery ring of orange and yellow. The dragon's body is detailed with earthy brown tones, a long tail, and curved horns. The background transitions from deep teal at the center to a smoky gradient, giving the impression of the dragon emerging from or being engulfed by flames.
Elliot is a 22-year-old artist with Autism, ADHD, and chronic pain. “Art is a way that I can express myself when I struggle with words and motion. I've been misunderstood my whole life, but my drawings and characters are an escape.”

I tell myself I am beautiful more than ten times a day
I feel like I am walking a tightrope that any moment could break!
I am fighting a vicious battle that affects your heart and mind.
I tell myself I am worthy even when the world is unkind.
I have broken down so many barriers and pushed through so many walls.
I have fought through the fiercest of storms and weathered them adorned.
I tell myself I am precious and have come so far, even if it looks like baby steps from where you are.
I am a warrior; beautifully scarred!!


Amy Arnold


The month of June is brain awareness month. Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder. Each year 100,000 people are diagnosed with this disorder. Prayers for those who have this disease

A bold, stylized painting of a sunflower with bright yellow petals outlined in pink thread, set against a textured teal background. Each petal features black, branch-like patterns, adding an organic, decorative touch. The flower’s center is a mix of green and brown dots, creating contrast with the vibrant petals. The stitched border around the petals adds dimension and a handcrafted feel, blending painting with textile art. The rich background has a watercolor-like effect
Meg has been part of Trousdale School since its opening and loves learning to cook and bake. She works at Medical Center Pharmacy and Walgreens and cherishes her coworkers, friends, and family. Her favorite art forms include photography and painting landscapes on canvas.
A vintage green Ford pickup truck with rusted fenders is parked outside an old-fashioned gas station. The truck has "Columbia" and other faded lettering on its door, giving it a nostalgic, well-worn look. The gas station has a black brick exterior with curved white stripes, large glass windows, and a red "Delco Batteries" sign mounted beside the garage door. A retro gas pump with a red Texaco star logo stands in the background, along with a white car and an industrial-style building. The bright, slightly overexposed lighting gives the scene a vintage feel.
Bonnet is a Tennessee artist with a disability and is learning photography through Able Voices.
An embroidered design on white fabric features a detailed horse's head outlined in brown thread, with expressive eyes and shading for depth. Surrounding the horse is a circular wreath of green leaves and delicate purple flowers, stitched with intricate detail. Below the horse, faintly outlined objects resembling a ribbon or banner are visible. The fabric has some wrinkles, giving it a handmade, in-progress feel.
Heather has been creating art since 2005, focusing on painting, embroidery, and poetry. After surviving a coma in 1993, she went back to school and now enjoys working at The Exceptional Bean in Cookeville.
A barred owl perches on a wooden post, gazing slightly to the side with its dark, reflective eyes. Its plumage is a mix of brown, white, and gray, with intricate horizontal and vertical barring patterns across its body. The owl’s sharp, curved beak is pale yellow, contrasting with the darker feathers around its face. The background consists of blurred wooden planks, suggesting a natural or enclosed setting.
Charlie is a Franklin-based photographer with AbleVoices since 2022. He specializes in capturing nature, automobiles, animals, and people through his lens.
A bold, expressive painting of an older man with a beard, wearing a suit and bow tie, dominates the canvas. His face is painted with a mix of warm and cool tones, with gold, brown, and blue creating depth and contrast. His piercing blue eyes stand out against the textured brushstrokes. The background is a mix of abstract blue, red, and white hues, with rough, dynamic strokes adding movement. The painting has a modern, impressionistic style with strong contrasts and an intense, almost mysterious expression.
Augie was born in Germany and raised in Tennessee. He chooses his medium based on the subject's personality. Working in acrylics, oil, charcoal, and pastels, he embraces the creative challenge, stating, "I enjoy the process, the challenge, and the ability to express myself when creating art."
A vibrant diptych painting features an abstract bouquet of flowers divided between two canvases. The left side has a cool-toned background of blues and whites, while the right side contrasts with warm yellows and reds. The flowers, painted with thick, expressive brushstrokes, blend deep blues, purples, reds, greens, and yellows, creating a dynamic and energetic composition. The split between the two panels enhances the contrast, making the piece feel like a meeting of opposing elements—cool and warm, calm and intense.
Terry is a 61-year-old student at the Trousdale School who loves art and reading. She enjoys paint-by-number, making latch hook rugs, bowling with friends, and reading Nancy Drew books.
An expressive landscape painting featuring a dark, triangular mountain rising from a sea of blended green and blue tones. The sky above is filled with warm golden hues, with a bright yellow sun radiating rough, textured rays. Wispy white clouds streak across the upper portion, adding movement. In the lower right corner, two small red figures stand side by side, providing a human element to the vast scene. The painting has a dreamlike quality, with soft brushstrokes and blended colors.
Hunter is a 14-year-old artist from Hixson, Tennessee, inspired by Bob Ross. He expresses his creativity through painting and writing books, some of which are available for checkout at his former elementary school library.
A surreal painting featuring two figures against a dark, textured blue background. On the left, a human-like moon with cratered skin has expressive, sad eyes and a furrowed brow, gazing at the figure on the right. The right figure has a reflective, glassy head containing a curled-up fetus surrounded by a cosmic, starry texture. Both figures wear dark, textured clothing that merges into the background.
Austin Blake Garner blends traditional and digital media to create art that uncovers hidden truths and brings small, magical beings into the light of his imagined hearth.

poetry as healing
is writing to convince myself of things
even if they don’t feel true yet,
like
I’m over it now or
the world is a safe place or
I’m living the life I always dreamed of

poetry as healing
is being very
very
honest with myself
about what I want
and what I dream of
and what it is I’m scared to ask for
like the journal entry I unburied the other day
secret promise to myself:
someday I will perform into a microphone in front of people
and I will make art about
existential dread
late blooming
love and heartbreak
sense of place and home
meaning making

poetry as healing
is playing with words
without fear of who will think what -
my neighbor, published author of vague and flowy written work: too literal!
my coworker, who knows only my mask: so dark!
my mother, proudly and admirably in therapy: did she write this about me?

poetry as healing
is curating an entire playlist around a single, specific emotion
and crying to the most gut-punching lyric on repeat as I drive home:
you can’t even imagine how badly it hurts
just to think sometimes
how I think almost all the time 1

poetry as healing
is Bananagrams on a Wednesday night with my friends
rearranging tiles and laughing at the stories they tell
in a futile attempt to distract me from my impending victory
peel!
peel!
peel!
bananas!
wordplay on wordplay

poetry as healing
is choosing a paint color because I like the sound of its name
and when people come over and marvel at it
I want to say
thank you
it’s auburn glaze

poetry as healing
is opening a bright blue text message bubble to write words of affirmation to my best friend
who is burnt out
so we leave out prepositions and punctuation to save energy
commiserate and validate
reminisce on simpler times:
sad holiday family complicated :(
holidays very hard and sad angst
anxious
brave
wish lived in same city
why not roommates anymore
hugs ily
ily sweet dreams

poetry as healing
is rereading old love poems
and feeling grateful that it happened
but grateful that it’s over now:
it makes me believe in magic /
I walked around the city shedding layers
surprised to find myself underneath /
I think I can move on now
and bloom
poetry as healing
is learning all the words to my friend’s communist country songs
screaming my favorites in the car
leaving witty comments on social media posts so the record reaches more people
and screaming three words into a recording microphone so my voice can make a cameo in the next one
sh*t talking boys! 2
(you’ll see)

poetry as healing
is watching my favorite toddlers learn to talk
echoing their micro-sentences
cheering and clapping as they revel in newfound words
that that that!
‘nana!
up!
I crash!
bye bye!

poetry as healing
is signing up for music therapy
because I wish I had it as a kid
and asking the therapist to sing her goodbye song at the
end of the session
to establish the routine my child and adult brains both
crave
and agreeing to play lyrical Mad Libs with a song about
dichotomy:
I’m lonely and connected
I’m awkward and I’m sure
I’m scared and I’m showing up
ooh 3

poetry as healing
is letting someone else draft a daunting email for me
relocating words from subject lines to opening greetings
to signatures
letting someone else click send because I’m too anxious
to fathom doing so
giving someone else my password to log in and check
for a response
because I can’t handle the unpredictability-
an unconventional disability accommodation
she said yes!
she’d be happy to write you a recommendation
you did it!

poetry as healing
is filling walls and phone notes
with words from my favorite writers
so I can read them in a moment of storminess
and remember that other people have been here before
I used to separate good days from bad until I thought of
myself as the ocean
I can still greet joy while swimming through grief
How fragile strength feels
I’m all of it and all of it is me 4

poetry as healing
is writing myself a mantra
and reading it out loud every morning
before driving to work
at a place that wants to make me feel
small
I am whole
I am important
I am brave
I belong to myself and believe in myself
I am both already and forever becoming the person I used
to dream of

poetry as healing
is sitting in a library basement
at 2:30pm on a Saturday
reading my words out loud
not into a microphone
but to the other five members of this creative writing
workshop
and as they snap and hum in response
I start to feel convinced,
to believe me when I say:
my flowers are
embracing my love for all kinds of people
holding on tight to deep friendships
learning to sit with dark emotions
leaning into creativity
stretching a little taller towards the sun every day
as I make myself someone that little me would have been
proud of.

Referenced pieces:
1. “Shadowboxing” by Julien Baker
2. Unreleased song by Nathan Evans Fox
3. “Hand In My Pocket” by Alanis Morissette
4. “Until I thought of myself as the sea” by Hannah
Rosenberg