Lisa Fox of Leiper’s Creek Gallery: A Community 20 Years in the Making
Just outside of Nashville, you'll find Leiper's Creek Gallery, a rich cultural destination displaying everything from representational paintings to sculptures. Meet founder Lisa Fox and learn how the gallery is celebrating its 20th anniversary year!
Two decades ago, painter Lisa Fox took a leap of faith and opened Leiper’s Creek Gallery in a vacated gas station in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee. Roughly 30 miles south of Nashville, Leiper’s Fork is a tiny thoroughfare that boasts an impressive array of art galleries, retail shops, The Spa at Leiper’s Fork, and a historic grocery and live music venue, Fox & Locke (formerly Puckett’s of Leiper’s Fork). You won’t find major hotels or big box stores here — Leiper’s Fork is an enclave for arts and outdoor adventure, with a culture and history beloved by locals. Lisa Fox’s vision for Leiper’s Creek Gallery has played a key role in the development of this small but mighty community.
Upon entering the gallery, you’ll find art hung salon-style to create vibrant juxtapositions between the gallery’s stable of 25 artists, while Robin Rains’ stately, cozy furnishings convey a feeling of home. Fox has intentionally built the gallery’s collection to be eclectic, believing that makes the space feel welcoming to all. “I’d been in galleries where I felt judged as to whether I should be in there or not, and I was determined this gallery would be more than that,” she says. Her mix of homegrown, national, and international talent has become the groundwork for a visionary local collaboration. Meet this week’s FACE of Nashville, Lisa Fox!
How did the idea for Leiper’s Creek Gallery originate?
I was a freelance decorative artist commissioned to paint a mural at [local preservationist] Aubrey Preston’s mother’s house around 1998. It was an old landscape on four walls, all the way around. It took six months, and I fell in love with that place and didn’t want to leave. I saw what Aubrey wanted to do here and believed in the dream. A handful of us dug in and committed.
How did you go about building an audience?
The struggle was getting people here for the first time. If we could get them out once, we could get them back. Beyond gallery openings, we tried bizarre, quirky, funny, and creative things to attract media coverage. We didn’t have a dime to market with. The pictures were always great because it was a visual feast.
We had Derby Day hat-making parties and a bluegrass festival that brought in 6,000 to 8,000 people every year for five years. We had old-fashioned sinks on the lawn where people could wash their hands, and a block of four-foot square ice cubes with a giant fan was cooling people down. We pushed hard for seven or eight years until we started feeling, They’re still coming back.
How did you select the gallery’s first artists?
I tapped successful artists that drew in others. One was Anton Weiss, who’d started several art societies in Nashville, and was a very accomplished master abstractionist. He was also my mentor. Then other artists of that same stature were willing to come in. I also tapped into extremes, from impressionism to abstraction — I love the contrast. I added folk and sculpture; they were all so different, but they fit together. Mixing collections can be more interesting than having a house full of all abstract art or landscapes.
How do you continue to identify artists you want to represent?
It’s been so organic over the years. I don’t bring people in until I know that it feels right. For instance, P.E. Foster makes wood sculptural pieces. I found him in the woods once, at a moment I felt fed up and worn out. I took my dog, and I was going somewhere there would not be another human being. I took off to the Harpeth River and cut through brush and sticks. When I got down to the river, to this little opening, my dog was running around. Then I saw another dog running with her, and this man appeared. I’m not a scaredy-cat, but good grief. Our dogs were doing figure eights, and he was laughing. I took a deep breath, and we started chatting. He was an illustrator and had done work for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. That night, he sent me some images, and my jaw dropped. He had about 10 pieces hanging in his house — they’d never seen the light of day. I gave him a show, and we sold seven pieces. I’m the only one that carries his work. That’s the way these things have happened.
I also remember when Maggie Siner called and asked if I’d be interested in carrying her work. I almost fell out of my chair. She’s a master painter and such a great teacher. That was a moment when I thought, Okay, I’m getting there.
How are you celebrating the gallery’s 20th anniversary?
It’s an affirmation about having a vision and standing with it no matter what. I look back on it and think about how many years I was insecure, questioning, Am I on the right path? Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing enough? But I kept my head down and pushed. I had this belief that I wasn’t a business-oriented person, but I actually am — with common sense about how to do things — and it surprises me. I feel confident in where the gallery is and where I can take it. It’s solid, and it’s not going anywhere.
All this year, we’re doing porch shows, where we hang work outside the building and feature one of our artists. We have live music and food, and that’s just a big, fun time. We’re doing one of those a month until the PAPSE (Plein Air Painters of the Southeast) event in late September. There will be a big bash at the end for the gallery. Peter Trippi, the editor-in-chief of Fine Art Connoisseur, will speak at the Lawnchair Theater [on the gallery lawn] and include perspectives about the Land Trust for Tennessee, Nashville’s Big Back Yard, and how painters paint that scenery.
Are there artists in the gallery now that you’re particularly excited about?
One of our painters, Roger Dale Brown, born and raised in Nashville, has come up through the ranks really, really fast. He’s a Master Painter four times over and probably one who a lot of people are looking at. He paints really large, and he keeps growing and pushing.
Why do you feel that owning original art is meaningful?
Years ago, a man came into the gallery, looked around, and said, ‘I have empty walls. I need you to pick some art and bring it to my house.’ I took a deep breath and asked him, ‘Would you step out into the middle of that road and just yell, hey, everybody that wants to come home and live with me, come on!’ A true piece of art has energy you feel or don’t. And if you feel it, and you take it home with you and let it be your friend, it will be part of your life, history, and family. It marks a point in time and elevates a space. You can feel it. I just love that.
What is the most significant piece of advice you’ve ever given or received?
Leap and the net will appear!
Outside of faith, friends, and family, what are three things you can’t live without?
Coffee, the woods, and being immersed in the arts in all forms — visual, musical, and otherwise.
Thank you, Lisa! All photography provided.
**********
Read more interviews with our inspirational FACES in our archives!
Amy Beth Wright
Amy Beth is an essayist and freelance travel writer, with an emphasis on art, architecture, food, spirits, and public lands. She also contributes to Wine Enthusiast and Fodors Travel, and teaches writing to undergraduates at Purchase College in New York. Visit amybethwrites.com to read more of her work.