Kenect Apartments
Nashville, Tennessee
- Multifamily
- Southeast
- Art Curation
- Akara Partners
Husband-wife duo Kong Wee Pang and Jay Crum’s custom multimedia mural installation, found on the first floor of the residential complex, features more than 19,000 of one-inch sequins.
Two murals from Nathan Brown can be found throughout the property. The first mural exists behind the complex’s reception desk, capturing the eye of new residents and guests upon entry and the second mural is a temporary installation disguising lobby construction.
The nine-piece collection spans from the complex’s first floor lobby to the seventh floor clubhouse, and includes an expansive selection of murals, light installations, paintings, and shelf stylings.
Kenect Nashville offers memberships to their co-working space within the community, allowing non-residents to interact with two custom artworks including a large scale custom abstract palm mural inspired by Scandinavian textiles and vintage wallpapers by Kim Radford, and Karlos Marquez’s multidimensional graffiti and neon artwork.
The Story
Kenect Nashville embodies the spirit of Tennessee’s sense of community. Filled with artworks that both utilize and connect to the space through colorful imagery, and nods to the rustic yet refined elements of the area, it’s no surprise that Kenect is the ideal place for new residents of the Music City, or locals looking for the “place to be.” The NINE dot ARTS curation team leapt at the opportunity to seek out and source materials, artists and artworks from the local community. We were inspired by the eclectic vibe, flourishing young professional scene and unpretentious sophistication of Nashville, and incorporated all of these components into the Midtown residential space. Mainly highlighting local artists, the collection displays a nine piece site-specific portfolio of diverse art mediums spanning from the lobby to the top floor and into the co-working space within the community offering memberships for non-residents.
Almost immediately, residents and their guests are met with engaging murals upon entering the complex’s lobby that represent the building’s “Tennessee timeless” essence. Through the balcony catwalk and extending to the open second floor, onlookers encounter Memphis based husband-and-wife team Kong Wee Pang and Jay Crum’s custom 19 x 11 foot sequined mural consisting of thousands of one-inch embellishments traditionally used for costume and set design, displaying an abstracted landscape image. Continuing along the journey, the NINE dot ARTS curation team extended the abstract artistic theme into the reception area where Nathan Brown’s Kenect mural measures 25 x 20 feet. Inspired by the creative branding and bold colors of Kenect, Nathan created a wall-length gradient mural that alludes to his Los Angeles skateboarding roots and incorporates the culture of his southern home in Nashville. Additionally, Nathan Brown is responsible for the graphic, black and white sketched mural of words associated with the brand as an informal greeting to all. The temporary installation is meant to cover lobby construction.
With a burgeoning public and active transportation scene in Nashville, a mural depicting the area’s bike trails graces the lounge walls, inspiring residents to immerse themselves in the local scenery. The energy of the “big, small town” influenced the NINE dot ARTS team to feature found objects from antique shops around the city on a hand-crafted, styled shelving unit. The abstract art experience continues towards the seventh floor clubhouse, where residents are swept away in a natural toned mural created by Nashville native Tess Davies that conveys texture and ties the space to the outer environment through rich and raw motifs of flora and fauna. Juxtaposing the tranquil artwork of Tess Davies are two bold installations from Kim Radford and Karlos Marquez. Radford’s large-scale custom mural found in the community’s co-working space embraces pop art elements and Marquez’s multidimensional graffiti and neon artwork, “XX,” embody the audacious, playful spirit of Kenect Nashville.
Kenect Nashville’s art collection is intentionally curated by the NINE dot ARTS team to complement the history and character of Music City, while extending beyond Nashville, daring residents to be enveloped in an array of unexpected themes rarely found amongst the rustic and bucolic area.