2. BRICKS
GROWING PAINS 101:
REBRANDING
With quick growth comes growing pains; but hey, we aren’t
complaining! We’ve revamped our branding to encompass what is
now and what’s to come. So, here we go...
Paro South is still the parent company, but the name will only be used
for behind-the-scenes purposes. C615 is the new overall brand and
no longer an abbreviation for Center 615. C615 includes the Center
615 campus, Studio 615, Main Street Gallery, residential properties
and our other commercial properties that house restaurants and small
businesses.
Center 615 is now a campus and not one building. The building
currently known as Center 615 is now Center 615 Main, or the Main
building. Paro South Creative Suites is now called Bricks. The Loft,
well, it’s still the Loft.
Information about all areas
of C615 can be found on
our new website:
www.C615.co.
Hope this clears things up!
MAIN
LOFT
#01
4. Make It Pop
teams with C615
This is the Video Revolution
With the online age, storytelling is
everything.
Everyone has a story, you just need to
find a way to express it. This is where
Make It Pop Creations comes into
play. They are a creative firm offering a
diverse portfolio of video, animation,
photography, writing and directing. They
offer award winning products and a world
class, no nonsense experience from pre-
production to debut. (And they throw a
killer Spirit Animal party). Basically, they
want to make your story pop.
C615 recently teamed up with Make It
Pop Creations to create the photo and
video facility: Studio 615. It’s been great
seeing new, exciting projects unfold.
You can count on Make It Pop to use
imaginative concepts, experimental
techniques and unwavering passion to
give each client’s story the ability to make
people laugh, cry or simply want to know
more.
And they make fierce team photos...
Meet the Make It Pop team (left to right):
Taylor Blair, Joe Bauer, Jared Rauso, Kyle
Copeland, Kevin Kazluaskas, Johnathan
Jones, Grant Carpenter
Meet Matt
Rubinstein.
Life mantra:
Deeds not
words.
Favorite books:
Experience in Education
Ishmael
4 steps to the Epiphany
Tenant at the Main building.
H
e’s cofounder and CEO of
LiveSchool, a start-up focused
on behavioral management.
However, this path was not something
he foresaw in his younger days.
In college, he decided to take an
internship opportunity at a school
in Harlem, and it made a big impact
on him. After graduation, he moved
to Nashville and began working at
Kipp Academy. During his first year of
teaching, he experienced the difficulties
of behavior in schools. Kipp, like many
schools, used a paper based behavior
system, which would take about two
hours a week to write everything down.
It would have been easy to become
indifferent, and think, “Yes, teachers
are spending two hours each week,
but that’s just life.” Instead, Rubinstein
chose to become sensitive to the
problem and do something about it.
After the school year ended, he set out
to find a solution, and with his brother,
founded LiveSchool.
What is your vision for
LiveSchool?
We are trying to build a real platform
for student engagement. Our whole
company vision is built around wanting
to get kids more excited about school.
So, right now the form it’s taken is
targeting behavioral challenges. But, I
think we are going to go way beyond
that. Our vision is empowering kids
to learn the things that they want to
learn and to connect their learning to
their real life.
What impact do you think
student choice has on behavioral
management?
It has a huge impact. There is a really
popular framework for behavioral
management called Love and Logic.
The core idea is framing mandates to
kids as a choice. If there’s something
you want someone to do, you
frame it as a choice to give the kids
ownership. Personally, I think we have
stripped choice out of schools. We
are standardizing, and there aren’t as
many ways for kids to just choose.
I think it’s detrimental, and it’s one of
the reasons we have such declining
student engagement. One of the
things we are trying to do is open up
more to choice. So if I love basketball,
and if I can pick 3 friends and have
a private b-ball game, that’s going to
motivate me a lot more than if I love to
draw. I think kids’ ability to choose the
activities that are important to them is
essential.
What do you think is the best
answer for the achievement gap?
We have a huge amount of resources
in our school system. Huge, like
hundreds of millions of dollars. Right
now, state and district people are
deciding all our resources. One of the
biggest things we can do to improve
the achievement gap is push choice
over how resources are used, within
reasonable limits, down to teachers
and kids. I think it would make a huge
difference.
What are some hopes you have
with educational reform?
That we can all work together. There’s
been a lot of division. I really believe
we need to put more resources in the
hands of teachers and students. I don’t
think the problem is that we’re not
spending enough money on education,
I think the problem is the way we are
spending the money is not impacting
kids the most it could.
What is your opinion on the future
of online education?
I think we are self-motivated learners,
and it’s changing the world. Period. I
think people who aren’t engaged in
learning, it doesn’t mean a thing. So,
for kids who are still in schools, we
have got to get them more excited
about learning.
Are you a big advocate for more
tech in classrooms?
I am a huge believer in playing
outside. However, I draw a big line
with technology that enhances
what the teacher is trying to do and
technology that is trying to replace
the teacher. I believe in tech that helps
connect people and have new kinds
of experiences. When it comes to
enhancing learning, I’m about more
and more tech. As long as kids keep
getting outside.
ENGAGE STUDENTS WITH
L IV E S C H O O L
#03
5. Tenant at the Bricks building.
Jennifer Way became an entrepreneur
by accident. After being given an ul-
timatum to relocate or leave her job,
she chose the latter and began reeval-
uating what was next. A former work
connection advised Jennifer to go into
business for herself. After some per-
suasion from her husband, she decid-
ed to go for it. Now, she’s found her
“thing.” Jenn provides career coach-
ing and job search education, tools
and resources. This is how she wants
to invest her time and energy.
For people who have lost all
motivation, any specific advice?
One of the things that I try to tell people
is their career is something that ebbs
and flows. There are times in your life
when certain aspects of your career
are more important than other times.
There are times when other things
take precedence, you know, you just
had a baby or things that you prioritize
or reprioritize over time. And there’s
nothing wrong with that. And so, to
everything there really is a season. But
that’s not really about motivation, that’s
about priorities. When it comes to losing
motivation, I tell people you’re forgetting
that you drive your career. No one’s doing
this for you. Your job isn’t about the tasks
on your to-do list today. Your real job is
to manage your career and do that with
intention and direction and move toward
something. And I find when people lose
motivation it’s because people have lost
their way. They forget where they’re going
and forget that they can drive.
What questions
should we
constantly be
asking our-
selves through-
out life?
There is one that
comes to mind.
People come to me
because some-
thing has stopped
working in their ca-
reer. Something is
not clear to them.
My big question
is always are you
running from something or are you run-
ning to something? I feel like sometimes
people leave their job because they don’t
want to deal with something anymore.
And when you do that before learning
the lesson first, you just move to another
location and maybe you’ll find another
job but you’ll come against that same
thing again. It will follow you. If you have
learned all the lessons and you’re running
towards something new, you’re seeking
a new opportunity. That’s a different ex-
perience and story. What you need to be
asking yourself is it’s not the job I have
right now or the job I’m taking but it’s the
job after that. Will this lead to more job
titles or fewer?
To what do you attribute your own
self-confidence?
I think it’s really one concept. It’s align-
ment. I know why I’m on the earth, I know
where my swim lane is, and everything I
do falls in that swim lane. I don’t do things
that are outside of
it. If there’s a cause
and it’s not related
to employment or
supporting some-
one in his or her
creativity, then it’s
not my cause and
I just give money. I
know that writing a
book; the book is
in there. Speaking,
it’s in there. Coach-
ing, it’s in there. So
I just know what’s
in there. And what’s
not in there. Be-
cause of that, everything I talk about, my
body language, my beliefs, my passion
and everything I have learned, it’s all go-
ing in one direction. And I think people
perceive that as a very powerful and per-
suasive element to who I am.
Biggest no-no for job seekers?
There is one monster mistake. And it’s not
just job seekers. It’s anyone that works
with or for someone else. And that is we
underestimate the laws of authority.
We constantly challenge people who
have authority over us. And when you
challenge authority, authority will auto-
matically restrict and need to protect
itself so we create more of our own
problems than we solve. The person
who doesn’t get hired or promoted is
the person that makes us feel bad. We
don’t promote people who are mad or
trying to guilt us. There are so many
elements of that in our decision-mak-
ing and how we interact with people
who have authority, even in flat orga-
nizations. And there are generational
issues with that as well, I mean — mil-
lennials were raised in collaborative
households. They think that everyone
has a say and that everyone can have
an opinion about it. But baby boom-
ers are traditionalists and they weren’t
raised like that and it’s not always true.
Do some people have a problem
with authority?
I think some people do, we’re called
entrepreneurs. Even more than that,
people don’t realize that authority and
influence are the only two ways you
can get anything done in corporate
America or in business. You either
have the authority to do it or the influ-
ence to do it. I don’t think we spend
any time teaching people when to use
which. I think people make mistakes
on that constantly. In fact, 90 percent
of the problems that come through my
office are founded in that challenge.
Empowering and Inspiring, One Individual at a Time
“And I find when people
lose motivation it’s
because they have lost
their way. They forget
where they’re going
and forget that they
can drive. ”
Resident at 626 Main St.
Research Says Taking Breaks
From Work Helps with
Productivity...
Y
ou’ve probably heard by
now that the beloved Family
Wash is moving across the
street into our 626 Main building
underneath the Loft. We hope it
becomes a favorite spot for tapping
your toes, curing your hunger and
hydrating at 5 o’clock.
So how did The Family Wash come
about? Jamie Rubin, musician
and treasured barista, wanted to
open up a local dive bar that could
become a neighborhood hang out.
Soon, his pint and pie restaurant
took off with too many customers
and not enough seats, which led
him to dream bigger. He heard
about Christian Paro looking to
host a restaurant in a new building
on Main Street and decided to go
for it. His new vision brings changes
including a breakfast, lunch and
dinner menu. With the help of
Mitchell Fox, The Family Wash will
also be partnering with Garage
Coffee to keep both you and your
tastes buds awake. There will be a
different seating layout with a large
community table in the front for
more privacy, banquettes along the
walls and tables in the middle. And
yes, there will still be a stage plus
a new sound booth for recording
shows.
Curious about the menu? Prepare
your appetites for semolina and
spinach green biscuits with fried
green tomatoes, chicken pot
pie, pimento cheese and grilled
jalapeño mayo. The Family Wash
on Main Street is sure to become a
staple hang out spot for the C615
community and all of Nashville.
JENN
WAY
The FamilyWash
#04
6. “We are all connected.
It doesn’t matter your
language, race or
religion; music has the
power to do anything,
for anyone,
at any time.”
Tenant at the Loft building.
C
hris Nardone has always had a
passion for music. He studied fi-
nance in school to master the art
of managing money in preparation for his
entrepreneur days. During this time, he
worked and learned from two men in the
management business. This experience
was instrumental in his confidence to set
out on his own a few years later. At the
time, he knew he had to be in NYC, LA or
Nashville. He chose Nashville.
Over the past few years, Chris has formed
Venture Music: a company set on us-
ing new industry principles to launch the
careers of musicians. We sat down and
talked about music and the future of the
industry.
Is there a musician that has
influenced you the most?
The band that I’m the biggest fan girl
about is Radiohead. They are one of
those bands that redefine themselves on
every album. In music, that’s a difficult
thing to do. Once you find your niche,
your fans expect a certain thing from you.
What do you look for while
picking artists to manage?
Morals are my number one criteria. Why
are you in music? We work in a very
powerful medium; you can see positive
or negative change from your music.
Most bands have a message they are
conveying to their fans. I refuse to work
with musicians that don’t have a posi-
tive message or don’t take their influence
seriously. In my experience, it’s real. It’s
tangible. You can see it. My second is
work ethic. I don’t know if I can teach
you how to care more about what you’re
doing or how to approach your career
with the same tenacity that I approach
mine. Any entrepreneurs doing their own
thing require that “nothing is going to
stand in my way” mentality. And music
is that, times 100. There are so many
people who are wannabe entertainers.
My third is talent.
I like the quote from your site, “We are
all connected. It doesn’t matter your
language, race or religion; music has
the power to do anything, for anyone,
at any time.” Can you elaborate on that?
I based my career and passion and
even my own life off of that. The song-
writers meaning behind a song is es-
sentially meaningless to a fan because
songs have different meanings to ev-
eryone. They interpret it differently.
And I think the beauty of music is that I
can write something and someone ten
years from now can get something out
of it that I could never have imagined.
But that, in a nutshell, is why I’m pas-
sionate about music.
Music-sharing sites and blogs are
presenting both listeners and
artists with challenging
questions. What’s your view on
the value of music today?
It’s tough. It’s obviously the biggest
debate happening in our industry right
now. We work with independent bands
for the most part, not bands that have
major record deals. We see streaming
services as allowing us an infinite way
to connect with new fans. In our eyes,
removing every barrier of entry to hear-
ing our music is all we care about. Our
focus is expanding the fan base, not
monetizing. Spotify was very clear from
the get-go to give 70 percent, which is
what iTunes gives out. However, with
iTunes it’s a one-time purchase and
you get the seventy cents to the dollar,
and with Spotify it’s fractions of a penny
every time a song is played. We see it
as offering more benefits than cost. We
are in the business of selling tickets and
merchandise. We see people who have
really strong opinions against it are nor-
mally big pop stars like Taylor Swift. If
you can take your music off Spotify and
see a significant jump in iTunes sales,
that monetary cash flow is valuable and
doesn’t have a negative impact in the
long term. However, even if you’re a
well-known artist, you could go about
putting a record out and making it clear
you have to purchase it now if you want
it this month. After the month is over,
you place it on music streaming sites.
The people who don’t really care, you
eventually give them a chance. And
maybe they’ll come around and buy a
ticket at some point. The Taylor Swift
model, I don’t support. When you look
at the dollars being brought in, it’s like
c’mon, how much do you really need?
And how many new fans are you turn-
ing away by holding off? But I guess
everyone’s different.
Thoughts on the music scene in
East Nashville?
We are lucky because there’s an un-
derground scene that’s developing. In
this area of the U.S., you want to be
in Nashville. It’s really helpful for us,
because we work in contemporary
music not country music. Nashville is
becoming what L.A. was in the 60s
and 70s. We have a really cool scene
that people know exist, but hasn’t be-
come mainstream yet. I love that we
can be peers with what’s happening,
but still appreciate this massive shift.
I am curious how it will affect country
music, because country music is the
only genre that still functions on the
old rules. You still have these massive
recording artists who have massive
deals that still sell millions of records.
Where as, most of the other genres are
focused on sharing tickets and mak-
ing their music available anywhere and
everywhere and capitalizing on their
direct fan relationship. I think eventu-
ally country will have to move in line.
And I’m curious, as this rock scene is
developing in Nashville, and as it takes
the spotlight away a bit from country
music, how that will shift things. Having
the Basement East open up down the
street is really cool. It’s like a couple
times a year now we have a cool venue
pop up, downstairs even (Family Wash).
It’s its own little scene over here.
Have you heard of the concept
that an artist only needs 1,000
true fans to make a living?
Absolutely, that’s the way the music
industry is headed. We have living proof
of this because we work with a band
that does exactly that. And the best
example is we funded a record through
a crowd funding website called Pledge
Music. We raised almost $80,000 from
1,200 fans. Let’s say we recorded an
album and went to different label deals,
we maybe could have gotten 50,000.
Instead, we went directly to our fans
and asked politely and did it the right
way. You can beg for money or say hey,
come be a part of this with us. And the
latter is way more effective because it
makes you come across as wanting
to be in business with your fans. We
reached out later to the 1,200 fans and
tried to get feedback after the album
was released. We were surprised to
see that 90 percent of people sup-
ported it simply to support the band,
not because they were just really ex-
cited about signed cds or extra perks.
Now that’s true fans. We are living and
breathing proof (we did it with Living
Aquarium). In a nutshell, those are the
kinds of bands we are developing. I’m
a young guy, and I don’t have the re-
sources to manage a Pharell or Sam
Smith, so I use the tools at our dispos-
able to do what we can. If you look at
the Music Pledge site, you will see that
there are some big bands on it. They
are finally realizing that they don’t need
a big label to succeed, because our
friends will support us. Everyone wants
to have a career and our bands love
what they do. Part of their motivation
is being on stage and performing, but
at the end of the day they also want to
be adults and be able to support them-
selves and be happy. Raising money
with no strings attached is the best way
to do it.
Life mantra: Get things done.
ARTIST MANAGEMENT
VENTURE MUSIC
#05
I ONLY WORK WITH MUSICIANS WHO TAKE
THEIR INFLUENCE SERIOUSLY.
7. Tenant at the Bricks building.
She founded a digital business strategy
boutique and is currently making the
online world a more beautiful, efficient
place one project at a time. We spoke
with Aimee about entrepreneurship
and the motivation that led her to start
out on her own.
Ok, first — Love & Science is an
awesome name. How did you
come up with it?
It’s a balance between technical and
emotional. When a person comes to
a website, they have an immediate
feeling or impression. It leads you to
create a structure that is going to elicit
the appropriate emotional reaction and
it needs to be completely supported
from a scientific standpoint. We are
very data specific, and will be the ones
that make you look at your analytics
when you’re just trying to be cool and
creative. But it’s of critical importance
to us because we want to see longevity.
And we want to see results beyond the
unveiling of a project. We want to see
that excitement continue and be built
upon years and years of time.
Tell us more about what you do.
We do digital strategy. In essence, we
make sure that your business goals
and your audience goals are aligned
online and we work to optimize
that in every way. That includes
search engine optimization, content
strategy information architecture and
conversion rate optimization because
that’s almost always going to be the
critical metric that everyone cares
about.
If you were to hide from the
madness of the day, where could
one find you?
I think the things that make me happy
are making stuff. I love reading and I
draw a lot of inspiration from books,
literature and just the visuals created
by someone else’s words. And I think
for people in digital, it’s just a really
good feeling to complete a project
in a day and to be able to say this
is something I have thought about,
created, completed and shared. It’s
sometimes hard to be on the computer
for ten hours and then try to get on
again when you return home — you
need space to be away.
You’re an entrepreneur. What
gave you the confidence to start?
In some ways it may be ignorance.
I was home-schooled and finished
calculus before I began high school.
Growing up, there was no sense
that something was too hard or you
couldn’t do something. I didn’t even
know that was an option. It really
instilled a confidence in me. Even in
school, I could just be me. I would do
weird stuff, like wear what I want —
but since I did it with such confidence
and recklessness, no one cared.
I also handpicked my team. The
people around me are excellent at
what they do and better than me. It’s
very easy for me to defer to them if I
know they care about it like I do. And
I’ll still challenge ideas and want my
ideas to be challenged. If someone
else can vet my ideas further and ask
me things I hadn’t thought about, I
mean, that’s exactly what I want out
of life.
love
and
scienceAimee Romero is a force
to be reckoned with.
She carries a high level of
confidence in her approach
to life and isn’t afraid to
put in the hard work to
further her ideas.
turnip
truckTenant at the Main building.
W
hen I met with John Dyke,
he was sitting leisurely in the
Center 615 break room with
an enormous dog at his feet. We soon
jumped right to a topic he’s passionate
about: his neighborhood. John has
been living in East Nashville for over
twenty-five years and had always felt
the community deserved a natural
food store. He decided to start his
own journey to make it happen, and in
2001, opened up Turnip Truck.
At the time, Bongo Java and Margot
just opened and Five Points had be-
gun to take form. Now, fourteen years
later, they are moving down the street
on Woodland to a building five times
it’s current size, in addition to their
Gulch location. The new building will
offer a salad, juice and hot food bar, a
meat department, growler station, full
service bakery and broader grocery
options. The first story will be a gro-
cery and the second floor will be a
walkway that goes into the outside
café that overlooks the store. In the
very back will be the corporate of-
fices, which will mean Turnip Truck
is leaving Center 615. However, as
neighbors, we’re confident we will all
be seeing each other often.
If you’ve ever walked through the
aisles at Turnip Truck, you’ll notice a
section dedicated to alternative med-
icine. I asked John about his own
experience with alternative medicine.
“I think the supplements come along
with the nature food store. We make
sure that they are the highest quality,
with no fillers or additives. My favorite is
the produce stand because I think you
can get most of your supplements that
way. However, there are many peo-
ple who need extra supplements
because they aren’t getting what
they need based on their per-
sonal diet.”
Turnip Truck has
become a staple for
many over the years.
Being an entrepreneur
takes confidence, and I
was curious where John’s
stemmed from.
“I’ve always had this drive. If I want
to do something, I’ll go for it. I also
knew my neighborhood. I had one of
those epiphanies of awareness and
I knew it was the right thing. It was a
struggle at first, and it still has its ups
and downs.”
Turnip Truck
is moving to a
building five
times its
current size.
#06
8. Other art previously featured at Center 615
Former featured artist at Main Street Gallery and Center
615 Main.
Brezinka’s art has been commissioned by The New York
Times, Neiman Marcus, the Johnny Cash family, Washing-
ton Post and The Chicago Tribune. Wayne’s design, illustra-
tion and packaging work have long been sought out in the
music industry, in Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. His
compositions contain a mixture of media (paint, photography,
etc.) and assembly (papers, sizes, etc.) by using bygone, yet
ever-lasting items which bring the past and present together.
Brezinka’s technique transforms the objects into something
different, familiar but unparalleled in depth and internal ener-
gy. His portrait of Bob Dylan is currently on loan for a tempo-
rary exhibition at the Tennessee State Museum through Au-
gust 31, 2015. We loved having Wayne’s work up at Center
615 Main during the winter months. He was recently featured
at Main Street Gallery during our East Side Art Stumble.
We asked Wayne a few questions about his artwork.
Do you have a favorite piece?
Yes, today my favorite work would have to be my LINCOLN
and DYLAN portraits. That could change tomorrow or next
week.
What do you care about and how does that portray in
your art?
I care about people and their stories. We all have a story to
tell and the face of a person tells you so much if you slow
down enough and engage with that person. Most of my work
as of late are portraits.
What do you want viewers to take away from your
“Things I’ll Never Say” piece?
We all have secrets, we all keep secrets and sometimes
share them. How do those shape and change us if we chose
to keep or share them?
What do you want your work to do?
To draw folks in, to engage them and cause them to think
and be curious about what they’re seeing and possibly even
reflect on their own life.
ARCHES
FROM
BELOW
BY JAMIE
CLAYTON
PETRA (LEFT)
INFINITE (BELOW)
BY LINDSEY ISBELL
FRONT
PORCH
BY OMARI
BOOKER
Wayne
Brezinka
#07
Life mantra:
To strive to live in the moment each day. To surrender and be
present with whomever and whatever I am engaged with, be it
with people or my work or the silence of the day.
9. TRANSFORMING POVERTY THROUGH CREATIVITY & COMMUNITY
POVERTY AND THE ARTS
SPLENDID SUNS
BY HANNAH SWIFTWIPE
MEMORY
BY ANN
CATHERINE
CARTER
SHELL
BY JANICE
RAGO
Current featured artist at Center
615 Main.
P
OVERTY & THE ARTS is
awesome. Here’s why: their
goal is to empower homeless
and formerly homeless individuals
as artists and creatives by helping
them generate income, job skills,
security networks and purpose in
life. They also use the arts to pro-
mote relationships and a space for
volunteers to view homeless indi-
viduals as talented and creative,
thus creating better advocates and
more compassionate community
members. We interviewed Nicole
Brandt, the brains and heart behind
Poverty & the Arts.
Tell us the story behind Pover-
ty and the Arts?
Growing up, the narratives told to me
about homelessness were that the in-
dividuals were lazy, worthless, drug ad-
dicts that didn’t deserve the money of
the government or its people. My senior
year of high school, through the rela-
tionship of my best friend’s bus driver,
I began spending time with homeless
people in their camps. My first real ex-
perience with the homeless wasn’t in a
soup kitchen or a shelter serving them.
My first experience was being invited
into their space, being a guest in their
“home”. I learned that the individuals I
fell in love with were not lazy or worth-
less. In fact, they were creative and re-
sourceful–yet victims in the systematic
and structural systems of oppression:
poverty, racism and mental illness.
When I moved to Nashville 4 years ago
to attend Belmont University, I wanted
to recreate a space where people could
genuinely get to know homeless individ-
uals, rather than believing the perpetuat-
ing myths surrounding them. I explored
what it would look like to use art as the
conduit for volunteers to see homeless
individuals as equals. We hosted our first
Community Arts Day in November of
2011 and both the homeless participants
and volunteers asked for weeks about
when we would be coming back. The
organization grew out of those relation-
ships and people. Today, we host regu-
lar Community Arts Days for Nashville’s
homeless community at large, and work
closely with a small number of homeless
artists recommended by the staff of local
homeless organizations. Through the
support of the community, we are able
to provide resources for our artists to
generate income through creating and
selling artwork.
What would you like people to be
more aware of regarding home-
lessness/poverty?
Solving homelessness is a community
effort, and there is an important need to
provide services to our homeless pop-
ulation in Nashville. However, our goal
is to provide an environment of success
for our homeless community so that they
can take advantage of the services be-
ing offered and make real change in his
or her life. We’ve seen that environment
drives behavior, so living in the typical
homeless environment of chaos, fear,
loneliness, anger and/or addiction is go-
ing to drive severely negative behaviors.
Oftentimes, the cycle of homelessness
and poverty is created by an inability
to break this mind-set of dependence.
Poverty & the Arts’ goal is to offer an
environment where homeless individuals
can thrive by engaging in creative outlets
and building security nets in the creative
community. Through our offered arts
programming, homeless individuals are
able to develop not only confidence and
determination, but also income¬-gener-
ating opportunities as well as job skills
and preparation. The programs are also
designed to give volunteers a chance to
interact directly with homeless partici-
pants in an effort to encourage mean-
ingful conversations and build genuine
relationships that are critical in breaking
the cycle of homelessness.
What are common misconcep-
tions?
I think there are two big common mis-
conceptions surrounding homeless-
ness. The first is that all the individu-
als do drugs or are even unemployed.
We have a homeless artist in our Art-
ist Collective that’s had a full time job
for several months after exiting prison.
The second misconception involves
those individuals that are addicted to
drugs and those that seem like they are
choosing homelessness. Experiencing
homelessness creates a survival mind-
set that strips individuals of normal con-
veniences like privacy, safety, indepen-
dence and community. As the homeless
environment of fear, dependency and
addiction drives negative behavior, it is
up to us as a society to create an al-
ternate environment that provides the
homeless individuals an opportunity to
actually generate their own success. An
ideal environment provides people an
opportunity to be creative, to dream, to
have relationships with people outside
of homelessness, to find pur-
pose, to obtain job preparation
skills and to generate streams
of income. People that seem
like lost causes often just need
a healthier environment to live
in day-to-day.
What’s been the best part?
I thought the best part of our
program would be the oppor-
tunity for our homeless artists
to make money through sell-
ing their artwork. I learned that
while our artists appreciate the
opportunity to earn money, the
biggest reason they show up
every time is for community.
We’ve built this environment of
trust and encouragement with
each other. Our artists want
each other to succeed and are
a source of light in the otherwise dark
day-to-day experiences of homeless-
ness. I love the commitment and effort all
of our artists have given to the program
and its success. They’ve offered to help
with fund raising, construction, outreach
and more! They are just as committed
to Poverty & the Arts’ success as I am!
The hardest?
I graduated college in May 2014 with a
degree in Religion & the Arts. I had no
background in business, marketing or
accounting. I started this nonprofit on a
vision, and have been overwhelmed by
the support and expertise the Nashville
community has offered up. However,
dealing with the complicated problems
of homelessness at 23 years old, as well
as the responsibility of managing a non-
profit, have been extremely difficult.
Why art?
Art is a human experience that allows
people to find beauty amidst the diffi-
culties of life. Art also creates a space of
equality and allows the Nashville com-
munity to see the homeless as creative
and talented, versus the typical home-
less service opportunities that feel more
us versus them.
Image: “Elementary Prayers” by
Ash-Shahid Muhammed
#08
10. We love
the art
community,
which is why the walls
of Center 615 Main are
filled with local art for
sale. Artists retain 100
percent of sales and
we get good lookin’
hallways. It’s a win-win.
We are always looking
for local artists and
photographers that are
interested in hanging
their work for a three
month period. Know of
any artists that would
be a great fit? Email
whitney@c615.co
Main Street Gallery
in the Bricks building
is part of the Second
Saturday East Side
Art Stumble. If you or
someone you know is
interested in being the
featured artist, email us
at events@c615.co
BRING ART
TOYOUR
WORKDAY
#09
11. C615 and Make It Pop
Creations have teamed up
to create Nashville’s most
sophisticated photography
and videography facility:
Studio 615.
Featuring a photographer’s
playground and 2,000
square feet of white infinity
space, Studio 615 rivals the
best facilities in New York
and Los Angeles. State of
the art LED lighting, elegant
green rooms and outdoor
lounge areas are just a few
of the features that make
Studio 615 breathtaking.
This photo, video and event
facility provides the perfect
environment to imagine,
create and produce
amazing content. Recent
events and productions
include The Start Up Bus,
The Dance Network, Delta
Saints video shoot and
many more.
When creative
worlds collide,
a STUDIOis born.
#10
13. STUDIO
615
OPENING
PARTY
com-mu-ni-ty
(n). a feeling of
fellowship with others,
as a result of sharing
common attitudes,
interests, and goals.
Monthly happy
hours on the roof
deck. Coffee socials
consisting of breakfast
tacos and Texan
kolaches. Christmas
parties. Center 615
birthday party. Ginger
shots from Turnip
Truck to get you
through a Wednesday
afternoon. Big band
and fancy attire with
the Studio opening.
Yep, it’s been quite a
year.
We love our city and
we love our C615
community.
Thank you for
making C615
great.
#12
14. Christian Paro aquires several
rental properties and renovates
1701 Fatherland Street.
2010
Fun fact: one of the rental
properties was recently
sold to a Canadian house
renovation TV show.
With the help of Chad Grout of
Urban Grout, Paro transforms
the Bricks building that was
once home to Pride Publishing
into a series of small offices
with a shared conference room,
break room and event space.
Six months after
opening, it’s full
with a waiting list.
615 Main Street, home to Hardaway Con-
struction, goes up for sale. With the help
of a small bank out of Clarksville, TN, 615
Main Street becomes Center 615.
By November, all
of Main’s 40 suites
were filled with a
waiting list.
20122011
OUR
STORY
#13
15. The growing C615 team secures
626 Main Street (formerly All Nite
Glass). With demand still high for
office suites, the top level was con-
verted into Center 615 — Loft. The
Loft filled up quickly and The Family
Wash began construction down-
stairs with plans to open in summer
of 2015.
C615 expands to Inglewood and secures
272 Broadmoor Drive. After an $800,000
renovation and collaboration with long time
Center 615er, Make it Pop Creations, Studio 615
is born. Behind Studio 615 is 276 Broadmoor,
home to Coburn’s Exclusive metal fabrication.
Also behind Studio 615 sits 15 acres of
undeveloped land. Up on the hillside is where
C615 will expand it’s Live 615 division, creating
what Paro likes to call “responsible houseing”
with unites ranging from 700 to 1200 square feet.
Coburn is responsible for the facade, mail sorter, balcony railings and
many other features at Center 615.
Coburn’s Exclusive team works to deliver a timeless and handcrafted
product while balancing the needs of their customers first. They offer
design, fabrication, finish and installation services in a number of differ-
ent industries.
We can be clear on this: They love metal.
C615’s goal is to be a
force in building and
shaping community
here in East Nashville
and the rest of our
wonderful city.
2014 2015
and beyond
#14
