http://www.unmgmt.org/, https://linktr.ee/unmanageablearts

Unmanageable Arts, Nashville, TN (2026)

03/12/2026

The Unmanageable Giving Circle has launched a Mutual Aid Fund for Nashville-based artists who have lost work for speaking out against oppression, or for folks who are sheltering in place in response to ICE enforcement and are having to turn down gigs, touring, or other work.

$5,000 is available now, powered by . Every dollar donated goes directly to artists. No overhead, no strings attached.

If you need support, the application is in our bio, or reach out to us at [email protected]

If you want to give or connect with an artist directly, please send us an email! We’re actively matching donors with need!

02/14/2026

Year 2026
Happy Valentine’s Day! And Happy Sixth Birthday to Unmanageable! Thank you for following along on our journey. We have big dreams to increase the reach and scope of our work. We are working on our first Unmanageable Fellowship, which would provide money, mentorship, and networking opportunities to a collective of civically engaged artists in the South. We will create a retreat for artist mothers and expand the work of our Women’s Giving Circle. We will expand opportunities for young emerging artists in the Southeast by connecting them to the music industry network in Nashville. And we will continue to strengthen our org as a hub for connectivity and collaboration.

If you feel compelled to support our work, a gift on our birthday would mean a lot! Link in our bio

02/13/2026

A Walk Through Time 2025:

In 2025, we stayed grounded in our mission to mobilize resources and build power for independent artists engaged in social change work. We were thrilled to partner with artists in order to lift projects like Biscuits & Banjos, which had its April 2025 sold out premiere in Durham and welcomed artists and audiences from all over the world to celebrate Black music and culture in North Carolina.

We were thrilled to invite Octavia Yearwood to join our growing team and her vision, strategy, and all around good vibes increased our capacity and creativity significantly.

2025 was our 3rd year of co-producing the Rancho La Puerta Folk Festival, a space of creative exchange, rest, and healing for folk musicians in Tecate, Mexico. We also served as a co-producing partner with the Shockoe Institute, helping artist Leyla McCalla to produce multidisciplinary conversations that explored the enduring impact of racial slavery on our shared American experience.

With Octavia’s support, we began to lift our own internal initiatives as well, including Stay Righteously Unmanageable, monthly convenings for artist-activists that helped to channel rage into strategy and explored questions about what artists need in this moment. Additionally, we partnered with artist Joshua Moore and Vanderbilt University on The Recissions, a work in progress that seeks to document artists and organizations across the South who were affected by federal funding cuts.

We continued to steward a robust portfolio of fiscally sponsored projects and offer gratis consulting and advice to artists across a range of projects.

02/12/2026

A Walk Through Time 2024:

We were excited to help fully launch We Are North Nashville, a two-year multimedia storytelling project led by M. Simone Boyd, Steve Haruch, and Andrea Tudhope. The project documented the wisdom and lived experiences of nine North Nashville Elders who lived through racialized terror, urban renewal, and gentrification of North Nashville while continuing to support their neighbors and one another. It included a podcast, intergenerational gatherings, and celebrations for the Elders.

In 2024, Rhiannon Giddens and her management team approached Unmanageable with a wild idea – to create a festival dedicated to the voices of Black artists in non-mainstream music like roots, Americana, folk, bluegrass, and blues. In part, this new festival called Biscuits & Banjos would be a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the 2005 Black Banjo Gathering which inspired the creation of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and launched Rhiannon’s career. Through her curation, Rhiannon wanted to demonstrate that Black culture is not a monolith while highlighting the brilliance of and interconnectivity between Black musicians, scholars, and chefs. Alongside Rhiannon, Red Light Management, and a crew of incredible local Durham producers, we began to dream up and lay the groundwork for the 2025 Biscuits & Banjos Festival.

In 2024, we were also grateful recipients of a capacity building grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which helped us staff up and meet the needs of our growing organization.

Total funds raised for artists & their visionary projects: $1,071,031

02/11/2026

A Walk Through Time 2023:

This was a big year of growth for Unmanageable. We produced a recording residency, in partnership with MOXE studio, with support from the Tennessee Arts Commission. One of Allison Russell’s tracks from that residency, “You’re Not Alone”, became a collaborative project with Brandi Carlile that generated funding through the Looking Out Foundation to benefit EveryTown For Gun Safety Support Fund and The Fight For Reproductive Justice Campaign.

We also began our work supporting visionary artist, writer, speaker and community organizer M. Simone Boyd and her dream to uplift the voices and wisdom of elders in North Nashville through her large scale storytelling project, We Are North Nashville.

And we secured funding for The Blue Hour, a neoclassical work set to excerpts from Carolyn Forché’s epic abecedarian poem, “On Earth,” following one woman’s journey through the liminal space between life and death.
In addition, we began serving as a fiscal sponsor for creative works that align with our mission like Taylor McFadden’s brilliant film, Lovers.

Total funds raised for artists & their visionary projects: $691,066

02/10/2026

A Walk Through Time 2022:

Unmanageable turned two years old on Valentine’s Day 2022. Since live performances were safe to attend again with precaution, our work shifted to supporting large scale creative projects with artists in the driver’s seat.

We honed our vision this year – Unmanageable exists to support groundbreaking artists who aim to create a more compassionate, inclusive world, with a focus on those who have been historically under-represented and under-resourced in the performing arts, especially in the South. We supported the creation of an initial preview of Tift Merritt’s brilliant Rosetta Circle with Shirlette Ammons, Rissi Palmer, Adia Victoria and Shana Tucker, honoring the legacy of Rosetta Records and visionary women in jazz and blues. We also grew our Women’s Giving Circle, and thanks to a small but mighty group of donors, we were able to provide childcare support for touring artist mothers to cover the costs of summer camps and caregiving needs.

Total funds raised for artists & their visionary projects: $161,607

02/10/2026

Year 2020 - 2021

It’s almost our 6th birthday! We’re excited to spend the next few days sharing Unmanageable’s history and purpose with you. Let’s start at the beginning…

On Valentine’s Day in 2020, Unmanageable officially received our 501c3 status. We defined our mission – to mobilize resources and build power for artists engaged in social change work. In partnership with Duke Arts, we supported the March 6, 2020 premiere of Leyla McCalla’s brilliant theatre work documenting the history of Radio Haiti, Breaking the Thermometer to Hide the Fever. There was no way to know what would quickly come next. Covid lockdown followed directly afterward and our work shifted immediately to covid relief and disaster relief for artists, especially touring musicians and artist mothers.

Total funds raised for artists: $30,085

01/01/2026

As we enter 2026, we renew our pledge to Stay Righteously Unmanageable. We act boldly, grounding care into commitment and belief into action. Together, we build spaces where artists are rooted, resourced, and powerful, as we continue the work of creating the world we want to see.

Unmanageable is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.

12/30/2025

Here’s to an Unmanageable moment of GRATITUDE! Unmanageable is deeply grateful to everyone who believes in artists as essential architects of social change. Together we make space for artist-activists and cultural organizers to gather, learn, and create.

2025 has been about strengthening the bond between artistry and organizing. We’ve created opportunities to connect authentically, share strategies, and transform collective rage into sustainable action and care.

Donations to Unmanageable will not only uplift artists navigating what’s next, but also helps us build long-term infrastructure for cultural advocacy, healing, and radical imagination. Thank you for fueling a future where artists are resourced, rooted, and powerful in their communities.

Unmanageable is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.

12/23/2025

Thank you all! For the engagement, for the donations, for your presence, for your collaboration, and for your support! We’ve been able to do a lot because of the support of donors large and small, our amazing collaborators and partners, and our amazing community. We are a small but mighty team, but we are doing it! Happy holidays to you all! Hug your people and of course, stay righteously Unmanageable!

11/17/2025

We have been having an amazing time connection with almost 100 creatives from across the south over the last three months! Thank you all for joining us and sharing in a space created to support your release, connect you with other artist and sharing with one another. Next week Monday will be the last session and we can’t wait to connect with you all before the holiday season kicks off. If you haven’t been to a session yet, don’t be shy, you can still join us and be a part of the network we are creating. The link is in the bio! And remember, Stay Righteously Unmanageable!

10/31/2025

We are UNMANAGEABLE and highly capable, especially when we have tools for success. U.M has put together a comprehensive independent artist tool kit that you can use and share far and wide! Visit our website and click the link”Toolkit” tab to access our artist toolkit. Use whatever you need! We hope this helps to clear some of the weeds indie artists are often in when trying to strategize how to do what’s needed to elevate your work. From community tactics to kicking off your first tour, we’ve tried to cover as many bases possible to support the progression of artist.
You can find our website in our link tree! Enjoy the journey! Stay, UNMANAGEABLE.

Unmanageable Arts

03/12/2026

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12/30/2025

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10/31/2025

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