Art and Invention Gallery

Bunch of knick knacks, some original pieces, cute little books. Looks like it’s for an older crowd than me, people with kids. It’s all a little precious for me.

This is one of my favorite places in the city. Mostly because I want EVERYTHING in here. The art changes regularly, and for some reason I still love about 90% of it!
Owner Meg is a total doll and one of East Nashville’s greatest treasures. She stocks a wide variety of locally made pottery, jewelry, art and a whole bunch of random other stuff that you are bound to love. Not to mention, this is your go-​to place for all your tomato fest art needs.
My house is dotted with treasures from this store. Looking for a gift– look no further!

Reminds me of one of my favorite stores in L.A. – well, Sherman Oaks, to be specific – called Handmade. It’s a nicely curated collection of original artisan work. Quirky things you may not see anywhere else, and some things that might seem a little more expected (like a stained glass mosaic on a repurposed vintage window). The jewelry is really cool and I loved the art hanging on the walls. The larger than life lock and key outdoor art is awesome.
And they have a store cat – in a cage, in case that freaks you. Warm, friendly proprietress and way cool vibe. The kind of place where we artsy types feel utterly at home.

Nice gallery with beautiful art, jewelry, pottery, and furniture. Everything was top notch quality and I think local. I got a beautiful glass bulb to hang in my kitchen window for about $ 20 so there are definitely some affordable pieces in here.

I’m not really into tomato art but they have a great selection of jewelry and wood pieces too!

If you’re searching for truly one-​of-​a-​kind items for yourself or others, look no further than Art and Invention Gallery. It is by far one of the most interesting and unique shops in the East Nashville area, possibly the entire city! Art and Invention puts all other handmade/​art galleries to shame with it’s thoughtful and creative collection, personable staff, and reasonable prices.
I spent nearly an hour perusing through the lovely handmade jewelry, pottery, knick-​knacks, accessories, and wall art. I was shopping for Christmas presents (trying to stick to all handmade and local this year) and ended up with some amazing local pottery, hand-​blown glass, hand-​carved wooden spoons, and a hand-​woven/​dyed shawl. There were plenty of things I would’ve liked to snatch up for myself, but perhaps another time.

Garage Mahal? Yes, I do believe I’ve hit the jackpot. This adorable little gallery is the Superbowl, nay Olympics, of «garages.» I dilly dallied all around 5-​points last weekend with my mom, who was visiting from out of town. I think we both could’ve stayed in here all day going «OMG look at this!» to each other, had we not already shopped until the point of sore (out of shape) muscles and sensory overloaded eyeballs!
I walked in and immediately had my eye on one thing and one thing only: SOCK MONKEY PURSES AND KOOZIES! You read me right! My heart fluttered with excitement («My name is Lyndi, and I’m a shopaholic»). Other prized posessions include incredibly fun wall art, beautifully crafted jewelery, and a helluva lot of weird little pieces of whatnots that everyone eventually talks themselves into thinking they both want and NEED them after seeing the completely reasonable price tag.
Support your local artists while finding unique and personal gifts for friends and family (and yourself)! This place is definitely a no-​brainer pit stop for all of my holiday shopping.
And let’s face it, everyone needs a weird cat magnet. Everyone.

I was going to give this a four-​star review, but then I couldn’t really figure out why it doesn’t deserve five stars. Some of the jewelry is pricy, sure, but it’s handmade and totally worth it. When I first moved to East Nashville the year before last, I stopped in during the holidays and wound up finding tons of stuff to cover at least half of my Hanukkah, Christmas and birthday lists. Jewelry, check. Funky/​awesome vase, check. Left-​handed wooden spatula, check. Ironic stationery, check. Beer cap magnet that says «I love bacon,» check.
I recently stopped in here with my mom to shop for my cousin’s 40^th birthday, and it was really difficult to pick something out, meaning that we couldn’t narrow down the earrings and necklaces we wanted to buy… and this was with half the store still filled with ‘mater-​themed art and accessories after Tomato Art Fest. (The super-​friendly owner had to explain this to my mom while I was restraining myself from buying an adorable seed-​packet pendant, but yeah, they are still tomatoed out two weeks after the festival.)
Anyway, I like to keep my shopping local whenever possible, and this place sure beats the mall. The only problem is trying not to buy anything for yourself when you’re shopping for others… but for a small business, that’s a good problem to have.

The place has limited hours, but if you can take the time to look up the hours and make plans appropriately, this is by far the best gallery in town. I was completely blown away by the talent and how much the artists displayed inspired me.
The stuff is original and warm, just like the people working there. They have an assortment of jewelry, paintings, manipulations, felting, ceramics, and probably more that I’m just not thinking of. The prices are fair, and are not really out of most people’s price ranges.
I love this place.

Unfortunately, this neat little gallery is only open Friday-​Sunday (except by appointment Monday-​Thursday). I finally got a chance to check it out today, and I was surprised to see just how chock full it is of really impressive art, jewelry, post cards, collectibles, magnets and more.
The Art and Invention gallery’s owner has a beautiful old dog that hangs out at the store front, panting and sweetly making eyes at all of the customers. At the back of the building is the show gallery, where they hold openings about every six weeks. Some of the art can run a bit pricey, but no more so than at your typical gallery. The styles of paintings and prints are extremely varied, from ultra-​modern style cutesy cartoonish to poignant looking oil paintings and Old Hollywood pin-​up style prints.
Art and Invention also has a lot of neat little items like granite carvings and bowls constructed from old rolls of carnival tickets. They also sell scented candles, earrings, mirrors and other items that would make ideal birthday or Christmas presents for mom (or anyone really). If you’re a collector who has a limited budget, you can find some really neat prints and paintings for around $ 40-​$ 60, but if you’re in the big time, there are also large, beautiful paintings that can run as high as $ 1,500.
Art and Invention is a great place to pop in and explore, and if you check their website regularly, you can see when their openings are. The owners of the place seem really sweet. I recommend it for anyone spending a lazy weekend in the Five Points area.