Kelly Cass Falzone

Since completing her Master of Fine Arts degree in Poetry at the Naslund-Mann School of Creative and Professional Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, KY, Kelly is now back in the studio!!

A longtime member and teacher, Kelly began studying under Art & Soul founder, Arunima Orr, about 25 years ago. She’s followed the studio through five different locations and held numerous roles in addition to student and teacher -- initially as the Bulk-Mailing sorter, (when all our catalogues went out through snail mail,) as well as studio cleaner, board member secretary, Program Director, Interim Executive Director, fundraising & event planner, teacher trainer, and Poetry Night host!

A writer and maker since childhood, Kelly’s poems have appeared in journals such as Stone Canoe, Literary Accents, Nashville Arts Magazine, Clackamas Literary Review, and Journal of Poetry Therapy, among others. Her work has won recognition from The Bea Gonzales Prize for Poetry, The Porch Prize in Poetry, The Libba Moore Gray Prize in Poetry, The Berry College Emerging Southern Women Writers Competition, Chattanooga Writer’s Guild, and Tennessee Writer’s Alliance, as well as two Pushcart Prize nominations. Kelly has had the good fortune to be able to workshop under the guidance of master poets such as Sharon Olds, Lucille Clifton, Kate Daniels, and others.

Also a Paper & Book Artist, Kelly’s work has been exhibited in group gallery shows including, the Downtown Public Library Gallery and the Marnie Sheridan Gallery, as well as at Art & Soul, Watkins School of Film, Art, & Design, and the Global Education Center. The Nashville Scene named “Paper Thread and Trash: 13 Book Artists Working with Reuse Materials,” (of which her work was a part,) the “Best Art Exhibition Award” of 2015.

She's has also written and produced shows for the stage, collaborating with organizations such as Southern Word, Green Room Projects, and Actor’s Bridge Ensemble. A series she worked on for Southern Word entitled “Nashville Now: Literary Census” was recognized with the “Spoken Word Trailblazer Award” from Soul Food Poetry Café in 2010.

Kelly has taught a variety of classes including Creative Arts Discovery and Practice; Creative Writing Workshops; Play; Paper & Book Arts; Visual, Sculptural, and Embodied Poetry; Literary Art Mash-Ups; and more!