Becoming a Collector, Curator, and Archivist

Please join the Tennessee State Museum along with The Americana Festival as we present the September Lunch and Learn. This panel delves into the fascinating world of acquiring, preserving, and showcasing music related artifacts at museums, exhibits, and libraries. Also, this discussion offers valuable insights into the multifaceted roles of collectors, curators, and archivists along with providing insights into building your own personal collection. Each panelist will share their perspectives and experiences so that anyone can learn how to create a new collection and donate to an existing institution. For scholars, educators, or individuals that have collections of their own, they’ll get a chance to hear ways to utilize their collections for creative exhibits and future collaborations.

Dom Flemons “The American Songster®" is a GRAMMY Award Winning musician, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, scholar, historian, actor, slam poet, record collector, curator, podcaster, cultural commentator, influencer, and the creator, host, and producer of the American Songster Radio Show on WSM in Nashville, TN. He has won many prestigious awards and has been inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame in the Class of 2025. Flemons is a Co-Founder and original member of the groundbreaking Carolina Chocolate Drops. He has been featured in dozens of museums and exhibits and he has a collection at Vanderbilt University and UNC Chapel Hill.

Vania Kinard is Dom Flemons wife, manager, and creative collaborator. She is a consultant, digital creator, curator, entrepreneur, photographer, producer, world traveler, and writer. Kinard is a Co-Host and Producer on the American Songster Radio Show which airs on WSM. Her curatorial experience includes working with the Artistic Director at the 2020 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada on an exhibit at the Western Folklife Center called African American Western Pioneers: Past and Present. Recently, she was the Curator of the Westward Bound: African American Country Music History & Cowboy Lore exhibit at the Berkeley Public Library.

Holling Smith-Borne is Director of the Anne Potter Wilson Music Library at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, a role he has held since 2006. With degrees in piano performance and library science, he facilitates inclusive access to music resources and archives. Over the past 5 years, he has led the Academic Archives Purchasing Fund team, an initiative to purchase the archives of African American composers and musicians in collaboration with the National Museum of African American Music.

Dr. Bryan Pierce is the current Chief Curator of the National Museum of African American Music. He previously held the position of Digital Archivist at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. In both his academic work and as a museum professional, Pierce has specialized in subterranean African American aesthetics in music and decorative arts. He pursued a PhD from Arkansas State University and throughout his time at ASU, Pierce worked at the Southern Tenant Farmers Museum. He was also on the exhibition development team for the Boyhood Home of Johnny Cash. After completing the doctoral program, Pierce accepted an Assistant Registrar/ Curator position with the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Tranae Chatman is the Tennessee State Museum Curator of Social History and a native Nashvillian. She attended Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet Highschool and Middle Tennessee State University. She is currently the lead curator for the museum’s newest exhibition, Photography in Tennessee: Early Studios and The Medium’s First Century.

This Lunch and Learn event is in-person in the Museum’s Digital Learning Center at 12:00. No RSVPs are required to attend this free event. It will also be livestreamed on the Museum’s website at TNMuseum.org/Videos. If you have any questions, please email UHVibGljICEgUHJvZ3JhbXMgfCB0biAhIGdvdiAhIEJveGVk lunches made by Apple Spice Nashville are available for purchase for $12.24 to enjoy during the event. The lunches will include a sandwich, chips, and a cookie. Lunch orders must be placed by noon on Tuesday September 9, 2025. Please order your boxed lunch on the ticket registration page.

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