The upstairs gallery in the developing Nashville Arcade hosts year-long exhibitions for Nashville’s budding artists to express themselves. On National Air Max Day — an annual commemoration on March 26 of Nike’s first Air Max— the gallery space was transformed into a 3-hour-long sneakerhead celebration, welcoming people to buy tickets for the “Air Max Party.”
On an Instagram Reel posted in preparation for the event, the Air Max Day Nashville founder Melissa Watkins said that people could attend even if they didn’t own a pair of Air Maxes themselves, providing a welcoming environment focused on the passion behind arts rather than what was on peoples’ feet. A live DJ set also played during the event, injecting a feeling of hip-hop into the celebration throughout the night.
First up on my self-guided crawl was — fittingly — 615Kix. Co-created by Stephen Smith and Briar Atkins, this gallery seemed to get an influx of visitors as soon as the crawl began, and rightfully so. With a blend of Jordans and Air Maxes lined along the table, the colors attracted curiosity from sneakerheads looking to browse or buy. To me, it appeared that Smith and Atkins see sneakers as more than a surface-level business venture as they had sparks in their eyes. The duo let attendees pick up the shoes, try them on in-store and joked with the customers that they might buy shoes for their own collections — and not resold. This event felt less like a public relations campaign and more like a passion project. In the same space were TNT Goods, selling minimalist gold jewelry that complimented many of the pieces 615Kix was selling across the room.
Inside Katherine Frensley’s fabrics gallery, Retros and Records set up a vinyl listening station. At first, it threw me off: Why is there a record player next to quilts? But in turning to see a crate of vinyl records and then the pair of Air Maxes next to the vinyl player, it became fitting.
Retros and Records opted to do an interesting Air Max vinyl pairing where listeners could put on headphones and listen to curated albums to fit the vibe of the Air Maxes next to them. While the Beats headphones were good, opting for audiophile headphones to bring out the sparkles of the vinyl listening experience would have been amazing. This was one of my favorite vendors from the day, even if it was because I got to listen to “GNX” again.
Next up was a mini gallery run by the artist Mike Mithcell, known as mikewindy. Strewn along a wall were colorful paintings of iconic sneakers, highlighted by the infamous 1984 red-and-black Jordan 1s that were initially banned in the National Basketball Association competitions in 1984 and 1985. On Mitchell’s painting, the bold words “BANNED” are printed on top of a basketball-like texture, making it an instant icon of this sneaker celebration. Inside the gallery space, beverages by Slow Drip Coffee and mini desserts by Exquisite Treats were for sale, giving me extra energy to continue on the crawl.
Speaking of sugary treats, next on the crawl was Donuts with Dough (informally spelled D.O.U.G.H by its creator, Jonathan Duo), a cultural podcast discussing everything from real estate to sneaker culture. In the day’s spirit, Air Maxes were lined up in a semi-circle around Duo’s branded rug. As the name implies, doughnuts are a key part of the brand, so in addition to free stickers, visitors got a free doughnut after signing up for Duo’s newsletter.
At the end of the crawl, Beastboy Ink offered mini tattoos to customers. In a small room sat the ink master, equipped with a shining headlamp and ambition, with the hum of his carefully drawn needle going over the customer’s arm or leg. A small line of people waiting to get their next tattoo formed outside the shop
Two honorable mentions of the Arcade Gallery are the studios of Darrell Green and XPayne. While neither explicitly offered Air Max-related products, their presence in the crawl added an extra layer of artistic expression to the event. As I walked into Green’s studio, I felt like I was transported deep into his mind. With Basquiat-reminiscent scribbles on the walls and a calming white teak candle burning next to his camera, it felt more like the living room of an apartment than anything. Adding to the atmosphere, Green had one of his short films playing on a retro TV, adding a welcomed gritty urban-core vibe to the event.
XPayne’s studio, on the other hand, felt polished, with neon paintings from floor to ceiling. XPayne, or Xavier Payne, has an iconic neon-cubist style that I found quite bizarrely beautiful. He even gave away sketches as business cards, making for an amazing memento as the crawl closed. It felt that both artists’ presences in the gallery walk — even if they weren’t officially vendors — honored the history of diverse colorwaves behind Air Max culture since their 1987 release.
This crawl felt like an authentic expression of the Nashville art scene. Whether it was seeing sneakerheads unite under one roof to celebrate a sacred shoe or being up close to the workstations of some of Nashville’s rising artists, I would be eager to return next year for the Nashville Air Max celebration.
