A creative home for the whole family.
Theater, art, music, camps, and creative experiences for children and adults in East Nashville.
Welcome to EAST.
EAST Collective is a creative hub in East Nashville where children, artists, and grown-ups gather to make things, tell stories, learn new skills, and belong to a creative community.
Created by the family behind Tenn Little Birds, EAST grew from a simple idea: as our children grow, their creative community should grow with them.
Our seven classrooms and performance space are home to EAST programs, independent teaching artists, community partners, rehearsals, performances, workshops, and events.
Explore EAST
Find Your Place at EAST
Classes, camps, and creative experiences for children and adults.
Theater
Play-based theater for young children and ensemble training for growing performers.
Explore Theater →Art
Process-driven art classes where children experiment, make, and develop their own creative voice.
Explore Art →Music
Drumming, rhythm, songwriting, and creative music-making for growing musicians.
Explore Music →Camps
Creative arts camps where theater, art, music, storytelling, and imaginative play come together.
Explore Camps →Adult Acting
Actor training and creative opportunities for adults ready to return to the room, sharpen their craft, or try something new.
Explore Adult Acting →Built by Artists. Rooted in Community.
EAST Collective was founded by Allison and Ryan Link, the family behind Tenn Little Birds.
Allison is a musician, educator, music therapist, and longtime East Nashville studio owner. Ryan is a Broadway and national touring performer with a background in theater, business, and technology.
After years of building a creative community through Tenn Little Birds, they created EAST as a place where children could keep growing in the arts, adults could return to their own creativity, and local artists could teach, rehearse, perform, and build community together.