About Franklin Willis

Building What’s Next in Arts Education

Franklin Willis is an award-winning arts administrator, educator, creative strategist, storyteller, and advocate who believes the arts can do far more than enrich a school experience. They can shape culture, develop people, create opportunity, and transform the way communities see themselves.

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For nearly two decades, Franklin has worked across the classroom, school district, university, creative industry, and community to turn that belief into action. Today, as Director of Visual and Performing Arts for Metro Nashville Public Schools, he leads arts education across a district serving more than 81,000 students, developing programs, partnerships, and opportunities designed to ensure students have meaningful access to high-quality arts experiences.

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His leadership has taken him well beyond traditional arts administration. Franklin has built bridges between public education and the creative industry, creating opportunities for students to write and record original music, collaborate with professional artists, perform on major stages, and see themselves as creators. His work has included producing original music projects, developing district-wide creative initiatives, programming student talent alongside nationally recognized artists, and telling the story of arts education through film and media.

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That same spirit drives his work as a professional learning leader. Franklin works with educators, arts administrators, and organizations to rethink what is possible in arts education, helping leaders build stronger programs, develop people, cultivate partnerships, and create experiences that are both instructionally meaningful and culturally relevant.

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He brings this perspective to the university level as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, where he helps prepare the next generation of music educators to lead with creativity, cultural competence, empathy, and vision.

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Franklin's work has been recognized with a Midsouth Regional Emmy Award, four Telly Awards, three CMA Foundation Music Teacher of Excellence honors, and an Honorable Mention from the Tony Awards for Excellence in Theatre Education. In 2026, he was named a member of the Recording Academy Class of 2026. While these recognitions represent significant milestones, Franklin sees them less as a destination and more as affirmation of the larger work: building opportunities for people to create, lead, and be seen.

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That vision is also at the heart of F. Willis Music.

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What began as a creative education company has grown into a platform for education, consulting, professional learning, creative programming, and talent partnerships. Through F. Willis Music, Franklin is expanding his work beyond a single school district to serve educators, school systems, arts organizations, administrators, artists, and creative professionals.

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The goal is simple: build stronger arts ecosystems and help more people do extraordinary work.

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Whether he is helping a school district rethink its arts strategy, developing professional learning for arts leaders, connecting students with industry professionals, producing a creative project, programming talent for a national conference, or developing resources for educators, Franklin brings the same approach to every room:

Think bigger. Build intentionally. Center people. Create something that matters.

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Franklin is not interested in simply preserving what has always been done in arts education.

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He is interested in building what comes next.