Adrien Saporiti ’02—Distinguished Alum

Written June 2015

When Distinguished Alumni Award winner Adrien Saporiti took the podium at graduation to address Harding’s Class of 2015, one of his key messages was: “You don’t know where you’re going to end up, so give yourself every opportunity to get there.”

Saporiti’s own journey has included being a musician, a tech-geek and employee of Apple, an artist, and an entrepreneur. He told the graduates, “If you work hard, follow your passions, and are kind to others, you will get to where you are meant to be, and it will be beyond what you could have hoped for.”

Saporiti never imagined he’d end up where he is today: He is the artist behind the iconic “I Believe in Nashville” murals in various parts of the city, and the founder of DCXV Industries, an apparel company specializing in T-shirts that celebrate the culturally and artistically diverse lifestyle that goes beyond the “rhinestones and cowboy boots” stereotype of Nashville. He’s a champion of the city in other ways, too. DCXV has recently opened a pop-up mini-general story called The Nashville Outpost in the Opry Mills Mall. “Our goal is to offer the option of local, authentic Nashville goods to people who may not come into the city a lot or who are just passing through,” he says. “So far we carry DCXV, Music City Suds, Olive and Sinclair, and Bongo Java Coffee.”

Promoting homegrown music is another way he celebrates Nashville. In DCXV’s small storefront on the east side of the city, Saporiti hosts mini-concerts called “Shop Sessions,” available on YouTube, which highlight local bands and also bands touring through Nashville.

Currently he is working on collaborating with other local businesses to raise money for community nonprofits.

If all of that makes him sound “successful,” Saporiti would argue that a better descriptor is “fortunate.” He told the graduates that he was a student “who spent more time inventing my own way of doing things than learning the methods being taught,” and that he is now very grateful for the patient, selfless, and gifted teachers at Harding.

“I was fortunate to have gone here,” he noted. “Graduates, YOU are fortunate to have gone here. This is something I didn’t understand at the time; this is something that will take time for you to fully understand, but the education we received here, is one of the rarest gifts that can ever be given.”

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