During your visit to this Knoxville attraction, explore the rich and diverse artistic heritage of East Tennessee through its ongoing and special exhibitions. In the Knoxville Museum of Art Gift Shop, you can enjoy an exciting shopping experience.
Selections from the Knoxville Museum of Art
As you enter into the Knoxville Museum of Art’s lobby, Selections from the Knoxville Museum of Art highlights significant achievements of local and regional artists over the past century. Celebrate the works of Charles Krutch, one of the regions first landscape masters, pioneering African American works by Joseph Delaney and paintings by Walter Hollis Stevens. More recent accomplishments by local and regional artists include works by Curtis Brock, Richard Jolley, John Jordan, Brad Sells, Crystal Wagner, David Bates, Tomory Dodge, Stuart Netsky, Hiraki Sawa and Hunt Slonem.
Current: Recent Arts From East Tennessee and Beyond
Explore recent developments in international contemporary art in Currents: Recent Arts From East Tennessee and Beyond featuring a selection of objects from the Museum’s growing collection by emerging and established artists currently working in East Tennessee and beyond. Notable pieces in the collection include Jered Sprecher’s A Type of Magic, Gordon Cheung’s Fallen, and Loretta Lux’s The Blue Dress.
Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee
Follow the history of artistic activity in East Tennessee over a 150 year period and learn about some of the individuals who have helped shape the area’s visual arts tradition from the second half of the 19th century to the past several decades. Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee features approximately 60 objects from the Knoxville Museum of art’s holdings and items borrowed from private and public collections from all over the country.
Thorne Rooms
The Knoxville Museum of Art is one of five museums in the United States to have a collection of Throne Rooms. Mrs. James Ward Throne from Chicago, Illinois created the Throne Rooms from miniature furniture and accessories she collected throughout her extensive travels in Europe. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Mrs Throne had over two dozen miniature rooms created by cabinetmakers from her own drawings, made in a scale of one inch to one foot. Delight in the miniature rooms decorated with painted and stained woodwork, papered walls and textiles made by Mrs. Throne. The Throne Rooms are historically important not only as vivid records of period settings, but also as some of Throne’s earliest works.
The Community Gallery
Be sure to visit the Community Gallery. This unique outreach gallery is intended to create exhibition opportunities and increased visibility for up and coming artists in the Knoxville area. You are sure to discover local creative talent in this art gallery.
Stop by the Knoxville Museum of Art Gift Shop located on the top floor of the Museum. You will find gifts and keepsakes unique to the Knoxville Museum of Art and East Tennessee from books and art supplies to textiles, glass, wood and ceramic pieces hand-made by local and regional artists.
Travel Tip
- In addition to its ongoing exhibitions, the Knoxville Museum of Art regularly features a lively schedule of special exhibitions.