Knoxville Museum of Art: Open your eyes, open your mind
The Knoxville Museum of Art presents a collection of artwork from regional, national and international artists. Providing guests an opportunity to learn more about different art forms, the museum serves as an opportunity to serve the community’s artistic appetite.
The Knoxville Museum of Art’s predecessor, the Dulin Gallery of Art, opened in 1961. By the middle of the 1980s, the gallery had outgrown its quarters in the 1915 Dulin House. A major community effort raised $11 million for a state-of-the-art facility overlooking the site of the 1982 World’s Fair in downtown Knoxville. In March 1990, the Knoxville Museum of Art opened in its current 53,200 square-foot facility.
Since its opening, the museum of art has presented a lively and engaging schedule of exhibitions, and more recently begun to focus on the rich visual traditions of the East Tennessee region. A permanent installation, “Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee,” features works from the museum’s collection as well as loans from individuals and institutions. A growing collection of paintings, works on paper, sculpture, glass, and new media works focuses on East Tennessee artists past and present, and contemporary art from all over.
Museum tours, workshops, artist residencies, outreach programs, lectures, concerts, classroom programs and family activities form the core of the museum's educational programming. More than 60,000 visit the museum annually at the facility, special events, concerts and other programs. The museum of art also offers live music on 35 select Fridays in the museum’s Great Hall from 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Posted by Leah M. Caudle
