Knoxville Museum of Art

The Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA) is a museum of art located in Knoxville, Tennessee. This museum focuses on historical and current works of art from the East Tennessee region. According to the museum's mission statement "celebrates East Tennessee art and artists, showcases new work and new ideas, teaches and serves a varied community, improves Knoxville's quality of life, and acts as an ethical, responsible public trust It also functions invisibly." 

History

This museum was founded in 1961 as the Devlin Art Gallery, and it was housed at the home of H.L. Devlin on Kingston Pike. Devlin House was created in the Neoclassical Revival style by eminent architect John Russell Pope in 1915. However, the mansion had limited space, and the museum was denied accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums due to a lack of security and climate control. The Board of Trustees resolved in 1984 to construct a new facility on the site of the 1982 World's Fair in downtown Knoxville. In 1987, the name was changed to Knoxville Art Museum. The new 53,200 square foot facility (4,940 m2)

The facility, built by renowned architect Edward Barnes, first opened its doors on March 25, 1990.

Building

The contemporary structure built by Edward Larrabee Barnes is named for Jim Clayton, the main contributor to its development. The four-story steel and concrete structure's façade is coated in locally sourced Tennessee pink marble. The museum has five galleries as well as two vast outside gardens. It had a full refurbishment and remodeling for roughly $6 million in 2013 and 2014. The Tennessee marble cladding of the building was cleaned and refurbished, and the entry plaza and third-floor terrace were restored in Vermont pink and grey granite. The north garden has also been rebuilt, and native trees and plants have been planted. 

collection

During its initial years, the museum concentrated on big touring exhibits Since then, its collection and activities have been more focused on Southern Appalachian culture and East Tennessee artists. Higher Ground: A Century of Visual Arts in East Tennessee is a permanent exhibition featuring works by notable local artists such as Lloyd Branson, Kathryn Wiley, Joseph Delaney, Buford Delaney, and Bessie Harvey, as well as famous international artists. The Knoxville region produced renowned works such as Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter. Currents: Recent Art from East Tennessee and Beyond, another permanent exhibit, is part of the museum's attempt to showcase new art and ideas. It includes pieces by Gordon Cheung, Avery Grecht, Red Grooms, Wade Guyton, and Roberta Smith. Longo, Loretta Lux, William Morris, Ulf Poder, Hiroaki Sawa, Kenneth Snelson, Robert Stackhouse, and Anne Wilson are among those who have appeared in the film. The new permanent exhibition of modern and contemporary studio glass showcases major pieces by Harvey Littleton, Karen Lamented, Andrew Erdos, and William Morris. The biggest figural glass installation in the world, The Cycle of Life: Inside the Power of Dreams and Infinite Wonder, by Richard Jolley, was unveiled in spring 2014.There are nine small rooms in this museum. The chambers are extraordinary miniatures designed in the 1930s and 1940s by Narcissa Nib lack Thorne. The Art Institute of Chicago houses Thorne's greatest collection of tiny chambers. 

Exhibits 

The museum's major permanent facilities are supplemented by a robust programmer of temporary exhibitions that examine themes of regional culture and its link to national and worldwide creative trends. So far, individual exhibits have been held by Anne Wilson, June Kanko, Candida Hofer, Maya Lane, Jim Campbell, Anton Vidukel, Johanna Billing, Eva Zeisel, Chuck Close, and Ivy Vee.

The museum is also interested in producing solo museum debuts for emerging new artists from the region and beyond. Liz Collins, Tom Van Tran, Oliver Payne & Nick Relf, Claire Rojas, Sarah Hobbs, Michael Rodker, Timothy Horne, Seona Hong, and Tomori Dodge have all had solo shows at the KMA.

general

KMA is primarily concerned with education. Museum tours, seminars, artist residencies, outreach events, talks, performances, school programmers, and family activities are all part of the programming. Over 60,000 people attend museums, special events, concerts, and other activities each year. Individual and corporate contributors, museum memberships, rental income, local, state, and federal grants, endowments, and yearly fundraising events all contribute to the museum's $1.7 million annual operating budget. The American Association of Museums accredited the KMA in 1996 and reaccredited it in 2005.

visit

SUNDAY | 1PM-5PM TUESDAY - SATURDAY | 10AM-5PM MONDAY | CLOSED

CLOSED | NEW YEAR'S DAY, MEMORIAL DAY, INDEPENDENCE DAY, LABOR DAY, THANKSGIVING DAY, CHRISTMAS EVE, CHRISTMAS DAY, NEW YEAR'S EVE

Parking

There is free parking in the huge lot on the north side of the staff parking lot, as well as across the street (first right on World's Fair Park Drive). On-street metered parking is available.