Open to regional not-for-profit visual arts and cultural organizations. This outreach gallery is intended to create exhibition opportunities and increased visibility for area arts groups, and call attention to a wide variety of local creative talent.
The Knoxville Museum of Art announces the acquisition of Dawn, Autumn Forest, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee (1948) by legendary American photographer Ansel Adams. Adams (1902-1984) is best known for his timeless black-and-white images of Yosemite National Park and other natural wonders of the American West. In 1948, however, he traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park—his first and only recorded visit to Tennessee—in order take photographs as part of a Guggenheim Fellowship on America’s national parks and monuments.
Evidence suggests Adams discovered the Smokies to be an intimidating subject. In a letter of October 9, 1948, the artist confides that “The Smokys [sic] are OK in their way, but they are going to be devilish hard to photograph...” Adams only published four images from his visit. Prints of these are little known and exceedingly rare. The KMA was able to acquire one of the four, Dawn, Autumn Forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, thanks to generous financial support from Patricia and Alan Rutenberg and Mary Ellen and Steve Brewington.
According to KMA Executive Director David Butler, "The museum has recently refined its mission to include the rich history of the visual arts in East Tennessee; the acquisition of this masterwork by Ansel Adams represents a strong commitment to this exciting new direction. This photograph is just one of the many high points in a long, fascinating, and largely unknown story that the KMA is proud to celebrate."
Dawn, Autumn Forest, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee will be on display in the KMA main lobby before being incorporated into Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee, the museum's permanent installation devoted to the art and artists of our region.
The KMA is seeking prints of Adams’ other three published images of the Smoky Mountains with the hope that it can become the first museum to acquire a complete set.
The Knoxville Museum of Art has commissioned sculptor Richard Jolley to create a permanent installation in glass and metal for the walls of the museum’s Great Hall. The as-yet-untitled work is the gift of Ann and Steve Bailey, longtime supporters of the KMA. Steve Bailey is a former KMA board chair.
Sculptor Richard Jolley, celebrated nationally and internationally primarily for his achievements in glass, lives and works in Knoxville. He has been the subject of numerous one-person exhibitions around the country, and his works are collected by art museums, corporations, and individuals throughout the United States and in Germany and Japan.
The museum’s Great Hall, used for community events and educational programs, measures approximately 100 x 40 feet. Jolley’s work is expected to cover most of the upper walls of this monumental space.
According to KMA Executive Director David Butler, “This is a transformative gift for the KMA, and we are grateful to Ann and Steve Bailey for providing this unparalleled opportunity for the museum and for the artist. The project imposes tremendous technical and aesthetic challenges, and will result in the one of the largest and most significant sculptural glass works anywhere.” He adds that that “this signature artwork by Richard Jolley, in one of the city’s grandest spaces, enhances the landmark status of the museum building.” The KMA was designed by renowned American architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and opened to the public in 1990.
The project is expected to take three to four years to complete. Design is still in its initial phases, and no starting date for fabrication and installation has been set.
