Knoxville Museum of Art
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| Established | 1961 |
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| Location | 1050 World’s Fair Park, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States |
| Coordinates | 35°57′45″N 83°55′31″W / 35.96250°N 83.92528°WCoordinates: 35°57′45″N 83°55′31″W / 35.96250°N 83.92528°W |
| Director | David L. Butler |
| Website | www.knoxart.org |
The Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA), located at 1050 World's Fair Park in Knoxville, Tennessee, presents the rich visual legacy of East Tennessee and new art from the region and beyond. According to its mission statement, the museum "celebrates the art and artists of East Tennessee, presents new art and new ideas, educates and serves a diverse community, enhances Knoxville’s quality of life, and operates ethically, responsibly, and transparently as a public trust."
The museum opened in 1961 as the Dulin Gallery of Art, which was housed in the H.L. Dulin House on Kingston Pike. The Dulin House was designed in 1915 by prominent architect John Russell Pope in the Neoclassical Revival style. The house had limited space, however, and the lack of security and climate control prevented the museum's accreditation by the American Association of Museums. In 1984, the Board of Trustees voted to build a new state-of-the-art facility at the site of 1982 World's Fair in downtown Knoxville. The name was changed to "Knoxville Museum of Art" in 1987. The new 53,200-square-foot (4,940 m2) facility, designed by noted architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, opened on March 25, 1990.
The Edward Larrabee Barnes-designed modern building is named in honor of Jim Clayton, the largest single contributor to its construction. The exterior of the four-story steel and concrete building is sheathed in locally quarried pink Tennessee marble. The museum includes five galleries and two large outdoor garden areas. In 2013 and 2014, the museum underwent a comprehensive, top-to-bottom restoration and renovation at a cost of nearly $6 million. The building’s Tennessee marble cladding was cleaned and restored, and the entry plaza and third floor terrace were rebuilt and repaved with pink and gray Vermont granite. The North Garden was also redesigned and planted with native trees and shrubs.
In its early years the museum focused mostly on ambitious traveling exhibitions. Its collection and programming has since evolved to focus increasingly on Southern Appalachian culture and artists from the East Tennessee region. Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee is a permanent exhibition that highlights the works of noted native artists such as Lloyd Branson, Catherine Wiley, Joseph Delaney, Beauford Delaney, and Bessie Harvey, as well as major artists from outside the region who produced significant work in the Knoxville area, such as Ansel Adams and Elliot Porter.
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