Wayne White: Revenge of the Knoxville Girl Wayne White is a multi-faceted artist, illustrator, and musician who has charted a kaleidoscopic path through multiple frontiers of art and culture. From early life in Chattanooga and Emmy award-winning work as Art Director for Pee Wee’s Playhouse, to orchestrating music videos for Peter Gabriel and The Smashing […]
Gabriel Lester | June 12 – August 30, 2026 The KMA actively seeks to present responsive art installations across the city of Knoxville as a means of broadening the visibility of the work, as well as the potential audience. Locating work outside of the museum helps expand the impact and reach of our program and […]
No-Man’s Land | August 13 – November 8, 2026 Inspired by the visionary work of Kentucky coal-miner-turned-evangelist Harrison Mayes after he experienced a life-changing epiphany, No-Man’s-Land explores genres, beings, and geographies that exceed singular definition. Born in Tennessee in 1898, Mayes’ placed concrete beacons across the country, with plans for them to reach outer space, […]
Hai-Wen Lin | October 2026 through February 2027 In this forthcoming exhibition, Taiwanese-American artist Hai-Wen Lin fashions garments as kites: creating sculptures that move between the body and the environment. Made with the intimacy of clothing and the logic of flight, the works draw on visual traditions from Buddhist jiasha robes to Appalachian quilts, becoming […]
The Appalachian Mountains, which govern the winding highway traveled by artist Kevin Beasley during the development of his recent work, can be described as “fold mountains” – created from two or more of the Earth’s tectonic plates pushing together. At these intersecting shores, rock and debris are compressed into and within each other, shedding individuality […]