The Community Gallery is dedicated to showcasing connections with the community and collaborations between the McClung Museum and partners from UT’s campus and beyond.
Now on View
Feline Impressions, August 11, 2025
The McClung Museum and Centro Hispano de East Tennessee partnered this summer for an in-depth exploration of Karel Appel and his lithographic series Cats from 1978. Over the course of a week, museum educators led workshops at Centro’s summer camp on Appel’s artistic trajectory and his fascination with domestic cats. Students have recreated the whimsical nature and dynamic poses of these felines in their prints. The goals were to capture Appel’s gestural approach to movement, understand the printmaking process in creating multiple copies of a matrix, incorporate poetry as a form of self-expression, and to have a fun bilingual experience learning about art in English and Spanish!
Interested in being a part of our Community Gallery? Send us an email at museum@utk.edu.
Echoes of Home, May 2 – August 11, 2025
The McClung Museum Student Advisory created a community exhibition comprised of quilt squares and landscape paintings featuring the Smoky Mountains. These images and the resulting artwork reflected their unique ties to East Tennessee and the place they call home. It was inspired by the exhibition, Homelands.
ᎠᎹᏳ ᏟᏗ ᎡᎶᎯ ᎢᏳᏓᏁᎵᏓᏍᏗ (Amayuhldi Elohi Iyudanelidasdi, Riparian Ecosystems), January 16 – May 2, 2025
ᎠᎹᏳ ᏟᏗ ᎡᎶᎯ ᎢᏳᏓᏁᎵᏓᏍᏗ featured art by college students from Western Carolina University (WCU) and elementary students of New Kituwah Academy. The New Kituwah Academy is the Cherokee language and culture immersion campus for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The project was developed by the Academy’s Education Curriculum Developer, Hartwell Francis, and WCU’s Professor of Printmaking and Book Arts, Tatiana Potts, to celebrate the exhibition, Homelands. Western Carolina University students produced prints that became a bound book, while students from the Academy created a variety of art pieces. The resulting projects explore riparian ecosystems through Cherokee culture and language.
Community Canvas, August 17, 2024 – January 16, 2025
Over three summer months in the museum’s Evans Creative Suite, visitors helped create a collaborative mural that grew from a simple landscape into a vibrant mix of personal expressions. Reassembled into this vibrant exhibition, the artwork highlights the connections between individuals and invites reflection on community, shared experiences, and the ties that unite us.
The MVP Art Project, May19 – August, 2024
This exhibition is a celebration of creativity and showcases a diverse array of works from talented middle school and high school data artists from Gibbs High School and The Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley. Mathematizing, Visualizing, and Power (MVP) is a project funded by the National Science Foundation that focuses on community learning catalyzed by the creative works of young people.
Unapologetically Me: The Many Cultures of Beaumont Magnet Academy, January 26–May 19, 2024
In the fall of 2023, second graders at Beaumont learned about the Diné artist, Will Wilson, whose work was on display at the McClung. Students then produced artwork inspired by Wilson’s portraits, sharing their identities and how they see themselves without apology.
Echos from the Earth: Student Research from the Archaeology Labs, September 8, 2023 – January 26, 2024: Behind the scenes at the McClung Museum is the Laboratory of of Environmental Archaeology Core Facility and the Paleoethnobotany Lab. Each is home to cutting-edge research that brings the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities together. This exhibition features the work of UT students who have utilized these facilities as a part of their training and scholarship.
Nature Explorations, July 7 – September 7, 2023: Summer Camps at the McClung are back in full swing! During the month of June, Dino Explorers and Art Masters campers discovered the fascinating history of nature through exploration, art, and science here in the museum. The art on display in this exhibition is inspired by the Geology & Fossil History of Tennessee exhibition and a print from the collection by artist Maria Sibylla Merian. We hope you enjoy these wonderful nature-inspired creations.
Fifty-Four Faces, June 8 – July 6, 2023: This exhibit honored 54 people lost to gun violence. Forty-nine of them died when a gunman opened fire in the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016. Five others were killed during a shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado on November 19, 2022. Find resources related to gun violence.
Let Me Tell You About… February 24 – June 7, 2023: For the gallery’s debut, the McClung Student Advisory Board developed a community-sourced exhibition wherein UT campus members were asked to submit pictures and descriptions of those who made a positive impact in their lives. The resulting display showcased everyday people who made an extraordinary impact on the lives of Vols.
Sponsors
Support for the Community Gallery has been provided by the UT Office of Access and Engagement, and the Charlie and Nancy Wagner Family.
Are you interested in learning more about the Community Gallery? Contact Museum Educator, Callie Bennett, at croller2@utk.edu.