Tennessee State Museum

After visiting the Military exhibit, headed across the street to visit the Tennessee State Museum. Wowsers, it's huge. Widing down from the first floor, you go from Paloeindians to the early parts of the 1900s. The whole building was well-lit and cool. Admission is free and on the weekends you can park near the state Capitol for free, about a two block walk, but going back to your car is downhill.

I adored the prehistory section, but I really enjoyed that the museum focused so much on every day life. Found a Clovis point! (Doing a dig this second session at UT, running joke is someone's going to shave their head if we find one.)
There was a great display on Woodland pottery, I really enjoyed the section on religious pottery. There was a display in the same section that showed a 'hut scene', where I thought one of their models just looked sad.

Further into the museum, but still on the first floor was a display on traveling preachers and revivals in the 1800s. There was a small hall you walked down and a preacher started talking. It was dark with candlelights and trees all around.

On the third (lowest) level, there was a great display of of handmade quilts.

TN State Museum of Military History

*Forgot my cord to upload pics, will add when I remember to haul it with me to a wireless connection.

A small off-shoot a block away from the State History Museum, the Military History was like a dark cool cave on a hot day. The lighting was almost a little spooky, but it's a good museum nonetheless, mainly emphasizing TN's impact on WWI and WWII, but also showing some interesting stuff from the Spanish American War.

In the front part of the museum, there was a cool display on the evolution of military toys, esp. small soldiers, what I would call minis. I thought the flat men were really neat. There was a display of what the some of the people of the Philippines wore during the uprising right after the US took them over. The copper plate and chain link armor was very impressive.

There was a full field kit for an enlisted man in WWII, laid out like it would be for inspection. However, what I enjoyed the most was the collections of war posters and sheet music.

**Note: This entry happens after my class on museums, just decided to keep up the blogging since I'm seeing museums in Nashville.

UT Gardens

The UT Gardens are open seven days a week when the sun is up. Admission is free unless a special event is happening. Their website is very educational, though limited in the way it can look by being an official UT webpage.

The gardens are very lovely and very hot in the summer, but that's outdoors anywhere in Knoxville. I enjoyed the topiaries and some of the sculpture through the gardens. The wooded area was very nice as were the test mounds. The herb garden didn't seem like it had been getting very much love recently.

The rose garden was an addition that looks like it will prove a money-maker for the gardens, which is always a good thing. I really enjoyed the new garden exhibit painted purple that showcased both good gardening practices and how gardening can still be done with people with various disabilities.

Knoxville Museum of Art

The last museum I visited for the class, I wish I knew the Knoxville Museum of Art had free admission earlier, it's lovely. Their website is reminiscent of other cities' art museums in both colors and arrangement.

Higher Ground is an exhibit dedicated to Knoxville-tied artists. It has a very traditional art museum feel to it, both in the displays and in the permanency of some of the pieces. It's nice to be able to go to a museum to visit traveling shows and still know where to go to visit your favorite piece. Some of the pieces seemed simply to fill a certain expectation on what needs to be there, while there were others that are very striking to look at.

Uncertain Terrain showcases different ways of looking at landscapes. The striking wall piece on your right as you enter the space is neat and if you get close enough, your movement will get it moving. The Thorne Room downstairs is fabulous. Having painted figures on a smaller scale than that, I can really appreciate the time and craftsmanship that went into their creation.

Not having the time an exhibit like Vision, Language, and Influence needs to truly enjoy, I skipped it and will return to visit it when I come here for a weekend later this month.

KMA is a jewel in Knoxville and much nicer than I expected.

Fire Station Memorial

While riding the trolley from downtown to campus, if you look to your left at one point, you can see a small building that appears to hold a fire engine in front of the downtown fire station. I was curious about it, so I stopped and peeked at it today.

While there is a decided lack of friendly parking, the area is much more interesting than an engine in a building. There is a memorial to firefighters who died, either in the line of duty or after retirement. The building has about five displays, giving a little slice of Knoxville history, but parts of the display seem to be in bad repair.

National Knife Museum

Just a hop, skip and jump east on I-40 is the Smokey Mountain Knife Works, self-proclaimed largest knife store in the world. It's free to get in, of course, they want you to buy things. It is incredibly easy to find, but hard to get out of because of traffic. However, tucked away in the store on the upper levels is both the collections of the owners and the National Knife Museum.






The owner's collection was interesting, however, it reminded more of a cabinet of curiosities than a modern museum. The labels, when they existed, were simply a title over the displays. There were many to look at and a wide variety of time was covered.








Up a separate flight of stairs is the National Knife Museum, presented by the National Knife Collectors Association. This is a dream for people curious about the history of knives. There is a docent on duty at the beginning of the museum who was friendly.

Along one wall is a time line of the history of knives with examples in cases. This is a well-researched display that does not skip the changes that were brought about as swords and guns became more popular.

About 4/5ths of the rest of the displays detailed the history and products of various knife manufacturers. The rest showcased various knife makers, specialty items like miniature knives and boy scout knives and the annual knives made for the National Knife Collectors Association.

While each individual knife was not labeled in each case like a more traditional artifact museum would, there was enough information given so that the casual looker came away satisfied and the more serious knife enthusiast could know where to start to find out more.

AMSE

Children's Museum of Oak Ridge