Tennessee’s Major Art Museums Unite to Lead the 2026 Tennessee Triennial
1. 29 .26 - 9. 27.26
Nashville | Frist Art Museum
In Her Place: Nashville Artists in the Twenty-First Century
Jan. 29 to April 26, 2026
Women have long been at the center of Nashville’s vibrant visual arts community, and In Her Place highlights their influence by presenting nearly 100 paintings, sculptures, textile pieces, and installations from 28 intergenerational women artists exploring ideas of place and identity. Part of the Frist’s 25th-anniversary celebration, the exhibition underscores the museum’s commitment to the local arts community and will be accompanied by a catalogue co-edited by Katie Delmez and Laura Hutson Hunter and published by Vanderbilt University Press.
Karen Seapker. You are Spring, 2023. Oil on canvas; 72 x 48 in. (182.9 x 121.9 cm). Collection of Sasha and Charlie Sealy. Photo credit: Sam Angel
Now On View:
Chattanooga | Hunter Museum of American Art
The Hunter Invitational V
Jan. 30 to April 26, 2026
The Hunter Invitational, conceived by Hunter Museum Chief Curator Nandini Makrandi and launched by the museum in 2007, highlights emerging trends and current events through the work of artists practicing in the Southeast. Opening January 2026, its fifth iteration will present new or expanded works by eight artists – including Anna Carll, Corrine Colarusso, Craig Drennen, Amie Esslinger, Jerushia Graham, Katie Hargrave with Meredith Lynn, and Althea Murphy-Price – offering audiences a chance to discover some of the region’s most innovative talent.
Corrine Colarusso, Fallvine, acrylic on canvas
Memphis| Brooks Museum of Art
Memphis College of Art, 1936-2020: An Enduring Legacy
February 25 to September, 2026
In May of 2020, the Memphis College of Art (MCA) graduated its last class of students, ending an illustrious 84-year history of contributing to the creative, economic, and cultural flourishing of the city of Memphis. In addition to being a touchstone for the regional arts community, MCA graduates ventured across the country and around the world where they nurtured their own careers as well as inspired generations of others through teaching. The college’s history is intimately tied not only to the city but
also to the Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, today the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Through this exhibition of 90 faculty, administrators, and graduates who represent the diversity associated with the institution, Memphis College of Art, 1936-2020: An Enduring Legacy highlights the school’s success in educating and fostering artists.
Maritza Dávila Irizarry
Knoxville| Knoxville Museum of Art
Wayne White: Revenge of the Knoxville Girl
March 26 to July 12, 2026
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 Pumpkins, White traverses the pop culture landscape. The Revenge of the Knoxville Girl is an eclectic survey show that convenes an array of White’s Word Paintings, sketchbooks, small sculpture, and papier-mâché heads. It will also feature a monumentally scaled pair of puppets that provide a stage for the beleaguered Knoxville Girl of murder ballad notoriety to return and stand triumphant.
Wayne White