Straight from the Arts

A Four-Day Tour of Music, Arts, and History

Tennessee's artistic side presents a collage of cultural venues, offering a taste of music, arts and history. Explore Tennessee's ability to drum up excitement!

Day One

Begin your visit to Tennessee in Memphis. Plan a couple of hours to visit the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the oldest fine arts museum in Tennessee. Its outstanding permanent collection spans from ancient to contemporary, and it showcases a variety of acclaimed visiting exhibitions. Then spend some time at The Robinson Archive & Gallery, an 8,000 square-foot showcase of the photographic work of Jack Robinson (1928-1997). Jack Robinson was a Vogue photographer in the 50s and 60s and shot many of the cultural icons of the day.

Next stop: the Memphis Pink Palace Museum, a Memphis landmark filled with breathtaking murals and period decor. After a delicious lunch at Anne’s Bakery & Café inside the museum, take a tour of the exciting exhibits in one of the largest facilities of its kind in the Southeast. Walk through a replica of the first self-service grocery store in the country, Clarence Saunders' Piggly Wiggly. Explore the cultural and natural history of the Mid-South, such as the Cotton Carnival and Jubilee, through exhibits, dioramas and audio-visuals. Learn from the award-winning medical exhibit how health care grew to be Memphis' largest industry.

Don’t leave Memphis without exploring the National Ornamental Metal Museum. The only institution of its kind in America, the museum features changing exhibits of the finest in historic and contemporary metalwork, jewelry, sculpture and architectural ironwork.

Freshen up for dinner and make your way to The Pig on Beale, a local favorite for “Memphis Style” hickory smoked BBQ pork shoulder and ribs. After dinner, it’s off to the beautifully restored 1928 movie palace, Orpheum Theatre, “where Broadway meets Beale,” to enjoy a touring Broadway production, opera, ballet or special concert.

Day Two

It’s time to head toward Middle Tennessee, with a stop in Jackson at The Dickson Gallery of Fine Art, a multicultural fine art gallery located in historic downtown Jackson, TN. Exhibiting emerging and professional contemporary, folk, and fun artists from West Tennessee region including pottery, sculpted jewelry, glass, metal, wood work and original paintings.

Just a couple more hours to Nashville and you can visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Tours can be self-guided or enhanced with an audio tour that features Vince Gill, Dolly Parton and other country stars. During your visit, make sure to visit RCA's Historic Studio B and get an up-close look at how music is created while breathing the same air where such legends as Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Charley Pride, and many others recorded some of their best-loved songs. RCA Studio B has a special offer for groups offering an actual choir-style song recording. Top off your visit with a stop at the museum store and a nice lunch at the SoBro Grill.

Venture a couple of blocks up Broadway and you’ll be at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, with world-class visual art, interactive displays and educational programs. And a few miles away is The Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the Athenian original. The Parthenon functions as an art museum and stands as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, a large public park just west of downtown Nashville. Alan LeQuire’s 1990, 42-foot re-creation of the Athena Parthenos statue is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece.

Nashville, famous for music and nightlife, has many choices for evening activities. Catch a Broadway production, a ballet or symphony performance, or local theater production at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center; or try a delicious southern-style buffet and Broadway-style play at Nashville’s oldest professional dinner theatre, Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre or experience country music from both past and present at Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theater.

Day Three

Southeast to Chattanooga is the direction of today’s trek. Your first stop is the Hunter Museum of American Art, perched on an 80-foot bluff above the Tennessee River, with stunning views of the river and surrounding mountains. This panorama is equaled only by the exceptional collection of American art inside, recognized as one of the country's finest. For lunch, the Bluff View Art District holds an intriguing collection of restaurants, gardens, galleries, inns, terrace cafes, working artists and historic homes for everyone to enjoy.

After lunch, visit the Houston Museum of Decorative Arts, which showcases one woman's collection of 18th, 19th and early 20th century decorative art objects. It is one of the world’s finest collections of antique glass and ceramics, as well as furniture, music boxes, and other rare pieces from the collection of the late Anna Safley Houston. It also boasts the world’s largest collection of pitchers.

For some down-home fun, travel a little further east to Pigeon Forge in the Smoky Mountains in time for an entertaining dinner show. Black Bear Jamboree Dinner & Show offers an $8 million musical dinner revue with a country feast and a high-energy production. Or try Tennessee Shindig dinner theater, with a mouthwatering hickory wood grilled feast followed by upbeat mountain music, bluegrass, gospel, country, and patriotic music. Dixie Stampede Dinner & Show offers a friendly North/South rivalry and a four-course feast, or try the with a two-hour show of country, bluegrass, gospel and comedy from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and more.

Day Four

After breakfast at Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin or one of the many home-cooking restaurants in Pigeon Forge, you’ll tour The Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community in Gatlinburg. Established in 1937, this historic eight-mile loop (with trolley service) has been designated a Tennessee Heritage Arts & Crafts Trail. More than 80 artisans whittle, paint, sew, cast, weave and carve to create original collectables.

A short drive will take you back to Knoxville and its vibrant downtown fine arts community. Visit the Knoxville Museum of Art at the World’s Fair Site. Designed by renowned architect Edward Larabee Barnes, the KMA features a lively schedule of exhibitions in five galleries, and an excellent permanent collection of modern and contemporary art. Highlights include work by Richard Jolley, Joseph Delaney, Bessie Harvey and Robert Stackhouse. Also downtown is the Emporium Center for Arts & Culture, with studios and galleries featuring diverse works by regional artists. Just down the street, history buffs are sure to enjoy the beautiful East Tennessee History Center, with its extensive archives, streetscape, traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian, and premier genealogy research library. Just minutes away, on the campus of the University of Tennessee, is the acclaimed Frank H. McClung Museum - University of Tennessee, with exhibits on archeology, native peoples, ancient Egypt, decorative arts, the Civil War, and more.

Then it is back on the road for Tennessee’s oldest town, Jonesborough. The International Storytelling Center is the only facility anywhere in the world devoted exclusively to the power of storytelling and its creative applications. The Center includes a 200-year-old country inn, a 14,000-square-foot education building and a surrounding three-acre park. Jonesborough Historic District and Visitors Center has a quaint downtown historic district to roam and have a great meal.

Next you will head to Johnson City to the campus of East Tennessee State University and tour the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services. The center documents and showcases Appalachia's past, celebrates its cultural heritage, and promotes an understanding of the influences that shape its identity.

Visit The Peerless Restaurant for dinner and it will be time for a show at the historic Paramount Center for the Arts. Built in 1931 and restored to its original splendor in 1991, the Paramount continues to grow as the Mountain Empire's premier performing arts center.