Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA)

The Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA), located at 1050 World's Fair Park in Knoxville, Tennessee, presents the rich visual legacy of East Tennessee and new art from the region and beyond. According to its mission statement, the museum "celebrates the art and artists of East Tennessee, presents new art and new ideas, educates and serves a diverse community, enhances Knoxville’s quality of life, and operates ethically, responsibly, and transparently as a public trust."

In its early years the museum focused mostly on ambitious traveling exhibitions. Its collection and programming has since evolved to focus increasingly on Southern Appalachian culture and artists from the East Tennessee region. Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee is a permanent exhibition that highlights the works of noted native artists such as Lloyd Branson, Catherine Wiley, Joseph Delaney, Beauford Delaney, and Bessie Harvey, as well as major artists from outside the region who produced significant work in the Knoxville area, such as Ansel Adams and Elliot Porter.

Another permanent exhibition, Currents: Recent Art from East Tennessee and Beyond, is part of the museum’s effort to introduce new art and new ideas. It features works from a wide range of artists, including Gordon Cheung, Ori Gersht, Red Grooms, Wade Guyton, Robert Longo, Loretta Lux, William Morris, Ulf Puder, Hiraki Sawa, Kenneth Snelson, Robert Stackhouse, and Anne Wilson. A new permanent exhibition of modern and contemporary studio glass highlights a collection area growing in strength, with important works by Harvey Littleton, Karen LaMonte, Andrew Erdos, and William Morris. In the Spring of 2014, the museum unveiled a permanent glass installation Richard Jolley, Cycle of Life: Within the Power of Dreams and the Wonder of Infinity. Made possible by a gift from Ann and Steve Bailey, it is the largest figural glass installation in the world.

The museum has a collection of nine Thorne miniature rooms. The rooms are notable miniatures, designed by Narcissa Niblack Thorne in the 1930s and 1940s. The largest collection of Thorne miniature rooms is located at the Art Institute of Chicago.