CHEEKWOOD ANNOUNCES “FREE SENIOR SUNDAYS”

NASHVILLE, TN – During the month of April, Cheekwood will admit seniors 65 and older free to Cheekwood every Sunday. Regular gate fees apply to guests of seniors.

“Cheekwood welcomes seniors as our guests during this special month and hope they will enjoy visiting our botanical garden and museum.” said Jack Becker, Ph.D., Cheekwood’s President/CEO. “Many of our gardens will be in full bloom with spectacular spring flowers and, with new exhibitions in the Museum; it’s a perfect time to visit Cheekwood.”

During the special “free Sundays,” seniors will have lots of choices for exploring both indoors and out. Exhibitions and events include:

• Passing Time: The Art of William Christenberry; William Christenberry looks for the spirit of Southern culture in the landscape and architecture of rural Alabama. Drawing from his formal training, family traditions and a lasting relationship with his boyhood home in Hale County, Alabama, Christenberry has spent the past 50 years creating a remarkable body of work that explores all aspects of life and experience. This exhibition, organized by the Smithsonian American Art Musuem, is a survey of past and present work and features more than 60 of Christenberry’s photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptures and building constructions.

• Temporary Contemporary, Michael Baggarly: Reverberant Measures; Sculptor and Middle Tennessee State University faculty member Michael Baggarly examines biological structures and machines to comment on the connection between concept and process. His work is about accumulation—cells piled on cells in biological structures, or the layering of parts and pieces in the manufacturing process.

• Video Installation, Lens with a Conscience; Curated by Greg Pond, an artist and Professor of Art at the University of the South, this exhibition confronts issues of significant social and political concern and presents those subjects in new ways.

• In Tennessee Abstract Painters, fourteen Tennessee painters offer up a myriad of approaches to abstract imagery. Some artists engage photography as a tool to assist them in creating art; others use computers to generate paintings. Some artists even reject traditional painting entirely in favor of creating site-specific painterly environments. Featured artists are Ron Buffington, Dwayne Butcher, Hamlett Dobbins, Melissa Dunn, Richard Feaster, Brady Haston, Rocky Horton, Mandy Horton, Carol Mode, Hans Schmitt-Matzen, Jered Sprecher, John Tallman, Terry Thacker, and Lain York.

• William Edmondson: The Hand and the Spirit; This outstanding exhibition features selections from Cheekwood's collection, the largest public collection of William Edmondson's work. Born to former slaves on a plantation south of Nashville, Edmondson (1874-1951) taught himself to carve tombstones and became one of the most celebrated African-American sculptors of the 20th Century.

• The Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation Collection of Fabergé; Among the world’s most significant compilations of Fabergé pieces, the Collection includes over 50 rare pieces highlighted by three Russian Imperial Easter eggs, and a number of important functional items, fantasy items and floral works.

• The Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail; a unique attraction among American art museums – the Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail is a place where contemporary sculpture by internationally recognized artists is integrated into reclaimed woodland. Its wood-chip paths are rugged and stretch more than one mile.


Cheekwood is a 55-acre botanical garden and art museum located on the historic Cheek estate. Cheekwood exists to celebrate and preserve its landscape, buildings, and art and botanical collections, and, through these unique means provide an inspiring place for visitors to explore their connections with art, nature and the environment. Cheekwood is located at 1200 Forrest Park Drive in Nashville, 8 miles southwest of downtown Nashville. Open Tuesday – Saturday 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Sunday 11:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. For further information call 615-356-8000 or visit www.cheekwood.org.