CHEEKWOOD ANNOUNCES FREE WEEKEND IN CELEBRATION OF FALL

NASHVILLE, TN – Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art opens its gates free to the public on Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4 in celebration of the fall season and new exhibitions on view at Cheekwood.

“Cheekwood welcomes the Mid-South community as our guest for the weekend and we hope everyone will enjoy visiting our botanical garden and museum,” said Jack Becker, Ph.D., Cheekwood’s President/CEO.

During the special “free weekend,” guests will have many choice for exploring both indoors and out, including:
• Scarecrows, The third annual Scarecrows features 65 fabulous, weird, funny and traditional scarecrows lurking along the paths of Cheekwood’s Botanical Garden.
• Saturday AM, From 10:00 am – 12:00 pm families can stop by Cheekwood’s studio in the Frist Learning Center and create their own Silly Scarecrow.
• From Washington to Warhol: Americana Redefined, From early portraiture to Pop art, American artists have always borrowed from the broad reservoir of imagery broadly defined as Americana. Reviewing art from two centuries, this exhibition presents images of America revealed through the eyes of artists. For the first time in several years, the famous pair of portraits that Andy Warhol and Jamie Wyeth painted of one other are exhibited again at Cheekwood.
• Temporary Contemporary – Nashville Memoir: Photographs by Greg Miller, After living in New York for twenty years, photographer Greg Miller returned to his hometown of Nashville to reexamine the city where he grew up. Attempting to reconstruct memories by photographing in and around areas of Nashville where he grew up, he often photographs complete strangers cast in scenes drawn from the lasting emotional remnants of his past.
• 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 compilation 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.
• Rose Show, Saturday 1:00 – 4:00 pm, Sunday 1:00 – 3:00 pm, Enjoy the splendor of late season prize winning blooms. A Rose Growing seminar will be given in the Potter Room on Sunday at 1:30 pm for free and is open to the public. Sponsored by the Nashville Rose Society.
• Dig Deeper: Garden Gallery Tour, Saturday at 11:00 am, Take a tour of the Wills Perennial Garden with our expert botanical garden staff, stopping to “dig deeper” and further explore a different garden each month. Tours are free and no reservations are required. Gardening tours begin at Botanic Hall.
• Gallery Insider Tour, Saturday at 1:00 pm, Explore our galleries with Cheekwood's knowledgeable docents to learn about From Washington to Warhol: Americana Redefined. Tours are free and no reservations are required. Meet in the Museum foyer.