Exhibitions
Current Exhibitions
2019 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence Umwelts 2019 (As the Crow Flies): David Brooks
September 19, 2019 – January 5, 2020
2019 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence David Brooks’ work explores the connection between the built and natural worlds. This site-responsive body of work explores the idea of how the natural world is perceived as a physical image – representing the directional landscapes of Cheekwood as an uncontainable commodity of visualization. Brooks’ multidimensional imageries act as instinctual statements of that which is invisible to the visitor but present within other non-human species’ perceptual capacities.
Brooks is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work has been on view at Storm King Art Center and MoMA PS1. The artist was recently named as a recipient of the Rome Prize for 2019-2020.
Selections from The Cheekwood Collection
October 5, 2019 – January 5, 2020
Selections from The Cheekwood Collection includes works by Jacob Lawrence, William Merritt Chase, George Inness, William Glackens, Stuart Davis, Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, and others. Visitors will see significant works from Cheekwood’s permanent collection holdings acquired from the 1960s to the present. Representing important historical movements such as American impressionism, modernism, pop art, and minimalism, this installation will be on view in both the historic rooms, as well as the exhibition galleries.
Perle Fine. Pure Myth, 1948-49. Oil on canvas. Gift of the Berezov Family. 1994.21.
Upcoming Exhibitions
Holiday LIGHTS Express: Antique Toy Trains
This year, Cheekwood will provide a festive display of one of America’s most popular holiday customs, Christmas trains. Holiday LIGHTS Express: Antique Toy Trains is an exhibition of model trains from the 1920s and 1930s set in the traditionally decorated Cheekwood Recreation Room. Ever since December 1900, model trains altered the toy making industry with their ingenuity and authenticity, making them a longstanding high-demand Christmas gift for decades. Whether it was a Lionel or American Flyer model, tots of the 1920/30s had trains at the top of their holiday wish-list. We hope you will join us aboard the Holiday Lights Express to experience the railroad magic of holiday’s past.
2020 Middle Tennessee Scholastic Art Competition
February 1 – March 29, 2020
For the twenty-ninth consecutive year, Cheekwood will join the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers to host the Scholastic Art Competition and Exhibition. Creative, imaginative and talented teens from across middle Tennessee submit works of art in a variety of categories.
2020 Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence Hiroshi Sato
February 1 – March 29, 2020
Hiroshi Sato was born September 1987 in Japan. From the age of three to fourteen he spent his childhood in Tanzania. His childhood exposure to alternate cultures, class, and language has served as a backdrop to his interest in human perception.
Hiroshi Sato is focused on contemporary realist oil painting. He is best known for paintings of figures in an interior environment. He draws influence from past and present artists including Vermeer, Degas, Andrew Wyeth, Euan Uglow, Hopper and Chuck Close. Sato’s work shows his interest in geometric design principles of the old masters and is currently exploring the simultaneous illusion of form and flatness in space. His goal is to portray, and better understand our various states of consciousness within ourselves through the visual medium.
Hiroshi Sato’s work has been featured in various publications such as Kunstenaar Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, Juxtapoz Magazine, Visual Art Source and Art Business News Magazine.
Chihuly at Cheekwood
April 25 – November 1, 2020
Cheekwood is delighted to present Chihuly at Cheekwood in the spring of 2020, together with the reopening of its acclaimed Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail. Chihuly at Cheekwood will feature large-scale installations in the gardens of the historic estate as well as pedestal works presented in the Cheekwood Mansion art galleries. Outdoor installations will include two pieces on the newly-accessible Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail Hickory Loop, as well as two new, site-specific works created for this exhibition. A monumental sculpture will be on view in the Frist Learning Center Great Hall.
Opening April 25, 2020, Chihuly at Cheekwood celebrates the 10th anniversary of Chihuly’s 2010 blockbuster success at Cheekwood while also commemorating the 60th anniversary of Cheekwood as a public institution.
Visitors may view the exhibition during the daytime as well as during evening hours on Thursday through Sunday.
Dale Chihuly, Sapphire Star, 2010 © Chihuly Studio
Chihuly at Cheekwood is presented by 
Leadership support is provided by Barbara and Jack Bovender
and Mrs. James C. (Tooty) Bradford, Jr.
Major support is provided by Lisa and David Manning.