Clarksville, TN – The Customs House Museum and Cultural Center is located in historic downtown Clarksville, Tennessee. Come explore an entire city block featuring large gallery spaces filled with fine art, science and history.
Some of the events in April at the Museum are: Peggy Kretchmar Leland: Abstracted Surroundings, Marilyn Murphy: Short Stories, Hunt Slonem: From the Collection, and Reading Appalachia: Voices from Children’s Literature.
Exhibits
Peggy Kretchmar Leland: Abstracted Surroundings
April 4th – May 30th
Planters Bank Peg Harvill Gallery
Knoxville artist Peggy Kretchmar Leland uses hot wax to create abstract encaustic paintings, often incorporating elements of nature and architecture. Leland holds two masters degrees: one in educational administration and one in art education. She recently retired from a twenty year career teaching high school art.
Marilyn Murphy: Short Stories
March 1st – April 30th
Orgain & Bruner Galleries
Marilyn Murphy is an artist whose drawings and oil paintings create curious situations implying a larger story that often explores dualities both formally and conceptually (safety and danger, peace and turmoil, fire and water). A Professor of Art at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, her work has been shown in more than 300 exhibitions nationally and abroad.
Chris Hornsby: Fracture
March 8th – May 4th
Crouch Gallery
Knoxville artist Chris Hornsby’s latest “Fracture” painting series is a haunting exploration into the fractured human nature and the fight within. It’s a combination of stark black, white, and gray “shard” imagery that includes multiple individual paintings that make up large scale presentations. The overall impressions given are the feeling of powerful struggles between strong opposing forces.
Forward March
March 7th – July 30th
Kimbrough Gallery
This exhibit showcases maps, documents, dioramas, flags, and photos from several wars, featuring objects from the collection of Dr. John Olson.
Hunt Slonem: From the Collection
March 9th – May 2nd
The Leaf Chronicle Lobby
A Neo-Expressionist, Hunt Slonem combines Abstract Expressionist techniques with mysticism and animal subjects of Islam and Mexico and is best known for his paintings of tropical birds, based on a personal aviary in which he keeps about 100 live birds of various species. See his work from the Customs House Museum’s collection in The Leaf Chronicle Lobby.
Reading Appalachia: Voices from Children’s Literature
March 23rd – August 20th
Memory Lane
This groundbreaking exhibition of Appalachian children’s literature examines seminal titles published since the 1800s. Come explore our region’s literary heritage and see how children’s literature tells the story of Appalachia. This is a traveling exhibit from East Tennessee Historical Society and Knox County Public Library.
A Fine Note
February 1st – May 28th
Jostens Gallery
This exhibit gives a brief look at the importance of music in Clarksville. Items from the Customs House Museum’s permanent collection highlight the world of music, including instruments, sheet music, photographs, and other artifacts ranging from the 1820s until the 1970s.
A majority of the objects featured have a close connection to Clarksville and span from an Aeolian harp to a Jimi Hendrix tape.
Activities
Art & Lunch: Marilyn Murphy and Paul Polycarpou
Thursday, April 6th, 12:15pm
Join us for a gallery talk with artist Marilyn Murphy and special guest Paul Polycarpou, Editor & CEO of Nashville Arts Magazine. This program is in conjunction with the exhibit Marilyn Murphy: Short Stories. Admission to the event is free; guests are welcome to bring their lunch.
Go Green for Spring in the Family Art Studio!
Help the Customs House Museum Go Green for Spring by recycling trash into unique works of art. Throughout the month of April we’ll have a variety of recyclable cardboard and paper materials ready to be used in your artistic endeavors. See if you can find a way to turn cardboard boxes into sculptures or turn paper bags into blooming spring trees.
Family Fun Day: Creating Clarksville
Saturday, April 8th, 10:00am – 5:00pm
For the month of April we’re turning one of the art studio walls into a collaborative art piece representing Clarksville. Stop by on April 8th from 10:00am – 5:00pm to decorate a square with your vision of home.
Each square will be displayed on our Creating Clarksville wall showing what home and community means to Clarksville. Admission is free as a part of our Second Saturday Free Admission Day.
All activities are free with your museum membership. Non-members pay regular admission fees. For more information contact Ms. Sue at sue@customshousemuseum.org or 931.648.5780.
About the Customs House Museum
Located in the heart of historic downtown Clarksville, Tennessee, the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center is the State’s second largest general museum. The original portion of the building was constructed in 1898 as a U.S. Post Office and Customs House for the flourishing tobacco trade. Incorporating a number of architectural styles, the original structure is one of the most photographed buildings in the region.
With over 35,000 square feet of the region’s best hands-on activities and special events…people of all ages agree – the Customs House Museum is well worth the stop!
The Explorer’s Gallery is packed with fun, learning and fantasy in Aunt Alice’s Attic, McGregor’s Market and kitchen, and of course – the Bubble Cave! Finally, get “all aboard” to see our fantastic model trains. Our volunteer engineers “ride the rails” every Sunday afternoon from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.
Regular museum hours are 10:00am to 5:00pm Tuesday through Saturday, and 1:00pm to 5:00pm on Sundays. Adult admission is $7.00, Senior Citizens and College ID $5.00, Ages 6 to 18 $3.00, and under six years and Museum members are free.
The Customs House Museum is located at 200 South Second Street. For more information, call 931.648.5780 or visit their website at www.customshousemuseum.org
