Since 1955, Dogwood Arts has hosted Knoxville’s favorite springtime celebration. What started as a neighborhood beautification project has blossomed into a year-round celebration of our region’s art, culture, and natural beauty. With spring finally here, Dogwood Arts is gearing up to do it all again with a mixture of in-person and virtual events.
Dogwood Arts is opening the season with a bang by distributing more than 10,000 Art Kits for Kids to art students in Knox, Anderson, and Blount County schools as they return from spring break. The Art Kits for Kids program started as a pandemic response initiative in April 2020 and is now part of the organization’s ongoing efforts. A charitable contribution of art and educational supplies from Newell Brands allowed the organization to expand the program exponentially, getting valuable supplies into the hands of students across the region.
Knoxville’s historic Dogwood Trails date back to 1955 and today cover more than 85 miles in 12 neighborhoods throughout the city. Visitors are invited to walk, drive, or bike the Trails as they take in the natural scenic beauty of East Tennessee in the springtime. The Dogwood Trails, Open Gardens, and Camera Sites are open April 1-30. Open Gardens and Camera Sites are open from 10 am to 5 pm daily. Holston Hills is the 2021 Featured Dogwood Trail. Established in 1956, the Holston Hills Dogwood Trail is located in an architecturally diverse neighborhood that offers sweeping views of the Holston River alongside panoramic vistas of the rolling East Tennessee hills. Beautiful lots in this neighborhood tend to be situated on big, rolling hills with old-growth trees and an abundance of spring-flowering dogwoods.
Everyone is invited to participate in Chalk (Your) Walk, a community-wide event that encourages artists of all ages to create one-of-a-kind chalk artworks on neighborhood sidewalks, driveways, and public spaces! This virtual competition runs April 3-12 and is open to individual artists and families throughout Knoxville and the surrounding counties. Next, visitors can experience two spectacular private gardens that will be open to the public for one weekend only for our Featured Gardens event on April 17 from 10 am to 5 pm and April 18 from 12 to 5 pm. The Anderson Estate and GATOP (God’s Answer to our Prayers) will be open this year. This event is free to attend, though a $5 on-site donation is encouraged.
From April 23-25, the well-loved Dogwood Arts Festival will move to the beautifully redesigned Performance Lawn at World’s Fair Park. The event will feature the work of 75 art vendors working in mixed media, pottery, painting, photography, glass, jewelry, sculpture, and more. The move to World’s Fair Park will allow visitors to mask up and support these talented artists with plenty of room to safely distance.
And the fun doesn’t stop after April! Another round of world-class sculptures and bold, bright new murals will be popping up all across Knoxville, Oak Ridge, and Blount County this summer as a part of our Art in Public Places Program. It’s time again to welcome another blooming East Tennessee spring! Follow Dogwood Arts on Facebook or visit www.dogwoodarts.com to discover more about the events, programs, and exhibits featured this season.
Dogwood Arts, presented by ORNL Federal Credit Union, is a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to promote and celebrate our region’s art, culture, and natural beauty. For event details and Covid-19 safety measures, visit www.dogwoodarts.com.
Additional upcoming Dogwood Arts events:
Bikes & Blooms / Hikes & Blooms
April – May
Experience the outdoors the lean, green way – on a bicycle by way of an organized ride or on one of our expert-led group hikes. These events are free to attend, although attendance is limited and pre-registration is required.
Regional Art Exhibition
June 4
Fine art encompassing all styles and genres from both emerging and established regional artists will be showcased at the Emporium Center Gallery.
Art in Public Places: Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition
June – May 2022
This world-class exhibition of large-scale outdoor sculptures enlivens downtown Knoxville, the McGhee Tyson Airport, Zoo Knoxville, The Muse Children’s Museum, ORNL Federal Credit Union branches, and Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. The 2020-2021 exhibition will be replaced in mid-June with an exciting new selection of public art.