Markers line the downtown year, often with splashes of color. Those markers announce the turning of years, the passage of time, and the advent of seasons. Trees green and flowers pop in the spring. Dogwoods bloom. Vibrant colored vegetables fill our Market Square Farmers’ Market in the summer, followed by the reds, browns, and golds of the fall. Ghosts fill our trees in Autumn, followed closely by the lights of Christmas.
One of my favorites splashes of color, art, and creativity used to fall in June with the installation of the Art in Public Places Sculpture Program administered by Dogwood Arts. Delivering interesting, sometimes beautiful, always engaging sculptures to Krutch Park and other spots, this program ensures constantly evolving outdoor arts for the city. We have some great galleries, but this program says to visitors, “We love art too much to simply keep it inside.” I love watching downtown visitors discover and engage the art.
As with recent years, the sculptures are scattered about a wide area. Krutch Park continues to get the motherlode, but sculptures can also be found at Emory Place, Johnson Architecture, ORNL, the Airport, selected spots in Maryville, and both our botanical gardens (Knoxville Botanical Garden and UT). It’s a great way to recognize the fact that as our region rises, so rises the city, and the region with the city.
As you can see, this year’s group, as most every year, represents a wide range of artists, mediums, and styles. See some pieces that don’t spark your imagination? Cool. There are others that probably draw your interest. None of us will find all of them appealing and we may even find a few appalling! That’s a great element of all art: it inspires debate.
Personally? I lean toward sculptures that seem to have more to offer than simply form and color, though that has its place. As a result, I’m generally drawn to pieces that seem to make a comment beyond maybe their weirdness. I like art that makes me think.
So, what of this made me think? Well, there’s “Cowboy,” by Jim Collins (pictured at the top). You’d guess that I might be drawn to a silent monochromatically dressed gentleman sporting cowboy boots—and you’d be correct. How is it that he remains so still a bird lands on his leg. I like to think he’s so deep in thought he has yet to notice the bird. The photographer in me wants to stake out the sculpture in hopes I might capture an actual real-world bird landing beside its metallic likeness. That would be a shot!
Another favorite, for me, is Motor City by Charles Pilkey. He had a piece that captivated me last year (Steampunk Babylon), and this one is similar. Small figurines inhabit tiny niches and contiguous, but seemingly separate environments, each holding human drama. Is that a superhero about to fly, a man shouting in agony at the sky, or is he about to jump? You write the story in your head.
The piece at the UT Botanical Garden, Solo Flight by Jim Weitzel, has its subject suggested by its name. That’s cool, but once an artist makes the art and lets it out into the world, they no longer own its meaning. For me? I see a cobra and all the exotic otherworld danger that implies. Maybe it doesn’t hold that meaning for anyone else in the world, but I encountered a cobra right here in east Tennessee! Of course, any trip to the botanical gardens includes little (or large!) encounters with beauty and I couldn’t help but snap a little photo of this pretty little butterfly.
But that’s me. What do you see, like, or simply imagine. Get out and encounter the art and make it yours. I’d encourage you, particularly, to walk in the gardens and enjoy the Maker’s Space, which has two sculptures, but also has a trove of great local art. Enjoy art on a magical, beautiful autumn day!
View a map of all the 2025-2025 sculptures here.