Emporium Center for Arts & Culture, Knoxville

Emporium Center for Arts & Culture, Knoxville

The Emporium Center for Arts & Culture was constructed in 1898, undergoing its most recent restoration in 2004. Located in downtown Knoxville on South Gay Street, a lively arts district, it houses the Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville. With 28,000 square feet of adaptable space, the facility features multiple galleries that showcase the works of local and regional artists, administrative offices for the Arts & Culture Alliance, and workspaces for five other cultural organizations. Additionally, the center provides a studio for fifteen individual artists. The Balcony Gallery showcases the works of emerging and progressive artists who challenge viewers' perceptions.

The Emporium building has a rich history, having been originally constructed as the primary residence for a prestigious furniture company. It has undergone several transformations over the years, having functioned as a wholesale distributor of goods and later as a textile manufacturing facility that produced items for military contracts. The neighboring buildings and vacant lot once housed the "Parthenon of Country Music," which was the WNOX Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round's base, a program that played a pivotal role in the history of country music.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Knoxville. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

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Emporium Center for Arts & Culture on Map

Sight Name: Emporium Center for Arts & Culture
Sight Location: Knoxville, USA (See walking tours in Knoxville)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery

Walking Tours in Knoxville, Tennessee

Create Your Own Walk in Knoxville

Create Your Own Walk in Knoxville

Creating your own self-guided walk in Knoxville is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Knoxville’s Historical Buildings

Knoxville’s Historical Buildings

Knoxville is often referred to as "The Marble City" for the abundant supply of high-quality marble used in many of its buildings. Noting the wealth of well-preserved historic homes in the city, prominent American architect John Russell Pope even coined his own moniker for it – the "City of Houses".

Indeed, Knoxville's eventful and sometimes turbulent past, dating from...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.2 Km or 1.4 Miles
University of Tennessee Walking Tour

University of Tennessee Walking Tour

Founded in 1794 as William Blount College, The University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville is one of the oldest public universities in the United States. Nowadays, the UT flagship institution features a mix of historic and modern sites which draw many a visitor to the city.

The campus covers nearly 600 acres in downtown’s west end, including over 200 buildings and a faculty of more than 1,700...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.0 Km or 1.9 Miles
Downtown Knoxville Walking Tour

Downtown Knoxville Walking Tour

A small town with big-city amenities and a vibrant music scene (a mix of country, bluegrass, and rock), Knoxville, or K-Town as it's popularly shortened by locals, is also often referred to as “the Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains,” for its proximity to the national park area, whose marble quarries, in the past, gave it another moniker, The Marble City.

Knoxville was founded in...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.3 Km or 1.4 Miles