The Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
The Knoxville Museum of Art in Eastern Tennessee has commissioned sculptor Richard Jolley to create a permanent installation in glass and metal for the walls in the museum’s Great Hall. The installation is a gift from museum supporters and Jolley collectors Ann and Steve Bailey.
Although the project is still in its beginning stages and is expected to take three to four years to complete, such an installment will be an unprecedented movement for the museum. KMA executive director David Butler says, “This is a transformative gift for the KMA.…The project imposes tremendous technical and aesthetic challenges, and will result in the one of the largest and most significant sculptural glass works anywhere.”
The Great Hall of the museum measures roughly 100 by 40 feet and is used primarily for community events and educational programs. Jolley’s work is expected to cover most of its upper walls. The commission will bring together funders, an institution, and an artist who have known each other for years. Says Butler: “All of us look forward with excitement to the next few years.”
Artist Richard Jolley was born in Kansas in 1952. He finished his undergraduate studies at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee, received his BFA from George Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, and did graduate studies at Penland School in North Carolina. In 1975, Jolley opened up his studio in Knoxville. He has been the subject of various one-person exhibitions around the U.S. Jolley has had a previous exhibit at the Knoxville Museum of Art in 2002 called “Richard Jolley: Sculptor of Glass.”
—Marianne Mychaskiw