06/08/2026
UT Gardens to Host “Beary” Fun Art Exhibit All Summer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee Gardens, Knoxville, announces the opening of its 2026 Art in the Gardens exhibition Friday, June 5, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Titled Ursa Curiosa: A Garden Art Exhibit, this unbearably fun and whimsical event seeks to raise awareness about the need to protect our native bears as urban development encroaches on their natural habitat.
The exhibition is part of Knoxville’s First Friday arts celebration, and the grand opening event and summer-long exhibit are free and open to the public. Fifty-one artists’ visions will acknowledge the importance of black bears in our southern Appalachian ecosystems. The artistic displays will include painted, decorated or otherwise embellished three-dimensional bear cutouts in a variety of poses. Local children also are participating by expressing their creative talents on decorated bear faces or acorn cutouts. The children’s exhibit runs concurrently with the adult exhibit.
The exhibit will be open throughout the summer during daylight hours. The children’s pieces will be displayed in the Children’s Garden, while the pieces crafted by adults will be located throughout the grounds. A brochure and electronic maps will be available to assist in finding each piece. Visitors may also simply explore the grounds and discover the fur-nominally beautiful pieces on their own. James Newburn, managing director of the UT Gardens, Knoxville, says each display will leave you pawsitively fascinated by the creative talent of our artists.
Informational bear facts will also be included as part of the exhibition, and new this year is the expansion of the exhibit to include several pieces to be displayed at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park through a partnership with the Friends of the Smokies.
The UT Gardens, Crossville, will also host a display at the UT Plateau AgResearch and Education Center.
Now in its ninth year, the Art in the Gardens exhibit will conclude in late September with an exciting online auction of these fantastic works of art. The auction will serve as a fundraiser to support the UT Gardens and its mission to be a community resource for education, research and outreach on environmental stewardship, plant evaluation and landscape aesthetics.
