Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art

Art, exhibitions & programs: originally built as the family home of leslie and mabel cheek in 1929, Cheekwood today is a leading cultural destination for residents of middle Tennessee and visitors to nashville. Cheekwood is a place of beauty and magnificence that serves the public as a 55-acre Botanical Garden, arboretum, and Art Museum with furnished period rooms and galleries devoted to american Art from the 18th to mid-20th centuries. With more than 392,000 visitors in 2023, Cheekwood was again the third highest attended cultural institution in nashville, welcoming visitors from every state and the district of columbia, 26 countries, and 482 Tennessee zip codes. More than 1 million have visited Cheekwood over the past three years. Cheekwood is accredited by the american alliance of museums, an honor that denotes operational and programmatic excellence, and is listed on the national register of historic places. Cheekwood showcases monumental outdoor sculpture as well as significant temporary exhibitions and curated exhibitions from its permanent collections. Interactive educational activities for people of all ages complement the permanent and traveling exhibitions, both in Cheekwood's historic mansion and Museum as well as across the estate grounds. During 2023, Cheekwood hosted the bruce munro: light exhibition, as well as the carmen herrara: estructuras exhibition, featuring dynamic installations from these world-renowned artists. Public programs feature Art activities and classes, workshops, lectures, story time, youth summer camps, and live music and dance performances. Cheekwood annually hosts four cultural celebrations: el dia de los muertos, the black arts bash, japanese moon viewing, and the holi celebration. Additionally, thousands of students and educators annually participate in free school fieldtrips and outreach programs, which include destination Cheekwood and Cheekwood on the road, among others. The Cheekwood grows! Kitchen Garden provides students with hands-on planting and harvesting experiences. Cheekwood provides multiple free admission programs and is continually developing initiatives to broaden and deepen its presence and impact on the greater community. Gardens: Cheekwood's picturesque and undulating landscape serves as a canvas for the display of outdoor contemporary Art, offering a unique experience that ensures the historic estate's vibrancy and relevance. It is a three-time voted a usa today top ten Botanical Garden. Cheekwood is home to an historic bryant fleming designed landscape as well as acres of woodlands, ponds and waterways, pastoral meadows, and 13 unique display gardens. Gardens include the japanese Garden; a one and a half mile woodland sculpture trail; and herb, perennial, and boxwood gardens, among others. The children's Garden focuses on family programming, including the literary, performing, and visual arts and features a turtle habitat, studio and performance pavilions, and adventure paths. With more than 2,100 trees on the property, Cheekwood has garnered national acclaim as an arbnet level ii accredited arboretum and a Tennessee urban forestry council center of excellence. Cheekwood's three primary tree collections include the nationally accredited cornus collection, the historic collection, and trees native to the southeastern united states. Other plant collections include daylilies, iris, natives, daffodils, ferns, herbs, hydrangeas, magnolias, redbuds, roses, and historic boxwoods. Cheekwood's continual enhancements of its gardens include significant enrichments to the plant collections and new pathways and lighting to make the historic grounds more accessible. In 2023, Cheekwood conducted significant research of the historical petite swan Garden, and began construction to restore the Garden to its 1930 origins. Cheekwood offers year-round Garden displays, related public programs, educational opportunities, and live performances through its four seasonal festivals. During spring's Cheekwood in bloom, a radiant display of more than 250,000 tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils delights visitors. Summertime at Cheekwood showcases Garden exhibitions and themed displays of more than 25,000 annual flowers. Thursday nights out and the under the stars concert series provide evening summertime programming, including musical performances. Cheekwood harvest offers a pumpkin village with three pumpkin houses, a community scarecrow show, and thousands of pumpkins and chrysanthemums spread across the grounds. Winter activities include holiday lights, a nashville holiday tradition, and one of Cheekwood's most popular events. The ever-expanding spectacular display includes more than 1 million lights along a one-mile barrier free path and holiday decorations inside the Cheekwood mansion. Also during the winter, Cheekwood hosts an annual orchid show. In 2023, Cheekwood expanded its winder programming and musical offerings with a winter concert series. History: Cheekwood is one of nashville's most unique and beloved institutions. The historic mansion is recognized, together with its landscape, as one of the finest examples of an american country place era estate in the nation. The historic mansion and Museum features period rooms which reflect the 1930s era of its origins as well as gallery rooms for the display of temporary Art exhibitions as well as selections from the Cheekwood permanent Art collections. The history of the Cheekwood mansion is brought to life through interpretation, public programming, and exhibitions informed and inspired by this unique historic asset in nashville. Cheekwood's frist learning center contains meeting rooms and Art studios as well as historical interpretation of the horse stable and tack room used by the cheek family during their time on the estate. Exhibition materials also highlight the historical connection between Cheekwood and maxwell house coffee.

Restaurant, rentals & gift shop: Cheekwood further opens the historic estate to the public through the hosting of events on the grounds. As a top nashville event destination, Cheekwood offers weddings, receptions, corporate dinners, family outings and meetings set amidst the gardens, expansive vistas, and historic buildings of the beautiful campus. Additionally, Cheekwood also offers visitor amenities such as cafe 29, the mansion gift shop, and Garden gift shop, which provide visitors an opportunity to enjoy food and beverages during their visit and take away Garden and museum-inspired souvenirs of their experience. During 2023, a new Garden gift shop was opened, more than doubling the size of the prior shop and increasing the offerings for visitors.