Steep Yourself in the Arts – Explore the Knoxville Emporium

Nestled in the Old City, on the corner of Gay Street and Jackson Avenue, you’ll find a glass fronted building adorned with two colorful birds in flight. This is the Emporium Center for Arts and Culture, Knoxville’s first true arts center.  I read about it while doing research for another blogpost and decided it was time to spend an afternoon and explore the Knoxville Emporium.

Before I started writing this blog, I had never heard of the Emporium. In fact, if you don’t live or visit downtown Knoxville frequently, I’d be surprised if you had heard about it either. And that’s what this blog is for. I want to introduce you to places that you might not know existed in Knoxville.

The Emporium is a 28,000 square foot building which houses multiple offices including Downtown Knoxville Alliance, the Knoxville Symphony, and the administrative office of the Arts and Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville. But more importantly, it houses multiple galleries exhibiting works by local and regional artists, and studios for individual artists. That’s why we’re here exploring it.

The building was originally built in the late 1800’s and housed the Sterchi Brothers Furniture Emporium whose motto was: “We furnish your home from a teaspoon to a piano.”  It housed other businesses until it was renovated and reopened in 2004.

The Emporium has four gallery spaces and a display case with new artwork every month. The exhibits open on the first Friday of the month with Downtown Knoxville’s First Friday celebration.

If you’re not familiar with First Friday, it started 20 years ago in downtown Knoxville and has since expanded throughout the city. Galleries and venues feature different local artists in addition to live music on the first Friday night of each month.

You can wander down through the Old City and Market Square and visit galleries and shops that host open houses, check out downtown restaurants, and enjoy live music in the streets. You can get more information by clicking here.

When you first enter the building, you have a couple of different choices. You can go up or down the stairs, or you can stay on the street level and look at the displays in the atrium. I started in the atrium and then went upstairs to the Balcony gallery and the North wall display area. I ended my tour at the Emporium gallery on the lower level.

Now I could talk about some of the displays, but unless you go there sometime before the first Friday in April, you won’t see the same thing. And that’s one of the things that makes the Emporium so interesting. You could go every month and not see the same art. You can click here to see what artists are displaying this month.

And while we’re talking about art…I learned when I visited the Knoxville Museum of Art that many of the art displays I saw didn’t really seem to be art at all in my opinion. But that’s just my opinion. With the Emporium, if you don’t like the art one month, come the next and you might see something you absolutely love.  Just bear that in mind when you visit.

I don’t know that I would have stayed longer than an hour at the Emporium if I hadn’t come upon, what I consider, the best part of the Emporium – the individual artist’s studios. These studios are located on the lower level on either side of the Emporium gallery.  

While I am sure most of them are open on each First Friday, there were only a couple open while I was there. For me, this is the main reason to go to the Emporium – to see the artists in action and even talk to them about their art.

I visited Studio 106, the Tennessee Artists Association. While several artists display their paintings here, I had the privilege of meeting Betty Bullen who does oil paintings and fine art prints. Betty was kind enough to talk to me about her current painting.

When she found out I was an amateur photographer she graciously invited me to the Tennessee Artists Association monthly meeting. I’m not sure I consider myself an artist in those terms, but it was nice to be invited. You can read more about Betty and see her work here.

In another studio I met Alex Smith who showed me the differences in paints. He showed me a tube of paint that was several years old and it was still good. He also told me how much some of them cost and now I understand why paintings can be so pricy. We also talked about the challenges of painting something on commission…things I never would have thought about. You can read more about him by clicking here.

My visit to the Emporium was exactly what I had envisioned when I started writing this blog…an opportunity to explore new places and meet new people. I was glad I spent the afternoon exploring the arts at the Emporium.

The Emporium’s website suggests parking at the Jackson Avenue lot, the Crowne Plaza Garage, Gay Street viaduct (back-in only), and along Depot Avenue and South Central Street. If you are really good at backing in and out of parking spaces, I would choose the Gay Street viaduct since it is so close. Unfortunately, my “backing skills” leave a lot to be desired so I parked along Depot Avenue.

If you haven’t been downtown lately, be advised that the city of Knoxville now uses a digital payment system called ParkMobile. You can use their app that is available at the App Store or on Google Play.

When I visited, they were in the middle of transitioning to this system, and quite frankly, the signage was horrible. I didn’t realize I had to pay until I saw someone else paying further down the street. Hopefully they will have improved signage, but be aware parking is not free, except after 8pm on Monday-Saturday and on Sundays.  

Once you’ve spent a couple of hours at the Emporium, you’ll be ready for a break and what better place to go than Jack’s Coffee. Conveniently located across the street and down a little from the Emporium, Jack’s gives you coffee with a difference.

According to my research, Jack’s didn’t start out as a coffee shop and it’s still not just a coffee shop.  In 2019, Logan and Katherine Higgins opened Jacks as a place to “celebrate small-scale makers and businesses”. The location gave local artists the ability to sell their products without having to deal with the set up and breakdown at neighborhood markets.

I had no intention of going to Jack’s when I set out in  that afternoon. I had planned on going to one of the other coffee shops in the Old City. But when I saw Jacks was so close to the Emporium, I decided to try it out. I’m glad I did.

When you first walk into Jack’s, it reminds you of a long hallway, until you realize you’re only seeing half of the building. That’s because of an expansion that happened in 2021 which added seating for the customers to give Jack’s more of a coffeehouse feel.

Despite this addition, Jack’s still maintains its original purpose of a place to allow artists to display their art. After passing the barista station at the front, you’re met by shelves on both sides in addition to a center shelving unit displaying the work of local artists and makers. It’s the perfect place to browse for a gift while you wait on your drink order.

Jack’s had a special Spring Menu when I was there. You’ll find it hard to make a decision with drinks like The Bees Knees and Here Comes the Sun to choose from. Originally, I planned to just get some tea, but when I saw the Spring Menu, I knew that was going to change.

I voiced my concern that it was really late for me to have so much caffeine, and the barista volunteered to make my drink with decaffeinated coffee. And while hubby would have had a conniption because in his opinion, decaffeinated coffee is an abomination, I was sold. I ordered the Fresh n Fruity, a vanilla iced coffee with raspberry cold foam. It was delicious.

In addition to their Spring menu, Jack’s also offers the usual coffee selections, housemade syrups, teas, and pastries, bagels, and cookies.

If you’ve read any of my posts about local coffee shops, you’ll know that the biggest draw for me in a coffee shop is the atmosphere. And while Jack’s is a pretty cool place inside, what makes it shine is the deck out back.

Stepping out onto the deck is like walking out into a private treehouse. You’re immediately transported from the busy streets of Knoxville to a backyard setting. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a beautifully landscaped area; it’s wooded, but it’s just a pleasant surprise to find this peaceful retreat in downtown Knoxville.

I could definitely see my coffee club (a group of ladies who meet for coffee monthly) sitting out on the deck with our lattes and pastries while we solve the world’s problems or at least try to.

I hated seeing my afternoon end, but it was soon time to go home. I’d had a wonderful time exploring the arts at the Emporium and my Fresh and Fruity coffee was the icing on the cake.

If you’d like to visit the Emporium, their hours are Monday-Friday 9a-5pm and Saturdays (through May 10^th) 10am-1pm. If you’d like to see more artists at work, make sure to visit on the first Friday of the month. Check here before visiting to make sure hours haven’t changed.

If you want to try some great coffee while sitting out on a deck in downtown Knoxville, Jack’s hours are Monday – Thursday 8am-5pm, Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday 9am-6pm and Sunday 9am-5pm.

How about you? Let me know in the comments below if you have been to the Emporium or to Jacks.