Events

Museum Events are Free & Open to the Public

• SPARK! @ the Reece

  SPARK! Cultural Programming for People with Memory Loss
  1st Tuesday of Every Month

• Memory to Material & Objects Reception - September 4

  A reception for LaKesha Lee's Memory to Material & Objects will be held Thursday, September 4 from 5 to 7 pm. This event is free and open to the public. In conjunction with Lee's solo exhibition, this reception will also showcase the work she did for the Museum's 2025 Teen Renaissance art camp turned exhibition titled, Bound & Threaded, featured in the gallery adjacent to Memory to Material & Objects. 

  LaKesha Lee's work is an ongoing material dialogue between past, present, and future that honors self-representation, family legacy, and the resilience of Black identity. Through assemblage collages, sculptural forms, and ceramics, Lee uses found objects-old photographs, textiles, ceramics, and everyday artifacts-as a material language to explore memory, history, and cultural traditions.

  Lee is a multidisciplinary artist based in Nashville, TN. A recent Master of Fine Arts graduate from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Lee earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 20I9. Her work celebrates Black representation and family legacy, offering visual narratives that honor the past while inspiring a shared future. 

  LaKesha Lee served as the Reece Museum's 2025 Teen Renaissance Art Camp visiting art instructor that took place the week of June 2 through 6. The nine participating campers produced an exhibition with Lee leading the projects. The exhibition, Bound & Threaded Stories, is on display in the adjacent gallery through September 12.

• Rendered in Place: History & Genealogy as Sacred Practices in the Folk Art of Reverend Jimmy Morrow - A Gallery Talk with Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler - September 9

  "Rendered in Place: History & Genealogy as Sacred Practices in the Folk Art of Reverend Jimmy Morrow", a gallery talk with Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler, will be held Tuesday, September 9 from 5 to 6:30pm. 

  This gallery talk will examine the elevation of history and genealogy as sacred practices in the paintings of the Reverend Jimmy Morrow (1955 - 2023). Through bold, narrative-rich works, Morrow's works knit together serpent-handling histories, family lineages, and community memories, creating a visual archive where ancestors, animals, biblical stories, and local folklore exist side by side. By blending human and more-than-human worlds, his art functions as a powerful genealogical record, positioning relationships — and their preservation — as sacred acts. We will also consider Morrow’s paintings within the broader tradition of American Protestant religious art, a tradition shaped by deep ambivalence about imagery and often focused on biblical scenes set in distant lands. In contrast, Morrow’s works locate the sacred in local histories, Appalachian landscapes, and everyday relationships. His visual genealogies resist historical erasure, reclaim the power of place, and offer fresh perspectives on religion in Appalachia. 

  Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler is Assistant Professor of History at East Tennessee State University, where she teaches in the Departments of History, Philosophy & Religious Studies, and Appalachian Studies. Her research explores the intersections of religion, material and visual culture, and memory, with particular attention to American Protestant traditions and the material expression of faith

  This talk will be presented in conjunction with The Place Speaks, the Reece Museum’s anchor gallery exhibition exploring the material and lived dimensions of religion in Appalachia.

• Geometric Genesis: Inspired Mobiles with Renfrow Originals - September 12

  Join us Friday, Sept. 12, from 2 to 4 p.m. for a mobile-making workshop with Amanda Renfrow of Renfrow Originals. Traditionally, Renfrow’s mobiles are made with glass, but for this workshop participants will be supplied with alternative user-friendly materials. No experience is needed for this fun exploration of shape, color, and design. This is a place and space for creative play and community connection. All materials and tools necessary will be supplied by the Reece Museum.

  Renfrow is a stained-glass artist hailing from Appalachia with more than six years of intensive study in the art form. She has worked alongside Steve Cook and held an apprenticeship for the restoration of the historic St. Marks Presbyterian Church in Rogersville, Tennessee. Since then, Renfrow has collaborated on numerous ambitious projects, constructing grand windows that highlight her exceptional craftsmanship. Through those dramatic partnerships she has become known for her conventional and unconventional art using stained glass as well as incorporating other traditional techniques. This workshop is inspired by Renfrow’s permanent installation of a stained-glass transom window at the Reece Museum’s front entry titled, Geometric Genesis. 

  Spots are limited, so be sure to RSVP via our email: reecemus@etsu.edu. A suggested donation of $10 is encouraged to support community programs like these. 

• SPARK! Art Reception- September 30

  Stay tuned for more upcoming information about this event taking place Tuesday, September 30 from 4 to 6 pm.

• Reece Faire: 60th Anniversary - October 10

  Stay tuned for more upcoming information about this event taking place Friday, October 10.

• The Place Speaks Reception - October 16 

  Stay tuned for more upcoming information about this event taking place Thursday, October 16 from 5 to 7 pm.

• Workshop with Aaron McIntosh - October 17

  Stay tuned for more upcoming information about this event taking place Friday, October 17.