Events

Museum Events are Free & Open to the Public

• TENNESSEE HOLOCAUST COMMISSION CONFERENCE KEYNOTE

  Tennessee Holocaust Commission Conference

   

  
  Dr. Stephen Fritz Keynote Address:

  War and Genocide: How German Military Success Shaped the Holocaust

   

  
  Tuesday, March 25 at The Reece Museum

   

  Reception at 6pm & Keynote at 7 pm

   

  Stephen Fritz received his PhD from the University of Illinois and is a Professor of History at East Tennessee State University, where he specializes in Modern European and German history. He joined ETSU’s History Department in 1984, and his scholarship has ranged from liberal politics in the late 1920's Weimar Republic to the rise of Nazism, from the influenza epidemic of 1918-19 in Germany to the origins of the Holocaust. He is the author of a trilogy of well-received books on various aspects of World War II published by the University Press of Kentucky: Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II (1997); Endkampf: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Death of the Third Reich (2004); and Ostkrieg: Hitler’s War of Extermination in the East (2020). His most recent book, The First Soldier: Hitler as Military Leader was published by Yale University Press and has been called by Richard Overy, “Perhaps the best ac-count we have to date of Hitler’s military leadership. It shows a scrupulous and imaginative historian at work and will cement Fritz’s reputation as one of the leading historians of the military conflicts generated by Hitler’s Germany.”

  The mission of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission is to educate Tennesseans about the history of the Holocaust, seeking to remind citizens that prejudice, hatred and violence, as manifested in the Holocaust and other genocides, leads to the destruction of a humane society.

  In 1984, the Tennessee state legislature created the Tennessee Holocaust Commission by passing a bill with the purpose of educating others about and commemorating the Holocaust. In 1996, new legislation recreated the commission to recognize its primary role as education and to create a parallel not-for- profit body. This agency's Commissioners, appointed by the governor, function as part of the commission.

  The Tennessee Holocaust Commission, now one of the most celebrated organizations of its kind in the nation, provides various educational services and opportunities. These frequently include the creation and implementation of resources, workshops, conferences, exhibits, learning and in-service seminars, and publications for the educational and general community. The commission supports annual Day of Remembrance commemorations across the state, including an observance on the Capitol grounds. It has facilitated primary educator learning opportunities for study in Washington D.C. and Europe. Furthermore, it is committed to continuing the growth of Holocaust education throughout the state of Tennessee. Support for the Commission comes from a state appropriation, and privately raised funds. Donations are tax deductible.

  The Reece  Museum is displaying selected works from three traveling exhibitions that the Commission sponsors, as part of the conference. 

• EAST TENNESSEE TREASURE: THE CREATIVE LEGACY OF ROSS SPEARS AND THE JAMES AGEE FILM PROJECT 

  East Tennessee Treasure: The Creative Legacy of Ross Spears and the James Agee Project
  
  
  
  

   

  Reception, Programming, & Film Screening
  

  Thursday, March 27 at the Reece Museum & Bud Frank Cinema

  4 - 8 pm

  Celebrating the life, work, and cultural contributions of Johnson City's own Ross Spears (1947-2024). Join us Thursday, March 27 at the Reece Museum for a reception and special program, followed by a film screening at the Bud Frank Cinema. 

  The program will begin at 4:30 and include: 

  • A presentation by Jamie Ross about Ross Spears, his      body of work, and the James Agee Film Project. 
  • An introduction to the partnership between Kenton Coe     and Ross Spears by Dr. Jeremy Smith, director of the Archives of Appalachia.
  •  A performance of Kenton Coe’s film scores by members of the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra.
  •  A poetry reading and brief remarks by Dr. Jesse Graves, ETSU Poet in Residence and Professor, Department of Literature & Language. 
  • Visitors are then welcome to walk over to the Bud Frank Cinema for a screening of Ross Spears's documentary Agee at 6 pm.

   

  Film Screening & Program

  Friday, March 28 at the Jackson Theatre, Main Street, Jonesborough

  1 -  5 pm

  • The world premier screening of Part One: The Truth About Trees. (1 - 3 pm)
  • A Q&A with Jamie Ross. (3 - 3:30 pm)
  • A Time of Remembrance of Knowing and Working with Ross Spears. (3:30 - 5 pm)

  These events are free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided. Presented in partnership with the James Agee Film Project, the Reece Museum, the Bud Frank Cinema, the Archives of Appalachia, and community supporters.

• SPRING 2025 BFA SENIOR EXHIBITION RECEPTION 

   SPRING 2025 BFA SENIOR EXHIBITION

   

  Reception 

  Thursday, April 17 from 5 to 7 pm

  Featuring the work of graduating Bachelor of Fine Art seniors in the Department of Art & Design:

  Adrian Crawford 

  Hannah Grandy 

  Sarah Grider 

  Brianna Hagy 

  Audrey Holladay 

   

• SPRING LITERARY FESTIVAL

  ETSU SPRING LITERARY FESTIVAL

  All daytime events of the festival will take place in the Reece Museum.

  April 22 - 24

  CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.

• APPALACHIA ON OUR MINDS: DR. PRINTZ

   

  The Art History Program of the Department of Art & Design and the Reece Museum Present

  APPALACHIA ON OUR MINDS: Retelling & Reclaiming Histories of Appalachian Art with DR. PRINTZ

  Lecture in Ball Hall Room 127

  Thursday, April 24 at 6 pm

  Why have Appalachian makers been historically overlooked in American cultural narratives and in national museums and
  institutions? Dr. Ali Printz will discuss her process of incorporating narratives of Appalachian art production into American Art, using art historical movements like modernism, histories of extraction, regional stereotyping, pedagogy, and the appropriation of Appalachian culture.  rough the recent completion of her doctoral dissertation, curatorial projects like the 2024 exhibition, Layers of Liberty: Philadelphia and the Appalachian Environment at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), and ongoing artistic projects, Printz will explain why it is important, both historically and in the present, to address Appalachian makers of fine art, craft, and folk art in art collections on a national scale.

   

• SPARK! @ the Reece

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