Treat a Pal! BOGO in the Gardens
Event Tag: Gardens
Conversation and Book Signing with Joe Nolan and Guests
Joe Nolan
Joe Nolan is a Nashville-based visual artist, art critic, curator, author, and musician. For nearly two decades, he has documented and participated in Nashville’s contemporary art scene, writing for publications ranging from the alternative weekly Nashville Scene to national platforms including Art in America, Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, and Outland. His criticism and cultural reporting have established him as one of the primary voices chronicling the American South’s evolving visual arts landscape.
Nolan’s first book, Nowville: The Untold History of Nashville’s Contemporary Art Scene (Vanderbilt University Press, 2024), is an oral history featuring the voices of 76 artists, curators, and critics who built the city’s contemporary art infrastructure from 1990 to 2015. The book documents how a city with minimal institutional support for contemporary art became a nationally recognized visual arts destination through artist-led organizing, DIY space-making, and collaborative community building.
As a visual artist, Nolan has exhibited throughout the Southeast, screened his experimental short films nationally, and performed his music under the name Mighty Joe Nolan in venues across the United States and Europe. He’s curated photography and painting exhibitions, contributed critical essays to institutional exhibition catalogs, and published his poetry in journals and literary collections. His work can be found in Nashville Metro Arts Permanent Public Art Collection, Vanderbilt University Library’s Special Collections and private collections in the U.S. and Europe. He lives and works in a 100-year-old house in a lake community suburb of Nashville.
Jon Sewell
A native Nashvillian, Jon Sewell built and manages The Packing Plant, a community arts hub that provides space for small galleries, a poetry library, and community-run non-profit radio station, WXNA. As former editor of the Southern arts journal, Number:Inc, and local irreverent bi-monthly zine, Salt Weekly, Sewell continues to participate in the local independent publishing community in Nashville, with its long history of influential publishing practices, primarily where arts and printed matter intersect. Academically, Jon is currently a PhD student in Public History at MTSU, and works in the Center for Popular Music, an archive, research, and programming center. As founder of the Nashville Underground Music Archive, he researches the interplay of locally homegrown musical communities with the dominant recording industry, through his database, thenashvilleunderground.org.
Katie Shaw
Katie Shaw, Gallerist, leads Red Arrow, a contemporary art gallery known for its museum quality exhibitions and career artist program. With nearly 20 years of experience working with visual artists including hundreds of curated exhibitions, Katie is dedicated to supporting and managing visual artists careers and continuing to grow her community. Under her leadership, Red Arrow is a vital platform for artists, showcasing their work locally and at global art fairs.
Cheekwood Community Celebration: Arts and Music in America
Thursday, June 4
Evening
Food Vendors
5 – 8:30 PM | Lot B
Conscious Cravings
Kiwi Scoops
Chivanada
Daddy’s Dogs
Yayo’s OMG
Wyldeflour Pizza
Timbo and Lonesome Country
6 – 8 PM | Arboretum Lawn
Timbo and Lonesome Country delivers a soul country sound blending traditional country, bluegrass, and rhythm & blues.
Friday, June 5
Daytime
Food Vendors
9 AM – 3 PM | Lot B
Salsa Franklin Taco
Rolled 4 Ever Ice Cream
Hautewheels Rolling Sandwich
Docent-Led Garden Tour
9:45 – 10:30 AM | Meet outside of Botanic Hall
Art Activities and Passport Scavenger Hunt
10 AM – 2 PM | Herb Garden
Derek Pell
12 – 2 PM | Arboretum Lawn
Derek Pell presents a fiddle-led trio exploring instrumental American traditions.
Docent-Led House and History Tour
2:15 – 3 PM | Mansion & Museum
Evening
Food Vendors
5 – 8:30 PM | Lot B
The Cookie Patch
Pizza Assurda
Daddy’s Dogs
Chivanada
The Rische Family Band
6 – 8 PM | Arboretum Lawn Stage
The Rische Family Band performs bluegrass and traditional country.
Saturday, June 6
Daytime
Food Vendors Open
9 AM – 3 PM | Lot B
Salsa Franklin Taco
Chivanada
Rolled 4 Ever Ice Cream
Conscious Cravings
Docent-Led Garden Tour
9:45 – 10:30 AM | Meet outside of Botanic Hall
Conversation and Book Signing with Joe Nolan and Guests
10 – 11 AM | Massey Auditorium
Join Joe Nolan, author of NOWVILLE: The Untold History of Nashville’s Contemporary Art Scene, for a conversation with Katie Shaw and John Sewell reflecting on Nashville’s dynamic art community–past, present, and future. Books will be available for purchase, and a book signing will follow the program.
Learn More
Art Activities and Passport Scavenger Hunt
10 AM – 2 PM | Herb Garden
Docent-Led House and History Tour
12:00 AM – 12:45 PM | Mansion & Museum
Tour of Common Ground Exhibition with Collector John Hainsworth and Cheekwood’s Sarah Sperling
12 – 12:30 PM | Mansion & Museum
Todd Day Wait Performance
12 – 2 PM | Arboretum Lawn Stage
Todd Day Wait leads an acoustic duo rooted in Americana tradition.
Docent-Led House and History Tour
12:45 – 1:30 PM | Mansion & Museum
Pop-Up Talk on William Edmondson with Filmmaker Mark Schlicher
2 – 2:15 PM | Mansion & Museum
Docent-Led House and History Tour
2:15 – 3 PM | Mansion & Museum
Evening
Food Vendors Open
5 – 8:30 PM | Lot B
The Pink Truck
Pizza Assurda
Taste of Aloha
Daddy’s Dogs
Nathan Belt Performance
6 – 8 PM | Arboretum Lawn Stage
Nathan Belt brings classic country and rockabilly blues styling to Cheekwood.
Sunday, June 7
Daytime
Food Vendors Open
9 AM – 3 PM | Lot B
Hautewheels Rolling Sandwich
Roadhouse Grille
Daddy’s Dogs
Kiwi Scoops
Docent-Led Garden Tour
9:45 – 10:30 AM | Meet outside of Botanic Hall
Art Activities and Passport Scavenger Hunt
10 AM – 2 PM | Herb Garden
Docent-Led House and History Tour
12:00 AM – 12:45 PM | Mansion & Museum
Ping Rose Performance
12 – 2 PM | Arboretum Lawn Stage
Ping Rose closes the celebration with Memphis-inspired blues.
Docent-Led House and History Tour
12:45 – 1:30 PM | Mansion & Museum
Docent-Led House and History Tour
2:15 – 3 PM | Mansion & Museum
Reserve Tickets
| Daytime: Thurs | Daytime: Fri-Sun | |||
| Gardens Only | Gardens + Mansion | Gardens Only | Gardens + Mansion | |
| Adults | $10 | $13 | $11 | $14 |
| Senior | $9 | $12 | $10 | $13 |
| College | $8 | $11 | $9 | $12 |
| Youth (3-17) | $7 | $10 | $8 | $11 |
| Ages 2 & Under | FREE | FREE | FREE | FREE |
| Member Adult | FREE | FREE | FREE | FREE |
| Member Youth | FREE | FREE | FREE | FREE |
Evening Pricing
| Gardens Only | Gardens + Mansion | |
| Adults | $21 | $27 |
| Youth (3-17) | $14 | $20 |
| Ages 2 & Under | FREE | FREE |
| Member Adult | $10 | $10 |
| Member Youth | $5 | $5 |
All paid tickets will have a $2 service fee. Non-Members will need to pay a $5 per vehicle parking fee.
America the Beautiful Opening Weekend
Saturday
May 2
9 AM – 3 PM | Americana-inspired food vendors
10 AM – 2 PM | Scavenger hunt! Fill out your train ticket “passport” for a chance to win a free Cheekwood Membership.
10 AM – 2 PM | Trains art activities
12 – 2 PM | Performance by Kelsey Rae Copeland: This singer-songwriter specializes in a retro-country sound rooted in reflective storytelling that has served as inspiration for a number of American legends. Currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, she mixes tradition and old-school country “twang” with a hint of mystery.
Sunday
May 3
9 AM – 3 PM | Americana-inspired food vendors
10 AM – 2 PM | Scavenger hunt! Fill out your train ticket “passport” for a chance to win a free
Cheekwood Membership.
10 AM – 2 PM | Trains art activities
12 – 2 PM | Performance by Aaron Till & Mickey Justice: This duo performs traditional country, roots, and Americana music on a variety of instruments from the fiddle to the bouzouki. Their natural musical chemistry and beautiful harmonies will evoke the spirit of the open roads and railways.
America the Beautiful is created by
and made possible by the generous support of:
Presenting Underwriter
The Crossman Family
Presenting Sponsor
Major Underwriter
Mary & Larry Wieck
Reserve Tickets
Mother’s Day Plant Sale
Treat the moms in your life to a day surrounded by flowers. Stroll the Bradford Robertson Color Garden as it becomes a showroom for newly planted summer blooms and then take home your favorite annuals, perennials, flowering shrubs, and ready-to-go planters, including lantana, coneflower, salvia, and hydrangea.
Cheekwood’s horticulturists will be on-site to share tips. Come for the plants you love, and leave with a few you didn’t know you needed!
Food Trucks
Saturday
11 AM – 3 PM
Salsa Franklin Taco
Vietastic
Wyldeflour Pizza
Moosic City Creamery
Sunday
11 AM – 3 PM
Nashbowls Acai
Eat Bubbles
The Mac Shack
Salsa Franklin Taco
America the Beautiful: National Parks & Landmarks by Rail
Set off on a grand adventure across America, from the Statue of Liberty to Tennessee’s own Great Smoky Mountains, all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Every structure is a miniature masterpiece of botanical architecture, hand-crafted from natural materials like willow branches, cedar, acorn caps, moss, pinecones, bark and more.
America the Beautiful is a special traveling model train exhibition built by Applied Imagination and located in the Bradford Robertson Color Garden for a limited time. Cheekwood’s permanent TRAINS! exhibit is open year-round so be sure to stop by both for double the train fun!
America the Beautiful is created by
and made possible by the generous support of:
Presenting Underwriter
The Crossman Family
Presenting Sponsor
Major Underwriter
Mary & Larry Wieck
Trains Tuesdays
May 5, 12, 19, 26 | 12 – 2 PM
Every Tuesday in May, we’ll have special daytime programming related to the America the Beautiful trains exhibition including art activities, a scavenger hunt, and more.
Reserve Tickets
Cheekwood in Bloom: Red, White & Blooms
Celebrate history in full bloom! This spring, Cheekwood’s annual festival of flowers honors America’s 250th anniversary with a spectacular sea of 250,000 red and white tulips, purple-blue violas, and hyacinths. Our growing collection of daffodils adds to the palette, draping the estate in cheerful bright yellows and pure whites, creating a vibrant display of color and renewal.
It’s the perfect setting for families, friends, and nature enthusiasts to gather and welcome a new season as winter fades. On select weekends, enjoy live jazz as talented student musicians from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music perform in the gardens. Stroll through breathtaking scenery, visit food trucks, and enjoy American art on display in the Historic Mansion. Experience beauty, history, and community at Cheekwood in Bloom!
On select weekends during Cheekwood in Bloom, enjoy live jazz performances as talented student musicians from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music perform in the gardens. Grab a picnic table or bring a blanket for a gorgeous day amidst the sights and sounds of spring.
