Exploring Knoxville

Since I moved to Knoxville last weekend, I have been trying to keep myself occupied before classes start. While the city reminds me a lot of Raleigh, not knowing many people here is really hard. Even if you want to go out and do something, its really boring to do it all yourself. And shocking though it is to those who know me, there's only so much time you can spend at Barnes & Noble. :) Crazy, huh?

But there are some interesting things about this city. Last Friday I went to the Knoxville Museum of Art (known as the KMA), and even though its rather small, they have some really cool exhibits. The first I saw (and which ends this weekend, sadly) was a collection of furniture pieces designed by artists that are a part of the Cumberland Furniture Guild of Tennessee. Some pieces were rather strange, some with simple designs. I particularly liked one table that the artist had made out of an old metal stand he found in a trailer park, topped with a wood piece cut to reflect the octagonal design of the stand, and decorated with an inlaid mosaic design (bird's-eye view) of a fish pond at night. Very cool.

Upstairs they had a collection of photographs of Hollywood stars from the 1920s-1950s, called Made In Hollywood. And because I love classic Hollywood, I was super excited. Its well worth it; the collection consists of movie stills and studio promos. It was really cool to see that someone had collected so many pieces of famous photographers, who really did amazing work.

I also went to services at Heska Amuna, the conservative synagogue in Knoxville, and explored Market Square Saturday night. They also have a farmer's market there which I'm excited to try out. Even on a grad school budget, I should be able to squeeze in some locally grown stuff. Won't Mom be proud :)