Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Cheekwood
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Cheekwood Mansion
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 Location in Tennessee
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1200 Forest Park Dr., Nashville, Tennessee |
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| Area | 7 acres (2.8 ha) |
| Built | 1929 |
| Architect | Bryant Fleming; et al. |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 00000993 |
| Added to NRHP | August 23, 2000 |
Cheekwood is a huge 55-acre estate in Nashville, Tennessee. It's home to the amazing Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. This beautiful place was once the home of the wealthy Cheek family. Their big 30,000 square foot mansion, built in the Georgian style, opened as a botanical garden and art museum in 1960.
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Discovering Cheekwood's History
Back in the 1880s, Christopher Cheek started a big grocery business in Nashville. His son, Leslie Cheek, later took over the family company. Leslie's wife, Mabel Wood, came from a well-known family in Clarksville.
Meanwhile, Leslie's cousin, Joel Owsley Cheek, created a very popular blend of coffee. This coffee was sold at Nashville's famous Maxwell House Hotel. Many members of the Cheek family, including Leslie and Mabel, invested in this coffee business. In 1928, a large company bought the Maxwell House coffee company for over $40 million!
After the family business was sold, Leslie Cheek bought 100 acres of land in West Nashville. He wanted to build a grand country estate there. He hired Bryant Fleming, a talented architect from New York City, to design the house and gardens. Leslie gave him complete control over every detail, even the furniture inside!
The amazing limestone mansion and its beautiful gardens were finished in 1932. The design of the estate was inspired by the grand homes of 18th-century England.
Sadly, Leslie Cheek passed away just two years after moving into the mansion. Mabel Cheek and their daughter, Huldah Cheek Sharp, lived at Cheekwood until the 1950s. Then, Huldah Sharp and her husband offered the property to become a botanical garden and art museum. Many local groups helped raise money to make this happen. The new Cheekwood museum officially opened its doors in 1960.
Exploring the Art Museum
Cheekwood's art collection started in 1959. It includes many pieces from the old Nashville Museum of Art. The museum is officially recognized by the American Alliance of Museums. Its main collections feature American art, American and British decorative arts, and modern art. You'll find many outdoor sculptures along the Woodland Sculpture Trail.
American Art Collection
The American art collection at Cheekwood has 600 paintings and 5,000 prints, drawings, and photographs. This collection was built in the 1980s and 1990s with a large gift of money. It covers the entire history of American art. A special part of the collection focuses on a group of artists called The Eight.
Cheekwood also has the world's largest collection of sculptures by William Edmondson. You can also see photographs by Louise Dahl-Wolfe. Plus, there are many prints made after Second World War. Recently, the museum has added new paintings by artists like James Hamilton and William Bradford. They have also added new modern sculptures for the trail.
Decorative Arts Collection
The decorative arts collection has some amazing items. It includes the third-largest collection of Worcester porcelain in the United States. There's also a silver collection with 650 pieces, dating from the 1700s to the 1900s.
The Cheek Mansion as Art
The Cheek Mansion itself is considered part of the art collection! In 2017, the mansion had a year-long renovation. This work brought back many of the building's original features. They uncovered beautiful wood and marble floors that had been covered by carpets. They also saved historical designs, like the special murals along the main hallway.
Contemporary Art and Sculpture Trail
The modern art collection is housed in the estate's old garage and stables. It's a smaller collection but has very high-quality pieces. You can see paintings by famous artists like Larry Rivers, Andy Warhol, Robert Ryman, Red Grooms, and Marylyn Dintenfass. Seven smaller galleries were created in the old horse stalls. These are perfect for showing unique installation art.
The Ann & Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail is a special outdoor area. It features ten sculptures by artists from all over the world. This trail brings the modern art collection into nature. It focuses on a unique kind of outdoor art that you don't often see in other museums.
Exploring the Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden spreads across the entire 55-acre site. It's designed for showing plants, teaching about them, and studying them. The garden has many different types of plants. These include boxwood, conifers, crape myrtles, daffodils, daylilys, dogwoods, ferns, herbs, hollys, hostas, hydrangeas, Japanese maples, magnolias, and plants native to the Southeastern US. You can also find redbuds and trilliums here.
Other Fun Things to Do
Besides the art museum and the botanical garden, Cheekwood has more to offer! You can visit two gift shops to find unique souvenirs. There's also a restaurant called Cafe 1929, located in the Frist Learning Center.
See also
In Spanish: Museo y jardín botánico de Cheekwood para niños
