06/03/2026
From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. this Friday, June 5, join Appalachian Bear Rescue, Friends of the Smokies, and the National Park Service at UT Gardens for Ursa Curiosa: A Garden Art Exhibit. This free event seeks to raise awareness about the need to protect our native bears as urban development encroaches on their natural habitat. See below for more details.
Free this Friday night? In the Knoxville area? Join ABR in person for the 🐻Ursa Curiosa 🐻 opening reception at the UT Gardens!
WHERE: UT Gardens Knoxville
2506 Jacob Dr, Knoxville, TN 37996
WHEN: Friday, June 5, from 5:30-7:30pm
FREE, open to the public!
Lead Curator Seth Wyckoff will be greeting guests with black bear educational materials, ABR info, and loads of experience and humor (hold him to it).
Friends of the Smokies and the National Park Service will also be there with information about our bears and human/bear interactions.
This reception is free and open to the public, and black bear artworks by local artists and children will be installed throughout the Gardens. Come grab a map and wander as you wish! Light refreshments will be provided.
The current forecast looks pleasant for Friday, but the event will be rain or shine.
💬ABOUT Ursa Curiosa: A Garden Art Exhibit - This unbearably fun and whimsical event seeks to raise awareness about the need to protect our native bears as urban development encroaches on their natural habitat.
The exhibition is part of Knoxville’s First Friday arts celebration, with its grand opening evet on June 5, 2026. Fifty-one artists’ visions will acknowledge the importance of black bears in our southern Appalachian ecosystems. Local children also are participating by expressing their creative talents on decorated bear faces or acorn cutouts. The children’s exhibit runs concurrently with the adult exhibit. The exhibit will be open throughout the summer during daylight hours. The children’s pieces will be displayed in the Children’s Garden, while the pieces crafted by adults will be located throughout the grounds. A brochure and electronic maps will be available to assist in finding each piece.
Informational bear facts will also be included as part of the exhibition, and new this year is the expansion of the exhibit to include several pieces to be displayed at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park through a partnership with the Friends of the Smokies. The UT Gardens, Crossville, will also host a display at the UT Plateau AgResearch and Education Center.
Now in its ninth year, the Art in the Gardens exhibit will conclude in late September with an exciting online auction of these fantastic works of art.
We hope to see you there!
