Nashville's Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art is a Great Place to Visit

Nestled on a secluded hillside which is surrounded by the Warner Parks of the greater Nashville, Tennessee area, the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art is a peaceful retreat for nature and art lovers alike. Almost 200,000 people visit these majestic grounds each year.

The centerpiece of the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art is the old family 30,000 square foot mansion of the Cheek family, who are responsible for the Maxwell House coffee fortune. The mansion houses the art museum, which was renowned as the best art museum in Nashville up until the Frist Center for Visual Arts opened up a few years ago in downtown Nashville. The museum of art showcases a permanent collection of American and contemporary paintings, silver, Worcester porcelain and rotating exhibits. Each Christmas, there is a special exhibit titled 'Christmas Trees of the World,' where numerous Christmas trees are exhibited in the museum and are decorated according to what country they are supposed to be representing.

The botanical garden actually consists of several gardens which are on the 55 acre property surrounding the mansion. There is a beautiful Japanese garden, a wildflower garden, two perennial gardens, an herb garden, a water garden, a color garden and a seasons garden. Visitors will also see many pools, fountains and statues as they roam the gardens.

In addition to offering tours of the museum and the gardens, the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art also offers up special events and classes for the public. All classes and seminars are in some way related to Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, with painting classes and gardening classes being offered to the community.

Special exhibits rotate throughout the year at the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art. Currently there are exhibits lined up for American Pottery, artist William Edmondson, and Hydrangeas for the spring and summer of 2007.