Three Flights Up Art Gallery in Knoxville

by Nichole Benny

The Three Flights Up Gallery is located at 100 South Gay St. Suite #301 Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 11am to 3pm or by appointment. Gallery can be reached by phone at 865-256-8361 or by web at gallery@threeflightsup.com. This gallery is also wheelchair accessible.

When the Three Flights Up Gallery first opened it was located on the third floor loft of a historical downtown building with no elevator sitting 69 steps from the sidewalk. It had barely any parking and operated one night a month. The gallery sat as a 2000 sq ft loft with hardwood floors and was started by three art students from the University of Tennessee which now are owners Laren Karnitz, Clark Gillespie, and Ben McKamey. The gallery boasted art from student artists in monthly exhibitions. The first show was in November of 2004.

The Three Flights Up Gallery now has three years under their belts showcasing original artwork and in January of 2006 a new location at the Emporium Center for the Arts and Culture. Parking is free at the Locust Street and State Street garages after 6pm and on weekends or metered parking alongside of Gay Street. The Three Flights Up Gallery is also looking for new artist with an open call. Interested artist need to provide 10 images of their recent work, a statement about their work and a brief artist bio to gallery@threeflightsup.com and make sure you include your name, address, phone number and email address.

When The Three Flights Up Gallery first started they started with eight to ten artists consisting mostly of University of Tennessee seniors and grad students. Today this gallery exhibits art from almost 150 artists displaying their works of art. Most work is for sell and most of The Three Flights Up Gallery artist will accept commissions. I found this gallery to be very inspiring and applauded them for accepting young talent to establish this wonderful gallery.