The Knoxville Museum of Art sits between World’s Fair Park and the Fort in a sort of no man’s land near the Clinch bridge which comes to mind only as a throughway. We see the building often, but last Sunday, I decided to take a look inside.

The clear glass doors swung open into an unassuming front entryway. At the front desk, I picked up a map, and the clerk joked that I would have a hard time getting lost.

With a map of the three small floors and one self-degrading comment to kick-start the visit, I was skeptical of what the museum had in store.

The first floor galleries host visiting artists. Currently Evan Ford’s exhibit titled “Intellectual Property Donor” spans both galleries and tackles topics involving “technology in popular culture” and “the urban environment.”

After brief deliberation, I went into the room on the left first and immediately concluded this guy was on to something new. A very minimalist display – the stark white walls of the gallery played backdrop to Ford’s urban tributes, almost all of which were in black and white.

The back wall featured a compilation of the different calligraphy, shown through the letter ‘S,’ used in graffiti tags in three cities: New York City, Detroit and Paris.

On the adjacent wall, 3-D prints of graffiti tags, re-imagined in the z-dimension, cast shadows from their solid forms suspended from the ceiling.

The final wall showed the visual process of this z-dimension projection. A computer program draws the graffiti artists’ work while taking account of time, so that each stroke layers on the previous one as if pulling open an accordion.

Intrigued by Ford’s original perspectives, I progressed to the second gallery.

Here he displayed pieces capturing technology and it’s direct application in our lives. Most had satirical underlying themes, and one in particular caught my eye.

A piece composed of 1,540 sheets of tracing paper stained with ink documented the effort invested in one game of Angry Birds. Each paper showed a single swipe motion, and the seemingly trivial topic made a striking statement about how much of ourselves we invest into technology.

Progressing through a small opening into the first floor, I was immediately greeted by Richard Jolley’s permanent installation titled “Cycle of Life” suspended from the two story ceiling.

Immense sculptures of blown glass replicate protein strands and other biological components, but Jolley brought us back to a macroscopic level with his bronze human sculptures of a male and female along the wall.

Jolley’s works are a good introduction to the smaller glass sculptures housed in one of the first floor galleries.

While for the most part unremarkable beyond aesthetic appeal, some pieces struck a deeper chord. A structure replicating the seismograph readings of Japan’s devastating 2011 earthquake was particularly poignant.

Also on the first floor are “Thorne Miniature Rooms.” These are a small sample from a collection of nearly 100 miniatures designed by Mrs. James Ward Thorne in the early 1900’s.

Thorne intended for her miniatures, scaled one inch to one foot, to instruct on how European and American interior design and culture evolved throughout time.

Finally, I walked to the third floor which contains two more traditional galleries housing, respectively, current works from East Tennessee and elsewhere and a historical compilation of East Tennessee art throughout the past 100 years.

The modern art gallery held variety that was a relief to see. Paintings, photography, sculpture, and unconventional medium filled the room.

The collection of East Tennessee art history had its fair share of landscape paintings, which I often times hurry past with little more than a glance. However, one in particular made me take a second look.

It was titled “View from Lyon’s Bend” and showed a view from a hillside over the Tennessee River, a view that is now obstructed by multiple neighborhoods and private homes. This glimpse of the past brings modern viewers a sight they could never see through their own eyes.

Also of note was the mural by Marion Greenwood, previously housed in the University Center on campus, displayed on the final wall of the collection.

The mural has faced decades of controversy since it was initially covered by paneling in 1972 for protection from vandals, angered by what they deemed racist undertones. Its current display in the museum caught me off guard, but after further thought, I’ve realized it signifies a new ability to look at the past with a critical attitude without hiding from it.

Overall, despite its small size the Knoxville Museum of Art holds many surprises for students who decide to take advantage of the art collection right outside their neighborhood.