A campus history project initiated in the late 1920s created a repository that ultimately emerged as the B. Carroll Reece Memorial Museum. The museum collection grew as a part of the university's library, and in 1965, the collection was transferred to its present location in the renovated building that had most recently housed the art department. The art collection consists of over 10,000 objects. The museum houses works by recognizable artists such as Picasso, Whistler, Appel, and others. Regional artists such as illustrator Harrison Cady, University of Tennessee artists Kermit Ewing and Carl Sublett, African- American artists Sammie Nicely and Bessie Harvey, and contemporary artists Eva Carter, Charles Lawson, and Andrew Moore are represented. The craft collection includes the work of Cynthia Bringle, Charles Counts, and Jerry Chappelle.
