Tennessee State Museum’s Statehood Day Celebrations Will Commemorate America 250 and Tennessee 230

Images related to Statehood Day can be downloaded at this link.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - April 30, 2026 - The Tennessee State Museum will commemorate both America's 250th and Tennessee's 230th birthdays with special public programming on Saturday, May 30, and additional events scheduled on Monday, June 1.

Presented in partnership with the Folklife Program at the Tennessee Arts Commission, programming on Saturday, May 30 will include folklife demonstrations and performances throughout the Museum, as well as Storytime with Miss Tennessee Zoe Scheiderich, guided tours of the exhibit Tennessee Voices, American Stories, hands-on activities, historical wet-plate photography, and the annual festive cupcake celebration.

"This Statehood Day will feature a dynamic lineup of activities that celebrate our culture and community" said Jeff Sellers, director of public programs and community engagement at the Tennessee State Museum. "We are proud to offer programming that reflects the richness and diversity of Tennessee's history and folklife traditions."

One of the event highlights is the premiere screening of A Grand Design: Captain Le Roy Reeves and the Tennessee State Flag, a new short documentary about the origins of the TriStar design of the state flagand the history of the very first template flag, which part of the Tennessee State Museum collection. Produced by the Tennessee State Museum with Nashville PBS, the film will screen on the hour in the Museum's Digital Learning Center on both May 30 and June 1.

Each screening will conclude with a rare opportunity to view the original template flag, which was recently conserved and has not been displayed since 2005. The flag will go on view again when the new Capitol Visitors Center opens in the former Legislative Plaza in 2027.

For this year's celebration, the Museum is honored to partner with the Folklife Program at the Tennessee Arts Commission, featuring artists from the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, "an initiative created to sustain our state's diverse folklife traditions and support its traditional artists," as stated on their website. Now celebrating its ten-year anniversary in 2026, the program has supported over 100 projects and 200 traditional artists across the state working to preserve rare, endangered, and significant Tennessee traditions.

Participating artist demonstrations and performances include Stump Jumper Boat Making with Hunter Calhoun, Flint Marble Making with Paul Davis, Kurdish Music with Arkan Doski, Choctaw beadwork with Sally Wells - a previous recipient of the Governor's Folklife Heritage Award, Buck Dancing with Thomas Maupin - a previous recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Quilting with Aundra McCoy, and more.

"These artists represent the breadth and richness of Tennessee's cultural traditions. Through their participation in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, each has helped ensure that their deeply rooted art form is preserved into the future," said Director of Folklife Bradley Hanson. "On Statehood Day, and as we celebrate America's 250th birthday, these folklife practices remind us of who we are, and show us plainly what our state is and what it can be."

The celebration continues on Monday, June 1, with the State of Tennessee Employee Photo Contest winners exhibition, living history print shop demonstrations, guided tours of the Tennessee Voices exhibit, and hands-on history tables throughout the galleries. A full schedule of events for both days will be available in mid-May on the Museum's calendar of events at TNMuseum.org.

About Tennessee State Museum and Tennessee America 250

Celebrating its 89th Anniversary in 2026, the Tennessee State Museum, located on the corner of Rosa L Parks Blvd. and Jefferson Street at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, is your home to thousands of years of Tennessee history, art, and culture. Through six permanent exhibitions titled Natural History, First Peoples, Forging a Nation, The Civil War and Reconstruction, Change and Challenge and Tennessee Transforms, the Museum takes visitors on a journey-through artifacts, films, interactive displays, events and educational and digital programing-from the state's geological beginnings to the present day.

Additional temporary exhibitions explore significant periods and individuals in history, along with art and cultural movements. The Museum is free and open to the public Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. For more information on exhibitions and events, please visit TNMuseum.org.

The Museum is also the headquarters of the Tennessee Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial, created to plan, encourage, develop, and coordinate the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, and recognize Tennessee's integral role in that event and the impact of its people on the nation's past, present, and future. For more information about the commission, its grant program, signature events and support for other programming and institutions statewide, please visit TN250.com.

About Folklife Program

We collaborate with nonprofit organizations, traditional artists, culture workers, and community scholars across the state to document, preserve, and present Tennessee's diverse folklife. In addition to providing various grant opportunities to organizations engaged in folklife activities, we are also a central resource for information on the state's folklife and traditional artists. We offer technical assistance to individual folk artists, as well as to museums, festivals, community groups and researchers. Folklife Program staff members are professionally trained fieldworkers and actively travel the state to uncover, research, and document Tennessee's dynamic traditional cultures. We maintain an archive of field
documentation and draw from this material to create a variety of interpretive presentations, publications, exhibitions, and media productions.

Images related to Statehood Day can be downloaded at this link.

Contact:
Stephanie Davis
Communications Assistant | Tennessee State Museum
[email protected]
(615) 770-5857