The “A Military Life” exhibit in the Jonesborough/Washington County History Museum began in May of 2012 as a way to honor Washington County veterans and share their stories. The rotating exhibit is a collaborative effort between the Heritage Alliance of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia and the Veterans Affairs Committee chaired by Marion Light. Past exhibits have honored veterans from World War One through Operation Enduring Freedom, and have displayed uniforms, personal equipment and mementoes, medals, and much more. The goal of the exhibit has always been to focus on aspects of military service that people usually don’t think about, such as the food, down time, distance from family and friends, and training information. Aspects of the exhibits have touched on war time, but they’ve also discussed peace time service and what happens after a soldier returns home. The seventh installment of “A Military Life” features work from The Warrior’s Canvas and it is the first veterans’ art exhibit to be on display in the Jonesborough/Washington County History Museum.
We were thrilled when Marion Light approached us earlier this year and proposed a meeting between The Warrior’s Canvas and the Heritage Alliance. That initial meeting led to the exhibit currently on display, and we’re very proud to partner with The Warrior’s Canvas to share the artwork of local veterans and their powerful mission. Established two years ago by veterans David Shields and Jason Sabbides, the Warrior’s Canvas and Veterans Art Center is a 501C3 nonprofit organization whose “purpose is to build an artist community of military veterans, to provide a professional gallery for artist veterans to display and sell their work, and to be a rallying point and gathering place for veterans of all branches of military service.” In addition to providing studio space for veterans and their families, the Warrior’s Canvas also holds art classes in various media, from drawing and painting, to photography, and much more. They are currently organizing the first casino Northeast Tennessee Ruck and Roll on November 14th that will include a series of ruck marches and runs to honor local veterans.
The artwork featured in the exhibit includes paintings, ceramics, wood carvings, and more. The pieces display a wide array of color and themes, some depict scenes that deal with military service, and others show expression in the forms of flying fowl and ships at sea. The artists are diverse, and they span different genders, ages, branches of service, wars/conflicts, and artistic mediums. Information on their studio/gallery located at 320 East Main Street in Johnson City, and their upcoming programs and classes is also available in the museum. The “A Military Life” exhibit will be a part of Jonesborough’s 32nd tribute to veterans hosted on November 8th at 2:30 at the Jonesborough Visitor’s Center. If you can’t make it out on November 8th, the exhibit will be on display through the first months of 2016.
Chester Inn Museum Reopens May 18
The Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum will reopen to the public on Wednesday, May 18. The Museum will be on its summer hours.
Mon, Wed-Sat 11:00-6:00
Sun 1:00-5:00
If you have any questions about the Museum, please call 423-753-4580, or 423-753-9580.
Chester Inn Museum Closed for New Lighting System
The Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum is temporarily closed to install and test a new lighting system. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. In the meantime, stay tuned for Pop-Up Museums! We’ll post updates about our Pop-Up Museums and status reports on the Chester Inn.
Now Hiring: Lead Docent for Chester Inn Museum
The Heritage Alliance of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia is now hiring for the position of Lead Docent at the Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum. This position offers a wide variety of museum related responsibilities, including visitor services, exhibition planning, installation, maintenance and interpretation. Museum related experience is required, course work in museum studies and public history is desirable. For a job description and info on how to apply, please click here.
The Heritage Alliance is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.
Historic Town Tours Resume March 4
Historic Tours Return to Weekly Activity Schedule in Jonesborough
Jonesborough’s Historic Walking Tours will resume on Friday, March 4 at 1 p.m., and there are some exciting changes coming this season.
Implemented in the fall of 2014 by the Heritage Alliance of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia and Main Street Jonesborough, these tours have shared Jonesborough’s rich history and heritage with more than 1,000 people thus far.
This season, guests can purchase their tickets, still only $5 per person, directly at the Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum located on Main Street in downtown Jonesborough. Tours will depart from the Museum and costumed guides will lead guests on an hour long journey through Jonesborough’s storied past.
Historic Walking Tours will be available Monday, Friday and Saturday from March through April. The schedule will change to include Wednesday beginning the first of May and run through the end of October.
All tours start at 1 p.m. and last approximately an hour to accommodate guests partaking in the International Storytelling Center’s Teller in Residence program that begins at 2 p.m.
For more information on Jonesborough’s Historic Walking Tours, please contact the Chester Inn Museum at 423.753.4580. To schedule a tour for a larger group, or another day/time, please contact the Heritage Alliance directly at 423.753.9580.
Not Your Ordinary Dinner Party – Exciting New Event!
What do you get when you mix legendary southern style bar-b-que with a historic cemetery set in Tennessee’s Oldest Town? “Not Your Ordinary Dinner Party.”
The Heritage Alliance of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia presents an outdoor drama theatre on June 11 at 6:30 p.m. outside the historic Old Jonesborough Cemetery and Carriage House Bed & Breakfast located on East Main Street in Jonesborough.
A fundraiser for the region-wide preservation organization, “Not Your Ordinary Dinner Party” will consist of Washington County Commissioner Joe Grandy’s much talked about bar-b-que as the main course, complimented with southern sides and a savory dessert as guests are treated to a production created specifically for the evening by local playwright Anne Mason. The production is entitled “With These Hands” and will only be available for public audiences during the Not Your Ordinary Dinner Party fundraiser hosted by the Heritage Alliance.
Mason describes the three act production as a “dramedy” that takes a look into the lives of several Washington County residents that are buried in some of the oldest cemeteries in the area. Stories will be portrayed by local actors in period style clothing. The stories will include tales of folks buried in Maple Lawn, Rocky Hill and College Hill Cemeteries.
Not Your Ordinary Dinner Party is a fundraising effort to benefit the preservation and heritage education work of the Heritage Alliance, a not-for-profit organization whose region-wide work includes the award winning Oak Hill School Heritage Education program, the Chester Inn State Historic Site and the Jonesborough Washington County History Museum and Archives.
The event will take place on June 11 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are offered at a pre-sale discount of $80 through April 16. Beginning April 17, tickets are $85 per person and will be offered on a first-come-first serve basis.
To purchase tickets, visit jonesboroughtn.org or call 423-753-1010.
Chester Inn Museum Open for Chocolate Fest
The Chester Inn Museum will be open for Jonesborough’s first annual Chocolate Fest on Saturday, February 13 from 11:00-6:00. We’ll have chocolatey goodness for festival ticket holders. We’ll also have a Town Tour at 1:00. Tickets for the tour are $5.00 and can be purchased at the Chester Inn Museum. Tickets for the Chocolate Fest are available online until 5:00 pm on Tuesday, February 9. After that, they’ll be available at the International Storytelling Center.
Follow this link (http://www.jonesboroughtn.org/index.php/component/k2/154-jamsa-chocolate-fest) for tickets.
Webinar: Tackling Collections Backlog for Small Museums
The Heritage Alliance is hosting an American Alliance of Museums (AAM) webinar on Wednesday, December 9, 1:30—4:30 p.m. The free webinar, titled “Tackling Collections Backlogs for Small Museums,” is a wonderful professional development and networking opportunity for colleagues at local and regional museums, archives, libraries, and cultural institutions. It is especially geared to staff and volunteers working in collections-related positions in small museums.
The webinar will share ways to approach a collections backlog, prioritize tasks, and implement practical solutions; presenters will also discuss how tackling a collections backlog fits within an overall collections management strategy. Time for pre-webcast networking and post-webcast discussion will also be included. The event will take place at the McKinney Center at Booker T. Washington School (103 Franklin Ave in Jonesborough).
This event is free, but attendees must RSVP through the AAM website to attend (you can reach the relevant page through our website). http://www.aam-us.org/
Warrior's Canvas Veterans Art Center Exhibit in Jonesborough
The “A Military Life” exhibit in the Jonesborough/Washington County History Museum began in May of 2012 as a way to honor Washington County veterans and share their stories. The rotating exhibit is a collaborative effort between the Heritage Alliance of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia and the Veterans Affairs Committee chaired by Marion Light. Past exhibits have honored veterans from World War One through Operation Enduring Freedom, and have displayed uniforms, personal equipment and mementoes, medals, and much more. The goal of the exhibit has always been to focus on aspects of military service that people usually don’t think about, such as the food, down time, distance from family and friends, and training information. Aspects of the exhibits have touched on war time, but they’ve also discussed peace time service and what happens after a soldier returns home. The seventh installment of “A Military Life” features work from The Warrior’s Canvas and it is the first veterans’ art exhibit to be on display in the Jonesborough/Washington County History Museum.
We were thrilled when Marion Light approached us earlier this year and proposed a meeting between The Warrior’s Canvas and the Heritage Alliance. That initial meeting led to the exhibit currently on display, and we’re very proud to partner with The Warrior’s Canvas to share the artwork of local veterans and their powerful mission. Established two years ago by veterans David Shields and Jason Sabbides, the Warrior’s Canvas and Veterans Art Center is a 501C3 nonprofit organization whose “purpose is to build an artist community of military veterans, to provide a professional gallery for artist veterans to display and sell their work, and to be a rallying point and gathering place for veterans of all branches of military service.” In addition to providing studio space for veterans and their families, the Warrior’s Canvas also holds art classes in various media, from drawing and painting, to photography, and much more. They are currently organizing the first casino Northeast Tennessee Ruck and Roll on November 14th that will include a series of ruck marches and runs to honor local veterans.
The artwork featured in the exhibit includes paintings, ceramics, wood carvings, and more. The pieces display a wide array of color and themes, some depict scenes that deal with military service, and others show expression in the forms of flying fowl and ships at sea. The artists are diverse, and they span different genders, ages, branches of service, wars/conflicts, and artistic mediums. Information on their studio/gallery located at 320 East Main Street in Johnson City, and their upcoming programs and classes is also available in the museum. The “A Military Life” exhibit will be a part of Jonesborough’s 32nd tribute to veterans hosted on November 8th at 2:30 at the Jonesborough Visitor’s Center. If you can’t make it out on November 8th, the exhibit will be on display through the first months of 2016.
New Cooking Exhibit and Recipe Exchange at the Chester Inn Museum
Beef Rump, Gelatin, and Corn Dodgers: Cooking in Eastern Tennessee
Food is a necessity, an art, and has the power of bringing communities together. Our new exhibit at the Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum will transport you to some past cooking experiences from the region through kitchen items and recipes. Do we still use these same items? Is cooking online casino easier today? What was the obsession with gelatin dishes? Visit the exhibit in the Museum and then check back with our Chester Inn Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/chesterinnmuseum/) and Instagram (https://instagram.com/heritage_alliance/) to view weekly recipes from multiple eras. When you visit the exhibit in the Chester, you”ll have the chance to share a recipe and memory of your own! Come and cook with us in the Chester Inn this holiday season!
Free Town Tours and Mother Goose on Small Business Saturday
The Heritage Alliance is proud to partner with Main Street Jonesborough to offer free, historic walking tours on November 28th for Small Business Saturday. The tours will start at the top of every hour from 11:00 – 3:00 and last 45 minutes in length. As you walk down Main Street, guides will discuss the history of Jonesborough, its people, and the lives they built. Tours will begin at the International Storytelling Center.
In addition to the tours, Mother Goose will be performing two concerts in the parlor of the Chester Inn nbso online casino reviews State Historic Site and Museum. Join her at 11:00 or 2:00 for stories and nursery rhymes that are perfect for audience members three through ninety-three! Marjorie Shaefer, a member of the Jonesborough Storytellers Guild, has been performing as Mother Goose for over 30 years. You won’t want to miss this performance in such a unique setting located right in the heart of downtown Jonesborough. The Chester Inn Museum will be open from 10:00-8:00 that day and we”ll be serving warm apple cider and cookies!