Deconstructing a big number 2
In 2024, Knoxville landed No. 2 in USA TODAY’s “Best Arts District” poll. Naturally, it raised some eyebrows.
Is Knoxville cool? When it comes to American cities, which ones do people think of as “artsy”? A handful of cities quickly come to mind: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta. These metropolises amongst dozens have earned their reputations through decades of cultural evolution, substantial investment, and the organic growth of artistic communities.
The significance of Knoxville in respect to culture in American history has been an ever changing one, with no real permanence at a national scale. Known for college football and the World’s Fair of ‘82, Knoxville has often been that place between other southeast giants like Nashville and Atlanta. What does the scruffy city have culturally, and artistically that others do not?
Knoxville contains a lot of exciting ideas and historical stories that should be shared with the world. In the not so distant past, Knoxville had a rich artistic history marked by such great painters like Beauford Delaney and Catherine Wiley. There’s also the downtown First Friday scene with plenty to see and a few galleries to stroll, but beyond the expected, there is little in the way of an art scene or Arts District.
What is an Arts District, anyway?
An arts district is a demarcated urban area intended to create a ‘critical mass’ of places of cultural consumption. These places may include art galleries, theatres, art cinemas, music venues, and public squares. While there is no standard model for these cultural districts, they tend to reflect their cities’ unique environments, including history of land use, urban growth, and cultural development. We may look to famous arts districts such as Wynwood Wals in Miami or the East Village in Long Beach, California. In other cities, such as New York or Chicago, arts districts are null in favor of folding the cultural and artistic spirit into the broad identity of the city; turn any street corner here, and the art and creativity seeps into every wall and crevice, forming a larger civic pride.
Users on Reddit respond to the ranking announcement.
If, in the instance of the USA TODAY poll, we are understanding an arts district to be something that is ‘officially’ demarcated by urban planners or city council, Knoxville is lacking in that regard. If we are understanding an arts district to be something spontaneous and naturally occurring from grassroots movements, then Knoxville is bereft once again, with institutions notably stewarding our arts branding, from the Maker City to Dogwood Arts to the Emporium.
I do not intend to overlook the importance of such institutions in shaping our cultural identity, but I would hesitate to classify any number of these as producing or showcasing “content” that is on the cutting edge of contemporary practice. Rather, many endeavors appear to be focused moreso on the perception of Knoxville as an artistic city.
While Knoxville's marketing as "a nature-loving-adventure-seeking-artsy-kinda town" creates an attractive narrative for tourism and development, it masks a more complex reality. The city's artistic community operates largely on a part-time basis, with most practitioners balancing their creative work against other employment. This isn't unique to Knoxville, but it contradicts the implication of a thriving arts district where creators can sustain themselves through their work.
The distinction between having artists and having a sustainable arts community is crucial. While Knoxville undoubtedly has talented creators, the infrastructure to support their full-time practice remains severely underdeveloped. The gap between marketing narrative and economic reality creates a cognitive dissonance that the #2 ranking unfortunately reinforces.
So… how did we get here, precisely?
Polling Methodology
USA Today’s 10Best Reader’s choice awards are determined by a popular vote. Each year USA Today's best travel experts select only 20 cities to be nominated for this category. Knoxville has been selected each time for the last 3 years.
The first thing to understand about USA Today's ranking is its methodology. According to USA Today's own description, "Subject experts who evaluated the nominees consisted of USA Today and 10Best.com editors, relevant contributors and sources for both these media and other Gannett properties." The selection criteria focused on "revitalized and renewed urban spaces in formerly derelict neighborhoods, museums with significant collections and a strong presence of art and small businesses."
Rather than using metrics like cultural investment, number of working artists, or economic impact of the arts, the final ranking relies on reader votes from a pre-selected list of 20 cities. As some readers astutely noted, major cultural hubs like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles were conspicuously absent from past nominee lists—their inclusion would have made the competition an easy conclusion, and Knoxville likely (read as: absolutely) would have dropped in the rankings, rattling our civic pride and making for a much less inspirational headline.
Media Coverage & Strategy
It is important to note the number of large cities that USA Today fails to get voted into the top 10. This approach favors medium-sized cities with strong community engagement and civic pride. The expert’s selection is not only intentional, but also more beneficial for USA Today's online viewership. This reference to the network by smaller stations, like Knoxville’s local WVLT or WATE helps them create a story that otherwise would not exist.
The local media's coverage of Knoxville's nomination reveals much about how these rankings gain traction. During the voting period, local news channels transformed what should have been a simple online poll into a civic crusade. One particularly telling moment came when local TV coverage asked rhetorically, "What's Chicago got going on that we don't have here?"—a question that was intentionally unanswered by WVLT’s anchors. Instead, we were encouraged to vote:
“Everyday! Everyday!
Everyday vote on your phone,
vote on your laptop,
vote on your desktop!”
Knoxville's impressive showing speaks less to its artistic infrastructure and more to its ability to mobilize this local support—a testament to clever marketing rather than true cultural impact. This unifying sentiment is full of pride, and a powerful way to push people to visit their website and vote.
Beyond “Top Arts Districts”, USA Today runs a number of other polls that garner no mention—nor nomination—in Knoxville, TN. Take, for example, 2024’s “Top 10 Most Walkable Cities in the US.” Why, pray tell, were we not included here? Knoxville is so walkable, after all! It only takes me a hop, skip, and a jump to get from Bearden to North Knox. It’s totally one of the tenets of our civic pride, right? Right?
“Walkability”
Liza Zenni's statement, during WATE TV spot last year, where she mentions "hot art experiences" deserves particular scrutiny. It inadvertently reveals the economic reality behind Knoxville's arts marketing. When she claims "we have made it easy to walk from one hot art experience to the next," she's referring to a highly concentrated area—merely two blocks along Gay Street and Jackson Avenue. If all amenities are in one area, that is isolated, how walkable is it really? Downtown is very walkable, if you can avoid construction spill over, but outside of that one street, you are out of luck.
This limited footprint isn't just a quirk of urban planning; it's a direct result of natural economic forces that have shaped downtown Knoxville's development. Any other “hot art experiences” outside of this scope can be a dark and dangerous walk.
“As a city and a county we have made it easy to walk from one hot art experience to the next”
The walkability Zenni celebrates exists primarily in an area where property values and rent have risen dramatically, effectively creating an artificial boundary around what constitutes the "arts district." This concentration isn't necessarily a failure of the arts scene itself, but rather a reflection of broader economic pressures that determine who can afford to operate in the area. Very few artists can afford what little studio spaces are available, and even less live in the “walkable” area.
The problems with increasing cost of living, and walkability, makes this spread of corporate interest damning to the artist. Knoxville is not known for its accessibility, as Zenni would like to suggest.
Her second quote is even more revealing:
“The civic pride that comes from living in an artsy town... adds to the corporations that we can attract here, to the young people we can attract here and it increases the value of your home!"
This statement lays bare the real agenda behind arts district marketing—it's not about supporting artists but about leveraging cultural capital for economic development.
The arts become a tool for corporate recruitment, young professional attraction (“it's a cool place…”) and property value appreciation. These are the real goals for the “artsy” downtown institutions. They have to be aligned with where the money is, or they too will fall to the side and perish. As the head of the Arts & Culture Alliance, Zenni's role requires her to be a cheerleader for the arts' economic impact. However, her focus on property values and corporate attraction suggests that even our cultural institutions have internalized a view of art primarily as an economic driver rather than a cultural force.
This approach, while perhaps necessary for institutional survival, risks subordinating authentic artistic development for real estate interests and corporate recruitment goals. In other words, gentrification.
It’s All Marketing
USA Today's "10Best" rankings operate as a sophisticated marketing mechanism that benefits multiple stakeholders:
Media outlets gain engagement through voting campaigns (Local News & TV, ACA)
Cities receive free publicity and tourism marketing (Downtown Knox, Visit Knoxville)
Property owners and developers see value appreciation (Downtown Property owners)
Local governments can claim success in cultural development (More Art! See?!)
However, noticeably absent from this list of beneficiaries are the artists themselves. The poll's structure, which deliberately excludes major cultural centers or communities, creates artificial competitions that generate clicks and engagement while avoiding meaningful comparison or critique.
This is a plan that can only backfire in the long run and as a marketing scheme, is already showing diminishing returns. USA Today once again ran the poll for Best Arts district. Knoxville was nominated, again, but placed Number 10 this year. Has Knoxville really fallen behind 8 slots in 12 months? The marketing from downtown institutions was not the same compared to the previous year. No TV spot with Zenni this year. Also, no social media posts from her Arts and Culture Alliance…
Change
Rather than celebrating or denigrating the ranking further, Knoxville would be better served by using this moment of recognition to examine the actual needs of its artistic community. What would it take to make Knoxville not just a popular arts district in a reader poll, but a genuine haven for working artists? How can the city leverage this attention to create sustainable support systems for its creative community?
Artistic expression can flourish anywhere, from major metropolitan centers to medium-sized cities like Knoxville. But for that creativity to sustain itself, it needs more than rankings or designated districts—it needs economic viability, community support, and infrastructure that serves artists as well as its consumers. No amount of marketing schemes will create better art for Knoxville.
Some Ideas
1.Affordable Space
This may arise in the form of repurposing vacant buildings for artist studios, galleries, and community centers, or creating live-work spaces in developing areas—or, for the love of God, creating THIRD SPACES that are publicly accessible regardless of socioeconomic status.
Cooperative artist work spaces have already begun to pop up; Spacecraft, West Fifth, and Relay Ridge all endeavor to create supportive environments for working artists.
2. Market Development
How can we create more discourse on the arts in the area? While this is certainly a goal that Hellmouth aims to expand, physical areas of interaction are key to continued growth and exchange. It doesn’t have to exist within a bubble, either; developing relationship with regional art markets such as Asheville and Chattanooga can continue to consolidate pride over our regional identity.
3. Education and Support
This can take the form of a number of actions, such as grant writing workshops or mutual aid sharing of resources like materials. While Maker City offers professional development programs, these are primarily relegated to individuals who are making a product rather than fine art. What are some initiatives that we can create for the artist?
4. Public Investment
Dedicated funding for public art is crucial, while also hiring artists from the area (I’m looking at you, Cradle of Country Music eyesore).
Artist Residency Programs can also consolidate new exchange between creatives. While Loghaven continues in their own mission, only artists who live 100 miles away are eligible to apply, and then are rarely integrated with the public scene. It is insular in nature, and we need to create something that is collaborative.
What ideas do you have to make the art scene in Knoxville flourish? We would love to hear from you! Send us an email at hellmouthmag@gmail.com for a feature.
