The Tennessee State Museum in Nashville is pulling out all the stops this year as the state prepares to mark two major milestones at once.
On Saturday, May 30, the museum will host its annual Statehood Day celebration, this time carrying the extra weight of honoring both Tennessee’s 230th birthday and America’s 250th anniversary.
A follow-up program is also scheduled for Monday, June 1, giving visitors two opportunities to take part in what promises to be one of the more memorable editions of this yearly tradition.
The museum, located at the corner of Rosa L. Parks Boulevard and Jefferson Street at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, is free and open to the public, which makes this kind of community programming all the more accessible.
This year’s Statehood Day lineup was developed in partnership with the Folklife Program at the Tennessee Arts Commission, and that collaboration has shaped a schedule full of hands-on, culturally rich experiences.
One of the more compelling features of the May 30 program is the premiere screening of a new short documentary titled “A Grand Design: Captain Le Roy Reeves and the Tennessee State Flag.”
Produced jointly by the Tennessee State Museum and Nashville PBS, the film explores the origins of the state flag’s TriStar design and traces the history of the very first template flag, an artifact that sits within the museum’s own collection.
The documentary will screen for an hour in the Digital Learning Center on both event days, and each showing will be followed by a rare chance to see that original template flag in person.
The flag was recently conserved and has not been on public display since 2005. It will not go on permanent view again until the new Capitol Visitors Center opens in the former Legislative Plaza building, which is expected in 2027.
Beyond the film, the May 30 program will bring in artists from the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.
Since its founding, the program has supported more than 100 projects and worked with over 200 traditional artists across Tennessee.
The demonstrations scheduled for Statehood Day reflect the genuine variety of the state’s folk traditions. Hunter Calhoun will demonstrate Stump Jumper boat making, Paul Davis will show how flint marbles are made, and Arkan Doski will perform Kurdish music.
Sally Wells, a past recipient of the Governor’s Folklife Heritage Award, will demonstrate Choctaw beadwork, while Thomas Maupin, a National Heritage Fellowship recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts, will perform buck dancing.
Aundra McCoy will be on hand for quilting demonstrations as well.
Other activities on May 30 include Storytime with Miss Tennessee Zoe Scheiderich, guided tours of the exhibit Tennessee Voices, American Stories, historical wet-plate photography, and the beloved annual cupcake celebration.
The June 1 programming leans into a different kind of engagement, featuring winners of the State of Tennessee Employee Photo Contest, living history print shop demonstrations, additional guided tours, and hands-on history tables spread throughout the galleries.
A complete schedule for both days will be posted in mid-May on the museum’s website at TNMuseum.org.
Admission remains free, and the museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
