CLARKSVILLE, TN – The Customs House Museum & Cultural Center would like to announce the upcoming exhibits, programs, and updates:

Exhibitions          

Blueprints of 1898, Opening April 10 | Harvill Gallery. The original blueprints of the Customs House Museum’s historic 1898 building are presented along with photographs from the collection. This exhibition is sponsored by F&M Bank and is part of the Customs House Museum’s celebration of America’s 250th.

The Bennett Prize: Rising Voices 4, Through April 24 | Crouch & Bruner Galleries. The Bennett Prize® for Women featuring Figurative Realist Paintings in the series, Rising Voices 4, will be on exhibition at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center in honor of “Celebrating Women Artists,” a series of themed exhibitions since 2010. For the purposes of The Bennett Prize®, a “figurative realist painter” is one who paints in a style in which the realistically depicted human figure is central to and a principal focus of the work. Included within this definition are portraits, figure studies, etc., depicting human beings in which the focus of the work is the human or humans so depicted.

Deng Shiqing: The Cost of Life, Through April 24 | Orgain Gallery. Alongside The Bennett Prize exhibition, the 2023 winner, Deng Shiqing, will be premiering her solo exhibition The Cost of Life, featuring the works she has created since winning The Bennett Prize two years ago. The exhibition visually examines the emotional and functional questions that surround surrogacy. Shiqing’s exhibition will travel around the country throughout the next year alongside The Bennett Prize 2025 finalists.

Of Mark & Meaning: American Women Artists, Through April 26| Kimbrough Gallery. Of Mark & Meaning: American Women Artists: Since 2010, the Customs House Museum has hosted a series of exhibitions themed around “Celebrating Women Artists,” and Of Mark & Meaning continues this sixteen-year tradition. This year, 2026, marks the second time the museum has hosted American Women Artists. This exhibit is American Women Artists’ tenth national museum exhibition as part of the 25 in 25 campaigns, an initiative to have 25 museum shows for its members over 25 years. 105 works were selected out of 791 impressive entries by professional women artists.

People of the Collection, Through April 26 | Lobby. The exhibition, People of the Collection, features portraits in the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center’s Collection.

Travelin’ Around & Layin’ It Down: Watercolors of Chuck Creasy, Opening May 1 | Jostens Gallery. The watercolors of Chuck Creasy show the sights he has captured in watercolors during his travels. A wash of places around the world lends their color to the life and works of watercolorist Chuck Creasy… traveling from the parched wilds of Ethiopia to the jungles of Honduras, he’s never strayed from his simple upbringing in Westmoreland, TN, looking on life with a sense of honesty and a childlike curiosity. After spending several years living in St. Joe Beach, FL, along with his wife Marnie, Creasy recently returned to his beloved Nashville where he is currently Vice President of Creative Services at the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, leading the highly successful branding efforts for the city. He continues to paint in watercolor, using bold color and expert brushstrokes to depict his love for everything beautiful.

Freedom: The History of US, Through September 27 | Memory Lane. Freedom: The History of US is an exhibition developed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, featuring select documents from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. Since 1776, when the United States declared independence from Great Britain, the idea of freedom and our understanding of its implications have changed dramatically. This exhibition traces the evolving concept of freedom from the founding era to the election of Barack Obama. Accompanying the exhibit are items from the Customs House Museum’s collection. This exhibition is sponsored by F&M Bank and is part of the Customs House Museum’s celebration of America’s 250th.

Programs     

Storytime & Craft: DIY Day (Do It Yourself), April 2 | 10:30 am | All ages, with adult | Free with membership or paid admission. For DIY Day, we’re reading about how to do it yourself. For our craft, we’ll use sponges and rollers to make process art. *All parents are expected to participate with and supervise their children.

Homeschool Fieldtrip Day, April 7 | 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. | K-12 students with adults          
School tour admission is $3 per student and $5 per adult for non-member homeschool families. On the first Tuesday of each month, local homeschool families are invited to experience a day of self-guided exploration and learning. For more information, contact Curator of Education Stephanie Stafford at stephanie@customshousemuseum.org

Sundays at 3:00: Reelfoot: Tennessee’s “Earthquake Lake” with Dr. Jack W. Sites Jr., Maeser Professor of Biology, Brigham Young University (Retired), April 12 | 3 pm | Turner Auditorium | Free to the public; does not include museum admission. The 1811-12 series of violent earthquakes leveled the town of New Madrid, Missouri, and temporarily disrupted downstream flow of sections of the Mississippi River, and in the process, the 20,000+ acre Reelfoot Lake was formed. Dr. Sites will discuss the community that formed in this region and the events that transpired as a result. Register Here: Customs House Museum & Cultural Center

Storytime & Craft: Day of the Mushroom, April 16 | 10:30 am | All ages, with adult | Free with membership or paid admission. In honor of Day of the Mushroom, we’ll share books about mushrooms. For our craft, we’ll craft and paint a mushroom to take home. *All parents are expected to participate with and supervise their children.

American Women Artists: Of Mark & Meaning Meet the Artists & Awards, April 24 |5 pm – 7 pm | Free to the public | Kimbrough & Jostens Galleries. Join us for a special event in the Kimbrough & Jostens Galleries – a meet & greet with the American Women Artists who participated in the “Of Mark & Meaning” exhibition. The meet & greet will take place from 5 – 6:30 pm, followed by the American Women Artists Awards Ceremony from 6:30 – 7 pm.   

Family Art Saturday: Spring Landscape Painting, April 25 |10 am – 12 pm, 1 pm – 3 pm | Ages 3+, with adult, Free with membership or paid admission | Family Art Studio. This April, we’re creating a spring landscape painting in the Family Art Studio. As always, this is perfect for artists of all ages — no experience needed, just bring your imagination! *All parents are expected to participate with and supervise their children.   

Celebrate America’s 250th at F&M Bank Huff & Puff Express Model Trains, Exhibit open daily | Trains run Sundays 1 – 4 pm, Wednesdays 10 am – 12 pm, Fridays 10 am – 12 pm and the last Saturday of each month 1 – 4 pm.  We’re celebrating America’s 250th on one of the region’s largest model railroad layouts, which is interactive for kids of all ages. Our model train exhibit is open every day, with themes that change each season.

| DON’T MISS AN EVENT: For more Clarksville things to do, check out the Spring fun guide or the Clarksville Events calendar.