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Jeff Muir

Blount Partnership

(865) 983.2241

Jennifer Wiggins

AkinsCrisp Public Strategies

(865) 680.1457

Local Artist Pursues His Life’s Dream

BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. – After colliding with a tractor-trailer truck and being pulled from the burning vehicle with his wife in 2002, Heath Claiborne realized how fragile life is and decided to pursue his dream of opening an art studio and gallery.

Claiborne, born in Chattanooga and the oldest of six children, showed artistic promise from early childhood. He entered a premedical program at Wheaton College in Chicago, and then pursued architecture at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville for two years. Finally he gave in to his first love and decided to transfer to Carson Newman College to pursue an art degree.

After graduation, Claiborne had one of his works reproduced into an art print. He then traveled almost 90,000 miles going from art shows to art festivals all the way from New York to Key West, Fla.

Claiborne is the recipient of numerous “Best of Shows” and other awards, including the Grumbacher medal, at juried exhibitions and shows throughout the United States. Claiborne’s art has appeared in many national exhibitions, including Watercolor USA and the Taos National Exhibition of American Watercolor. He has also appeared in The Artist Magazine and Southern Living and continues to be a member of the prestigious Watercolor USA Honor Society.

“His work is very eclectic and encompasses various themes, but his primary theme is Appalachian landscapes based on the Smoky Mountains,” said Tami Vater, director of Tourism for the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority. “You can truly see his passion for art portrayed in each piece.”

Extremely time consuming and meticulously executed techniques are used to recreate nature in its purest setting.

“I believe my eclectic taste is a reflection of my wide range of interests in life,” said Heath Claiborne. “As I continue to grow, not only in artistic maturity, but also in life experience, maybe a more specific genre will arise. A more important concern at this time is to enjoy painting and to produce pieces of high integrity.”

Claiborne operates his gallery out of the three-story Capital Theatre Building in downtown Maryville, which was erected in 1923. Claiborne has transformed the first-floor lobby area into the gallery where his prints and original art is displayed. He refurbished the original oak flooring and decorative black tiles and replaced the ones that could not be salvaged.

Before his move to Maryville, Claiborne operated a studio in Jefferson City, near Carson Newman College where he graduated.

The Heath Claiborne Gallery is open to the public from 3 to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The gallery offers framing services for art purchased from Claiborne and elsewhere, in addition to print and painting sales. The gallery is located at 127 W. Broadway in Maryville. For more information please call (865) 980-1966.

About Blount County, Tennessee

Blount County, Tennessee is located just south of Knoxville at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The communities that make up Blount County—Townsend, Maryville, Alcoa, Friendsville, Louisville and Rockford – provide visitors with an abundance of outdoor activities, attractions and regular celebrations of the region’s rich Appalachian heritage and culture. Blount County is also home to the nation’s most visited national park—the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

For more information about Blount County, please contact the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority at (800) 525.6834 or visit www.SmokyMountains.org. Follow the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority at www.Facebook.com/PeacefulSide and Twitter.com/PeacefulSmokies.

If you are in the area, please stop in to the Smoky Mountain Visitors Center at Townsend, located at 7906 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, or the Smoky Mountain Visitors Center at Maryville, located at 201 South Washington Street, for more information. (January 2013)

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