La Follette native Lauren Haynes featured at KMA

KNOXVILLE, TN (WLAF) – Lauren Haynes accomplishments have been admired from afar for years.  This evening at Knoxville, her talents will be showcased a lot closer to her native La Follette.  Haynes, who left La Follette as a teenager, is currently the Curator of Contemporary Art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.

TOP PHOTO:  Teka Selma (L) and Lauren Haynes (R) – Photo credit: Derrick Beasley

This evening at 6:30 pm at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Haynes will be featured in a public talk about the forthcoming Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art.  The curatorial team consists of Haynes and Teka Selma who is an independent curator based at Durham, North Carolina.

Haynes said in a statement, “Tennessee is near and dear to my heart and I relish this opportunity to continue learning from and working with artists around the state. I’m very excited to partner with Teka on this project; I’m a huge fan of her curatorial work and the perspective she’ll bring.”

A proud Aunt Annie and Uncle Walt Sutton of Haynes still live in La Follette.  Annie said, “Lauren is due in Knoxville on Thursday for her event and will stay with us this weekend here in La Follette.”  Lauren is the daughter of Annie’s brother Larry.  Her mother is Gaea.

As a teenager, Haynes moved with her family from La Follette to New York City.  She spent nearly a decade at The Studio Museum in Harlem where she was, most recently, the Associate Curator for the permanent collection.  (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 07/18/2019-6AM)