Sequatchie Valley Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization promoting education and research in sustainable green living, ecology, and art. We offer opportunities to learn about living in harmony with nature by providing:
- workshops and programs emphasizing healthy natural and sustainable living
- tours for kids, scouts, and adults including permaculture gardens, nature trails and solar powered hand-crafted homes
- three hundred acres of forest with trails, protected forever by the Land Trust for Tennessee
- a tree-top retreat center available for meetings, weddings, and other events
- Liquidambar Art Gallery presenting fine art by local artists, hiking and picnicking
Our Wild Spring Hikes will be on March 25 and April 8 this year. So please join us to learn, experience, photograph the ephemeral blooms. The Gallery will be reopening on weekends and by appointment in March. Lots of new and beautiful artwork is on display. Call Carol at 404 698 5444 for more information or to set a time to come by. Cash, check, Venmo and Square are all acceptable. Carol’s mugs, with local flowers and leaves from our forest (and the name of the plants on the bottom) for coffee, tea, cold drinks, wine, or even good Tennessee whiskey will honor the spring blooms. Patrick has a large selection of amazing sculptures, along with pendants and kaleidoscopes for everyone to enjoy. Michelle’s watercolors can bring the beauty of the nature around us into your home.We have a fine new selection of flame-work heart necklaces made by Asha Ironwood for just $16, in every color.
Carol has beautiful work now on display from the first wood-firing in the kiln we built and fired using scrap wood from our forest and saw mill. Wood firing produces unique colors and pattern from the ash and fire itself, and cannot be duplicated. Each piece is a treasure. Ten percent of our sales goes to the educational programs of Sequatchie Valley Institute, a non-profit organization, encouraging sustainable living and understanding of our ecosystem. SVIonline.org website is now under construction, but will be back up soon.
Our trails are available on weekends with self-guiding booklets to make you more acquainted with the ecosystem, plants, trees, geology, and even history of 300 acres of untouched 100 year old forest on the side of the beautiful Sequatchie Valley, all protected forever by the Land Trust For Tennessee. Story Maps of the trails are online, but currently being edited, as 3 years of covid have altered the trails, so drop by the gallery to get the revised trail booklets. You will also to able to see our solar-powered homes that are sustainably built of rocks and lumber, all hand-crafted by our family and friends.
Some come to visit and find peace along the creek and streams along the trails that are now fast-flowing after the rains. The trails are easy to moderate, and, in case you tire along the way, there are easy round-trips to enjoy. Or you may simply wish to find a warm limestone rock to sit and watch the stream rush by. We are easy to find, between the charming small towns of Whitwell and Dunlap, just off the main road. You can find a number of very nice restaurants in both towns, including the Dunlap Restaurant, featuring great breakfasts with the best southern biscuits and gravy and fabulous country ham, Andy’s Pizzas, and The Cookie Jar, famous for its pies. El Metate is a favorite for Mexican food.
The Gallery and Sequatchie Valley Institute are located at 1233 Cartwright Loop, Whitwell, TN, off Hwy TN-28 between Dunlap and Whitwell, just 45 minutes from Monteagle or Chattanooga.
Turn in and park, then walk across the bridge to the gallery. For appointments or information, call 404 698 5444 or email carolkimmons@gmail.com