The Bottom

The Bottom CREATING A SPACE WHERE WE CAN TAKE UP SPACE.The Bottom is a nonprofit cultural organization serving our community through our Black-affirming bookshop and arts programming. Rooted in place justice, we stand to build community, celebrate culture, and engage the creativity of Black people in Knoxville. We strive to cultivate a sense of belonging, togetherness and safety for Black people in Knoxville and beyond. ​ ​ MORE ABOUT USStop by our Bookshop! Sunday: Closed Monday: Closed Tuesday-Saturday: 11am - 6pm2340 E Magnolia Ave Knoxville, TNBOOK IT AT THE BOTTOMA Monthly Book SubscriptionClick Here For More Thu, Feb 05AIM Meetup x UT Downtown Gallery: Hand Building with Donté K. Hayes / UT School of Art Ceramics Annex RSVPFeb 05, 2026, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PMUT School of Art Ceramics Annex , 1715 Volunteer Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37916, USAJoin us in in collaboration with UT Downtown Gallery & Donté K. Hayes for a demonstration of hand building and clay techniques!Sat, Feb 07Requiem for Reconstruction: In Conversation with Dr. Robert Bland / The BottomRSVPFeb 07, 2026, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PMThe Bottom, 2340 E Magnolia Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917, USAJoin us for a conversation moderated by Dr. LaToya Eaves with Dr. Robert Bland as he discusses his newest book, Requiem for Reconstruction!+9 moreFri, Feb 13Galentine's Candle Making with The Garden Goddess / The BottomRSVPFeb 13, 2026, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PMThe Bottom, 2340 E Magnolia Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917, USAGalentine's Day candle-making experience with The Garden Goddess, Kalil White!+5 moreSat, Feb 14Fall in Love with Reading Day / The BottomRSVPFeb 14, 2026, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PMThe Bottom, 2340 E Magnolia Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917, USA You'll be head over heals for books during our Fall in Love with Reading Day! See AllSat, Feb 14LitKidz Workshop: That Swingin' Sound / The BottomRSVPFeb 14, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PMThe Bottom, 2340 E Magnolia Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917, USAJoin us for our next LitKidz event, where we'll read That Swingin' Sound by Rekha Rajan!+2 moreLoad MoreUpcoming Events"The Gem Theatre is now some sort of nightclub and Mulvaney Street is gone. Completely wiped out. Assassinated along with the old people who made it live. I looked over and saw that the lady who used to cry “Hot fish! Good hot fish!” no longer had a Cal Johnson Park to come to and set up her stove in...Mrs. Abrum and her reverend husband from rural Tennessee wouldn’t bring us any more goose eggs from across the street...All gone, not even to a major highway but to a cutoff of a cutoff. All the old people who died from lack of adjustment died for a cutoff of a cutoff." - Nikki Giovanni, an excerpt from "400 Mulvaney Street" Now Hall of Fame drive, Mulvaney Street was a monumental source of black community before Knoxville's Urban Renewal projects in 1959-1974. How The Bottom Emerged From A Loss Of Black Space SUPPORT OUR WORKDONATE