Museum to also open an exhibition that showcases Thomas Hart Benton’s creative process for the museum’s “Sources of Country Music” painting, commemorating the 50th anniversary of its commissioning

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nov. 21, 2023 – The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum will offer pay-what-you-want admission for Nashville area residents beginning Friday, Dec. 1, through Jan. 31, 2024. Providing an opportunity for locals to explore the museum and the history of country music, the pay-what-you-want admission will apply to those living in Davidson and its bordering counties – Cheatham, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson.

Visitors are encouraged to reserve tickets in advance. Timed tickets are available for museum entry between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., with a limited number of museum admission tickets available each day. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and offers a variety of family and public programs, which are included with pay-what-you-want admission and based on availability.

For the first four Tuesdays in January — January 2, 9, 16 and 23 — the museum will extend its hours to 8 p.m. and include music-centric evening programs included with pay-what-you-want admission. During these four Tuesday evenings, the museum will also offer complimentary parking at Nissan Stadium with a free shuttle service for museum ticket holders. Tuesday evening programs will include a “silent” country disco with DJ Jerry (headphones will be issued) on Jan. 2, East Nash Grass on Jan. 9, Charlie Worsham featuring Long Jon on Jan. 16 and Stephanie Urbina Jones and The Honky Tonk Mariachi on Jan. 23.

Visit the museum’s website for more information, including information on reserving tickets, parking and showing proof of residency onsite.

Visitors to the museum will be able to explore current exhibitions including American Currents: State of the Music; Eric Church: Country Heart, Restless Soul, presented by Gibson; Patty Loveless: No Trouble with the Truth; and Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock, presented by City National Bank.

Beginning on Monday, Dec. 11, the museum is also opening a new exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of Thomas Hart Benton’s iconic painting, “The Sources of Country Music,” which hangs in the museum’s Hall of Fame Rotunda. The exhibit, An American Masterwork: Thomas Hart Benton’s Sources of Country Music at 50, explores Benton’s process in creating his final painting.

Benton was a leader in a movement of American artists who looked to their own surroundings for inspiration. He agreed to paint the ‘Sources of Country Music” mural for the museum in December 1973. Channeling his lifelong passion for country music, Benton created an American masterwork that depicts the diverse cultural contributors to the genre. The completed six-foot by ten-foot mural is the synthesis of the artist, subject matter and the museum’s educational mission. The exhibition will include sketches, drawings, lithographs, photographs and a three-dimensional model of the painting, along with a 1975 video of Benton speaking about the mural.