Gallery 1010 is the student-run exhibition space of the School of Art for UT students, faculty, staff, and alumni. It is the only fully student-run, nonprofit exhibition space in Tennessee. It represents UT artists as well as artists from other universities and community programs. Exhibitions run for one week and are attended by more than five thousand visitors a semester.
The gallery opened in 1984 in the Candy Factory in the World’s Fair Park, when the City of Knoxville offered free space to arts organizations within the facility. The space was named Gallery 1010 after the address of the Candy Factory—at the time, World’s Fair Park Drive was Tenth Street. When the city ceased to provide free space, the gallery closed and reopened in January 1990, again in the Candy Factory on the fifth floor, in 1,000 square feet, but for $200 a month rent. In 2005 the City of Knoxville sold the Candy Factory for development as condominiums, and the university entered into a lease agreement with developer David Dewhirst for 900 square feet of space at 113 Gay Street. The five-year lease carried an annual rental of $13,800.