The Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum will be a collection of pleasure gardens. Specimens of mature trees and shrubs, both native and exotic, will be displayed for the benefit and enjoyment of the public. Educational programs will be created to increase awareness of how plants effect and add beauty to our lives. Ultimately, the Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum will be a place of community. A place where people with diverse backgrounds can come together with a common purpose - whether it is work in the garden as volunteers, attend special events or educational programs, or simply to enjoy the beauty and peace of nature. Beauty feeds the soul on some level. Often many of us are not even aware of that response, but find comfort and joy in it. We respond to the beauty of a variety of things whether it is a sunset, a flower, a view, a painting, a symphonic performance or the beauty of athletic performance. Knoxville will now have a new museum - rather than a collection of paintings hanging on walls, we will have a collection of pleasure gardens growing from the soil. The Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum's goal is to foster a deeper appreciation of the natural world, enriching our spiritual lives by connecting us to the soil and the living things it produces and nurtures.