Kem Hinton

wood & mixed media

Kem Hinton is an architect, urban designer, author, historian, graphic designer, lecturer, and visual artist.  Torchbearer graduate of the University of Tennessee, he also holds advanced degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.  In 1986, he was the first architect to receive the Tennessee Arts Commission Walter Knestrick Visual Arts Fellowship.  In 1998, he became a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects.

Kem is best known for his design work with Seab Tuck at Tuck-Hinton Architects.  Their firm designed the Tennessee Bicentennial Mall, Country Music Hall of Fame, Vanderbilt University Admissions Building, Frist Museum of Art, Nashville Public Square, Tennessee World War II Memorial, MTSU Sports Hall of Fame, Tennessee Aquarium IMAX Center, MBA Ingram Science Building, Civil Rights Room in the Nashville Public Library, and two forthcoming projects: the new Tennessee State Library & Archives and the Votes for Women Room (also in the Nashville Public Library) to honor the Nineteenth Amendment.  In 2018, he established a separate studio to focus on architecture, painting, memorials, and graphic design. 

One of Kem’s most enjoyable activities is the creation of unique works of art in wood.  These often feature reclaimed and/or damaged lumber, articulated with items ranging from clock parts and old gears to themed coins and found objects.  Many of these pieces feature the electrocution of the wood, creating intriguing lightening-like incisions that also, ironically, have the appearance of tree roots.