chris mcadoo at striped light

Chris McAdoo at Striped Light printmaking studio. Photo by Holly Rainey

Meet Artist Chris McAdoo

Chris McAdoo is an artist, strategist, and creative professional living in East Tennessee who believes that creativity can change the world, but it’s gonna take some work. His work is intensely autobiographical and uses paint and canvas to focus on “the stories we tell others, the stories we tell ourselves, and the liminal space between those two shores”. His paintings and original prints have been featured in numerous exhibitions, private collections, and publications around the country and he has been an active studio artist for over twenty years.

Chris is also an accomplished entrepreneur, speaker and teacher. Chris was most recently the Chief Experience Officer for the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, home to the first official ETSY Maker City, and how heads up Fighting Shape Impact Company.

Chris has also worked with Community School of the Arts “Side by Side” exhibition and sat on the board of non-profit radio station WDVX. Chris started his artistic career as a printmaker, and has donated his collection of historic letterpress equipment and presses to the University of Tennessee printmaking Department.

Artist’s statement

“My work focuses on memory (or the lack thereof) and the significance that we attach to objects and places, particularly when we take them out of their original context. My work is an extension of my own experiences growing up in the south and a comment on my connections that give me a visceral reaction to the past rather than simple nostalgia. While the paintings speak to me in a very particular way, I would much rather suggest a narrative to the viewer than to lay it all on the table.”

  • Original Artwork

    Paintings, drawings, and linocuts inspired by “the stories we tell others, the stories we tell ourselves, and the liminal space between those two shores”

  • Speaking

    The High Energy Emcee, Keynote Speaker, and facilitator who knows business & turns events into experiences.

  • Big Ideas Welcome

    Season three of The Big Ideas Welcome podcast pairs business legends and ambitious founders to dive deep into the world of big ideas—successes, failures, and everything in between.

  • Business consulting

    Business Consulting

    Providing clarity, defining purpose, and compressing time for leaders and organizations ready to move fast & fix things.