The Board of Directors of the Knoxville Bar Foundation has approved the use of the Foundation as the appropriate vehicle to undertake the task of receiving contributions for judicial portraits of our outstanding former judges who served Knox County with distinction for many years. In the past, members of our bar association have formed committees that organized and implemented the efforts to have judicial portraits painted for display in our various courtrooms. The advantage of utilizing the Knoxville Bar Foundation as the vehicle for this worthwhile effort is that your contributions are tax-deductible. The Knoxville Bar Foundation is tax-exempt under Code §501(c)(3) and is qualified as a publicly supported charity to which donations are tax-deductible under §170(c). An IRS ruling confirms that providing judicial portraits is an exempt purpose.

The two portraits which need to be prepared are those of Judge Bob McGee and Chancellor Mike Moyers. These portraits will not be oil paintings, but rather photographs that will be textured and mounted on canvas to mimic the appearance of an oil painting. Many judicial portraits currently hanging in our various courtrooms (Chancellor Fansler, Judge Leibowitz, Judge Rosenbalm, Judge Swann, and Judge Workman) have utilized this method at significantly reduced expense but with high-quality workmanship and appearance.

The Knoxville Bar Foundation Judicial Portraits Committee will arrange for these portraits to be prepared by Knoxville photographer Rachel Towers Brooks, and the estimated cost (including framing) for these two portraits is $3,500.00. 

Checks should be made payable to the Knoxville Bar Foundation and sent to J. William Coley, KBF Treasurer, Hodges Doughty & Carson, P.O. Box 869, Knoxville, Tennessee 37901. Please note that your check is for “judicial portraits.” Contributions will ensure that these outstanding judges are appropriately remembered in the courtrooms where they presided for so many years.