The Parthenon stands as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, Nashville's urban park. The building and the Athena statue are both full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals.
The focus of the Parthenon's permanent collection is a group of 63 paintings by 19th and 20th century American artists, all oils on canvas. 57 artists are represented, in 51 landscapes, four seascapes, and eight portraits.
The collection also include pre-Columbian artifacts, from a group of regional civilizations fron the Nayarit, Colima, Michoacán, and Jalisco regions of Western Mexico, which flourished from roughly 400 B.C.E. to 300 C.E. and left no written records.
Additional gallery spaces provide a venue for a variety of temporary exhibits.