Dolly Parton's diverse legacy is being celebrated at a new museum and themed hotel in Nashville, showcasing different chapters of the late singer and entertainer's life and career.
Parton's longtime creative director, Steve Summers, designed hundreds of dresses and outfits for the singer each year, giving him a close view of the many stages of her career.
"Every person in here has a different Dolly Parton that they are in love with," Summers told fans gathered Tuesday for the opening of the museum dedicated to Parton, who died in August at age 80.
The 20,000-square-foot Dolly's Life of Many Colors Museum features exhibits highlighting various parts of Parton's life and legacy, including her Smoky Mountain roots, Dollywood, movie career, fashion, faith, family and the Imagination Library.
"You've got to find her and find out where you fell in love with her and then follow the path from there. So I think the journey is what most people are going to enjoy the most," Summers said.
The museum is housed inside the 240-room Dolly Parton's SongTeller, a themed hotel whose lobby and open spaces are decorated with glitter, rhinestones, guitars, butterflies, portraits of Parton and an abundance of pink.
The building also features two performance venues, a cafe and hotel rooms equipped with musical instruments to encourage guests to write songs.
Among the museum's key attractions is Parton's original wedding dress, which she wore when she married her husband, Carl Dean.
The dress was thought to have been lost until Parton's niece Rebecca Seaver, who is curating the museum, discovered it about a year ago wrapped in a paper bag and tucked inside a trunk, Summers said.
For many people who worked closely with Parton, the opening of the museum and hotel is a bittersweet occasion because she is not there to see the project inspired by her.
"We were as surprised as anybody that she's not here to see it," Summers said. "It's beautiful to get to see all of her work come to life, and it's hard to know that she won't ever have seen it."