Calendar of Events

An invitational ceramics exhibition featuring the work of eight nationally-celebrated ceramicists. Please join us for a First Friday Reception October 2 from 5-9pm. The exhibition includes works by Pennsylvania artist Adelaide Paul who will be present at the reception, North Carolina artist and UT Alumus Michael Kline, Bonnie Seeman from Florida, and Georgia artists: Ron Meyers, Ted Saupe, Sunkoo Yuh, Andy Nasisse and Lauren Gallaspy. Ted Saupe, current head of the ceramics area at the University of Georgia, taught ceramics at UT from 1980 through 1992. The exhibition features a wide range of ceramic forms with innovative surfaces from traditional vessels to figurative sculptures. 106 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. 865.673.0802 or www.ewing-gallery.org/New_Downtown/Index/DT_Index.html#

A celebration of the traditional music, crafts, and heritage of Townsend, Blount County, and the Great Smoky Mountains. Spend the weekend with us! There is no better time to experience the culture and history of the Smokies--dozens of great activities all in one weekend. Enjoy bluegrass music, arts and crafts, a country fair, and relive the days of mountain railroads. Events take place in Townsend, Tennessee: Fall Heritage Festival and Old Timers Day, Friday and Saturday at Townsend Visitors Center. Blue Ribbon Country Fair, Saturday at Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center. Nawger Nob Arts and Crafts Show, Saturday and Sunday at Nawger Nob Craft Settlement. Railroad Days, Saturday at Little River Railroad Museum. For information: Smoky Mountain Convention & Visitors Bureau, 7906 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Townsend, TN 37882, 800-525-6834, www.smokymountains.org

The Fall Heritage Festival and Old Timer's Day offers guests an opportunity to take a step back in time and enjoy a variety of bluegrass bands, storytellers, arts and crafts booths, Appalachian traditions and children's activities. Voted several times as one of the top 20 events in the Southeast, the festival celebrates Southern Appalachian Mountain culture and heritage. The 2009 event will also be centered around the 75th Anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains. As the leaves begin to change in late September, enjoy the fall atmosphere and take in all the fabulous entertainment, including bluegrass and mountain music performances, an antique tractor and engine show, storytelling, children's activities, crafts by local artisans, and demonstrations of a variety of traditional skills, such as basketry, spinning, weaving, sorghum molasses, apple butter making, lye soap, beekeeping and blacksmithing.

Townsend, Tennessee Visitors Center, 7906 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Townsend, Tennessee 37882
For more information: www.smokymountainfestivals.org/#/fall

Music, food, balloons!

September 25, 4:00-9:30 PM and September 26, 12:00-9:30 PM
Imagine a pond surrounded by glowing hot air balloons, set against the nighttime backdrop of an East Tennessee rolling landscape. That's one of many attractions spectators will enjoy at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville. The sixth annual Pellissippi State Hot Air Balloon Festival brings balloonists from across the country to participate in the event, which also features live music and entertainment, children's activities, food, arts and crafts vendors, and tethered balloon rides. The Southeast Tourism Society has ranked the two-day festival as one of the Top 20 Events in the Southeast for September 2009. The “balloon glow,” always the most popular activity, lights up the sky beginning at dusk each evening. Tethered balloon rides (weather permitting and for an additional fee) offer a view of the landscape most people have never experienced. Admission is $10 for a vehicle pass, per day. Walk-ons will be charged $5 per person. 10915 Hardin Valley Road. For additional information and a complete list of activities: 865-694-6400, www.pstcc.edu/balloons.

Brown bag luncheon featuring a tour with gallery talk about Open Show 2009.

201 Badger Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 9-5; Saturday-Monday, 1-4. Admission is free. For more information, visit the Web site or call (865) 482-1441.

With Hunt Clark

1050 World's Fair Park Drive, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 10am-5pm, Friday 10am-8pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, and Sunday 1pm-5pm. FREE. For more information: (865) 525-6101 or www.knoxart.org.

Tickets on sale via the Tennessee Theatre box office, by phone at 865-656-4444, or online at www.knoxbijou.com.

Jug Band; The Murfreesboro based Jake Leg Stompers present Pre-War Roots Music on period instruments in lively, authentic styles. Drawing on decades of historical research, the Jake Leg Stompers design their musical arrangements not simply to replicate old sonorities, but to evoke the moods and atmospheres of musical experience before the dawn of the Second World War. The Laurel Theater is located on the corner of 16th and Laurel Avenue in the historic Fort Sanders neighborhood of Knoxville near the UT campus at 1538 Laurel Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37916. For additional information call (865) 522-5851 or visit www.KnoxTIX.com.

Knoxville's unique live music experience on select Fridays in the museum's Great Hall. Non-smoking, two cash bars, dancing, catering, family-friendly and great for a date. Free parking. Admission is usually $8 for non-members, $4 for members and students.

1050 World's Fair Park Drive, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 10am-5pm, Friday 10am-8pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, and Sunday 1pm-5pm. For more information: (865) 525-6101, www.knoxart.org

Join Knoxville Zoo after-hours for a wild art gala. Sip wine, enjoy appetizers and peruse the masterpieces created bythe zoo's very own Picasso's. $25 for zoo members / $30 for non-members. For reservation information, call 865-637-5331 x300. This event is for adults 21 and over only - photo ID required. www.knoxville-zoo.org

The evening includes a full dinner, dessert bar, silent auction, and entertainment from members of Ballet Gloria' and Ballet Gloria' Junior Companies I & II. It is a wonderful evening at the Bearden Banquet Hall (Buddies Banquet Hall on Kingston Pike) and tickets are $30/person. There are only 100 seats available, so please get your tickets as soon as possible. You can get them at the Fountain City location of TCFA, or
from an senior company member or board member. If you have any questions, would like to purchase tickets, or to donate items to the silent auction, please call 865-689-8525.