Calendar of Events

Sat. Dec 19, Mon., Dec. 21. and Tues., Dec. 22
Come out to Ijams Nature Center to learn all about the “Critters in the Cold.” How do they survive without jackets? Learn about hibernation, migration, and survival tips, straight from the animal and find out exactly where they all go when it snows. Cost is $30 per day for Ijams members, $35 for non-members. To register, contact Sarah Brobst at 577-4717 ex 24 or e-mail her at sbrobst@ijams.org

Open House - December 12; Sale - December 12, 2009 through December 23, 2010
Where: Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Av, Knoxville, TN 37918
Phone - 357-2787
Gallery Hours: Tuesday,Thursday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Wednesday, Friday 10-5, Saturday 9-1
Fountain City Art Center's ParkSide Open Door Gallery is having an "Open House" to kick off a Christmas sale which features the Art and Fine Crafts of many local artisans. Several of the items will be on sale at a 10-20% for the Christmas shopping season. Free Hot Chocolate, popcorn and a variety home baked goodies will be available for holiday shoppers. The Open House will be 10:00 - 1:00 on Saturday, December 12.

Wood-fired clay vessels at the O'Brien Art Gallery. For specific dates and updates to exhibits: 865-882-4649, wilkersonbs@roanestate.edu, or www.roanestate.edu/art/gallery

The Art Market Gallery of Knoxville will feature the work of two member artists, Lynnda Tenpenny, mixed media and Pat Fitch, painted toys & furniture. The Gallery will host a First Friday Reception for the Featured Artists on Friday, December 4 with music by Brian Sward, guitarist. The Gallery is now selling ‘artist-made’ Christmas Ornaments to benefit the Community School of the Arts in Knoxville.
Holiday Gallery Hours are: Monday – Saturday, 11am – 6 PM & Sunday 1 – 5pm.
422 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902
865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net

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

The open air ice rink on Market Square opens at 10 a.m. on November 27 and will be open every day through January 3rd (except Christmas Day).

The Holiday Express returns to the UT Gardens again this year with extended days (including Christmas Day), appearances by Santa, and musical performances by community choral groups. The garden-scale train display decorated for the holidays will open with a sneak preview for UT faculty and staff, sponsors and Friends of the Gardens on Tuesday, November 24. It will open to the public the following day. Last year 9,300 people visited Holiday Express at the UT Gardens, and even more are expected this year. Bring the kids, grandkids and kids at heart to help make Holiday Express a continuing holiday tradition that will benefit the UT Gardens. Visit on one or more of the following dates: November 25-28: 12-8 p.m., Sunday, November 29: 12-6 p.m.; Weekends December 4-January 3: (Except Friday, Christmas Day): 2-6 p.m.; Friday and Saturdays:12-8 p.m. Sundays: 12-6 p.m.

Free and open to the public. Opening reception Friday, November 13, from 6 to 8 p.m.; artists' talk at 7 P.M.
Harlan Hambright Photographs: "An Odd World Observed" and Fran Thie: "Poetry and Pastels". Knoxville native and UT Architecture graduate Harlan Hambright parleyed his passion for architecture and photography into a diversified career as an architectural photographer spanning over 30 years. As a boy he was taught by his father to carefully observe the world around him. It is this ability to observe and photograph the sometimes obscure man-made objects that defines his work. He chooses "to document the weird artifacts and occurrences that I find when I'm just looking around." From her life as a high school teacher to a CPA Fran has brought a wealth of experience and influences to her current work as a visual artist. Fran is both self-taught and educated in painting classes and workshops led by nationally prominent artists. She has painted in pastels and watermedia for more than a decade and regularly exhibits in juried exhibitions across the Southeast, with several awards to her credit. She is active in the Knoxville arts community, and has served as president of Tennessee Artists Association and the Knoxville Watercolor Society. Currently, her work can be seen at the Art Market Gallery in Knoxville on Gay Street. Fran's love of creative writing and literature have left their mark on her lyrical view of the world, with impressionistic and expressive interpretations of nature in both landscape and abstract paintings. By means of intuitive use of color and texture, she strives to transform an ordinary scene into a special place where both drama and serenity can co-exist. Her works, whether representational or abstract, always have their foundation in the world of nature. 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday 9-5, Sunday, 9-1. For information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org

The Farragut Folklife Museum will host the "Charles Dickens and Royal Doulton Exhibit," on loan from Bob Leonard, former Farragut mayor and long-time Folklife Museum committee member. This special holiday exhibit will showcase more than 200 pieces of Royal Doulton Dickensware and Royal Doulton Dickens characters. In conjunction with this exhibit, the Museum will host book signings and a special presentation on Monday, Nov. 16 beginning at 6 p.m. at the Farragut Town Hall. At 6 p.m., the following authors will be available to sign their books: Donald J. Dickenson, "Birds Eye View"; Doris Woods Owens, "Concord-Farragut"; Charles Reeves, "Battle of Campbell Station"; Malcolm Shell, "From Frontier Fort to Town Hall"; and Mark Taylor, "The Frog House." Available for purchase in the Folklife Museum Gift Shop, these books are a valuable gift idea for local history buffs. At 7 p.m., Leonard will discuss his Royal Doulton collection and the effect Charles Dickens and his novels had on the people of England and around the world. Light refreshments will also be served. The Farragut Folklife Museum is committed to preserving the heritage of its East Tennessee community and features a remarkable collection of artifacts from the area, including an extensive collection of the personal belongings of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, first Admiral of the U.S. Navy and hero of the Civil War. Housed in the Farragut Town Hall located at 11408 Municipal Center Drive, the Museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and offers free admission. For more information: 865-966-7057, www.townoffarragut.org

Interested in the links between art, science, and technology through the ages, New York artist Devorah Sperber deconstructs familiar images to address the way the brain processes visual information versus the way we think we see. "As a visual artist," she says, "I cannot think of a topic more stimulating and yet so basic than the act of seeing—how the human brain makes sense of the visual world." Using ordinary spools of thread, Sperber creates pixilated, inverted images of masterpieces, which appear as colorful abstractions to the naked eye. When viewed with optical devices, however, the works becomes immediately recognizable as the famous paintings. The thread spools works are hung upside down in reference to the fact that the lens of the eye projects an inverted image of the world onto the retina, which is corrected by the brain. A clear acrylic sphere, positioned in front of each work, functions like the human eye and brain, not only inverting but also focusing the image so that it appears as a sharp, faithful, right-side-up reproduction of the famous painting. 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 admission. For more information: (865) 525-6101, www.knoxart.org

Knoxville artist Russell Briscoe's paintings reflect the work of a historian, as well as an artist, and cover some 190 years of the region's past. Subjects include "Clinch and Gay, 1896," "Christmas Morning," "First Train in Knoxville, 1855," and "The 1897 Gay Street Fire." Information: 865-215-8830, www.east-tennessee-history.org

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg will present "Women in Wood," an exhibition to bring light to the exceptional quality of work being created by women artists working in the medium of wood - both woodturning and constructed wood. The public is invited to the opening reception in the main gallery and lecture presented by nationally renowned studio wood sculptor Betty Scarpino on Friday, Oct. 16, at 6:00 pm. The exhibition runs October 16-January 2, 2010. The guest lecturer Betty Scarpino will also be teaching a weekend master class that weekend at the school. She has a background in industrial arts, sculpture, and design, all of which she teaches and writes about. Her work is represented in many public and private collections including The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Mobile Museum of Art. Her work was included in the recent book, New Masters of Woodturning: Expanding the Boundaries of Wood Art. She is currently the editor of American Woodturner, journal of the American Association of Woodturners. For more information: 865-436-5860 or www.arrowmont.org