Calendar of Events

Reception February 26, 6:30-8:30 PM
213 Hotel Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37918. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityart.com

In this recent series of photographic studies of botanical subjects-Flora and Fauna, Maryland artist Robert Creamer concentrates on a blending of his interests in technology and the aging process. These photographic images were captured using a scanner as a camera. The work began as “look what technology can reveal.” Digital technology is a vital and integral part of this process but is not what interests the artist the most. The scanner is a tool that enhances his ability to observe. These images are about time, transformation and transitions. As noted by the curator of Creamer’s 2007 exhibition Transitions at the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History, “Robert Creamer has a deep respect for change—its subtle palette and patterns, the surprising structure of decay, and the integrity that graces every stage of life. In a Creamer photograph a browning petal becomes as glorious as the newly opened bloom. The numbered museum specimen transforms into contemporary sculpture. The arresting detail and Baroque luminosity of these photographs are the result of a lifetime behind a camera and a recently discovered technique—the flatbed scanner. Creamer’s careful use of rich blacks or negative space helps emphasize the light of the subjects and allude to the mystery of an ever-present dark.”

To quote Creamer,” Photography has been very good to me. Photography most of all has given me the opportunity to explore, be curious, and allowed me an avenue to interpret the world around me as an artist, a teacher and as a professional architectural photographer.”

First Friday Opening Reception March 5, 5:00 – 9:00pm; the artist will be present.

UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Wednesday-Friday: 11AM - 6PM; Saturday: 10AM - 3PM. For information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

The banjo is nearly synonymous with mountain music—and what more fitting place to learn to play this instrument than the Museum of Appalachia? The pioneer history museum is offering a two-day beginners’ banjo workshop for adults taught by professional musician and instructor Anna Denison. As frost melts off the cabin roofs and sheep frolic in the pastures, students will be “up and picking” favorite gospel songs and old standards like Cripple Creek, Old Joe Clark, and Wildwood Flower. They’ll learn an old-time playing style called “up-picking.” Chords, tablature and rhythm will be covered. No musical experience is necessary. Workshop hours are 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Cost of the workshop is $95, with a $12 materials fee. A homestyle lunch from the Museum café is included. Students furnish their own banjo; rentals are also available (contact the instructor in advance). Sign-up dead is Wednesday, Feb. 24. Anna Denison specializes in group lessons for adult beginners in guitar, banjo, and mandolin. She has taught at the University of Tennessee, Pellissippi State Technical College, Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, Knoxville Center for Crafts and Fine Arts, and Columbia State Community College, as well as holding classes at her own studio in Knoxville. She holds a bachelor’s degree in music education and church music from Lambuth University. She began teaching instrument lessons full time in 2000. She is also a regular musician and “porch picker” for the Museum of Appalachia. To sign up for the workshop, contact the instructor at 865-604-2589, or e-mail musiclessons@knology.net.

Museum of Appalachia, 2819 Andersonville Hwy., Clinton, TN 37716 (16 miles north of Knoxville at I-75, exit 122, then one mile east). Open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Information: 865-494-7680, www.museumofappalachia.org

Fiddle: Charlie is the youngest son of the great Kingston fiddler Jimmy McCarroll of the Roane County Ramblers and brother of accomplished old-time fiddler Tom McCarroll. His new album, In the Hills of Roane County, will be available at the performance. At 75 he is a strong and powerful fiddler preserving his father’s repertoire in a style only slightly more modern. Charlie says, “Daddy played a little different than me. He never did learn none of that grass.” Charlie will be joined by Tony Thomas, Bill Ledford and Bobby Fulcher.

1538 Laurel Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37916. Information: 865-522-5851, www.KnoxTIX.com

Celebrating their 15th anniversary season, The WordPlayers aims for the sky with this entertaining and thought provoking musical revue. With book and lyrics by Helen Kromer and music by Frederick Silver, this unique work promises an extraordinary evening. For Heaven’s Sake! will make you laugh, cry and think as it takes a satirical look at the church of today. You will be stirred to ask important questions and inspired to make a difference in your world.

Feb. 25, 26, 27 @ 7:30 pm, Feb. 28 @ 2:30 pm, and March 4, 5, 6 @ 7:30 pm
TICKETS: $12 Adults, $10 Seniors/Students; $8 Groups of 10 or more; Thursdays are “Pay What You Can” nights. Tickets may be purchased online at www.cmajor.net (Events) or at the door (cash or check) All seats are general admission. Performed at The WordPlayers' Theatre at Middlebrook Christian Ministries, 1540 Robinson Rd. at Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville, TN 37923. For information: 865-539-2490, www.wordplayers.org

Celebrating their 15th anniversary season, The WordPlayers aims for the sky with this entertaining and thought provoking musical revue. With book and lyrics by Helen Kromer and music by Frederick Silver, this unique work promises an extraordinary evening. For Heaven’s Sake! will make you laugh, cry and think as it takes a satirical look at the church of today. You will be stirred to ask important questions and inspired to make a difference in your world.

Feb. 25, 26, 27 @ 7:30 pm, Feb. 28 @ 2:30 pm and March 4, 5, 6 @ 7:30 pm.
TICKETS: $12 Adults, $10 Seniors/Students • $8 Groups of 10 or more • Thursdays are “Pay What You Can” nights. Tickets may be purchased online at www.cmajor.net (Events) or at the door (cash or check) All seats are general admission. Performed at The WordPlayers' Theatre at Middlebrook Christian Ministries, 1540 Robinson Rd. at Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville, TN 37923. For information: 865-539-2490, www.wordplayers.org

2009-2010 Moxley Carmichael Masterworks series: All three works programmed for February were inspired by the plays of William Shakespeare. MacDowell's Hamlet & Ophelia and Tchaikovsky's Romeo & Juliet Fantasy-Overture conjure up the emotions and story in the form of symphonic poems for the concert hall while Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream was composed specifically as an incidental score for an actual production. Mendelssohn's score will feature women from the Knoxville Chamber Chorale. Actors from the Clarence Brown Theatre, including David Alley, Carol Mayo Jenkins, David Kortemeier, Conrad Ricamora, and director John Sipes, will recite lines from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as the orchestra plays Mendelssohn’s work based on the play.

At the Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. More information: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

RACHEL CLARK, BRIENA HARMENING, and JESSICA KREUTTER. Reception on March 5, 5:00-9:00 PM.

RACHEL CLARK: I consider the contemporary artist a deejay, mixing eclectic signs of culture and art. Using this analogy, I’ve created a painting index of one hundred paintings using personal and cultural icons to construct a range of associations within a grid installation. Rachel Clark received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004. That same year she was an artist-in-residence at the Ox-Bow School of Art in Saugatuck, Michigan. In 2009, Clark curated a group of forty-two art students and professional artists to form the exhibition “Seven Times Standard”. Clark is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and lives between Knoxville, TN, and Athens, OH.

BRIENA HARMENING: The alter ego has been used by many performance artists to explore alternate personalities or to investigate identities other than themselves. Two years ago I created an alter ego, “Ilene”, as a way to explore autobiography through storytelling. Ilene’s character is a combination of my southern heritage, the southern stereotype, and myself. The stories, not always flattering, are nonfiction and comment on the diverse personalities of family members, relationships, class, and the belief systems within family units. Briena Harmening is an autobiographical, narrative artist that works in multi-media. She received her BA from Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida, and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Recently, her work has been exhibited in Video Artists Explore Southern Identity, at the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art in Nashville, Tennessee, and the 2nd Annual Narrative Shorts International Film Festival at California State University, Chico, California.

JESSICA KREUTTER: I am interested in the discarded object that retains a trace of time. These objects hover on the rim of what is acceptable and what is not, of life and death, of remembering and forgetting. They connote a time of transition, an intermediate time where another realm is absorbing the previous. It is also a place of fantasy and imagined time, where the histories buried in the object are invented and the future is anticipated, yet unknown. In this atmosphere, I want to imagine what forms materialize from the shadows left behind. Jessica Kreutter graduated from Lewis and Clark College with a degree in Anthropology and Sociology, and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Before enrolling in her graduate studies, Jessica worked as a ceramic sculpture artist and art teacher in Portland, Oregon. Her work can be found at Guardino Gallery, Mary Lou Zeek Gallery, and Beet Gallery. This year, she will take part in a group exhibition at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, as well as Clay? III , a show that investigates the increasingly important role of ceramics in contemporary art. Last year, Jessica was a visiting artist for the ceramics department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as working as the summer ceramic studio assistant at The Mendocino Art Center


Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: Monday & Thursday: 10AM-8PM; Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 10AM-5PM; and Sunday: 1-4PM. For information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

Each year the Sevier County Arts Council organizes the exhibit to showcase the talent of students from all grades, including those who are home schooled. All media is represented in this year’s show, including drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and glass. This year’s entries were juried by Karen Green, the Gallery Coordinator at Arrowmont. Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 576 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. For information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

Reception Feb 19, 5:30-8:30 PM with refreshments; music by Troy Rodgers; live dance led by Jodie Brown. Gallery sale Feb 19, 22-26.

International House of Prayer - Knoxville, 1802 Airbase Road, Louisville, TN 37777. Information: 865-984-0302, www.knoxhop.org

Opening night, February 19

1714 Andy Holt Avenue on the UT Campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.org

By Tom Griffin. A play about four, mentally challenged men who live in a home together in New England. Their social worker, Jack, is becoming burned out with his job, and his life. Lucien P. Smith and Norman Bulansky are mentally retarded. Barry Klemper is a brilliant schizophrenic who fantasizes that he is a golf pro, and Arnold Wiggins, the ringleader, is a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer, who suffers from deep seated insecurities and a persecution complex. This play is filled with laughter and compassion. A true contemporary comedy with a big heart. Roane State Theatre, Harriman. February 18-20, 25-27 at 7 pm; February 21 & 28 at 2 pm. All performances subject to change. Check website periodically for updated information. Information: 865-882-4567, www.roanestate.edu keyword: theatre.