Calendar of Events

The strange narrative paintings of Julie Armbruster return to Knoxville this Spring! On Saturday March 6th, Julie Armbruster will debut her newest work at The Tomato Head in downtown Knoxville located at 12 Market Square. Drawing from three separate narratives, Julie Armbruster’s work exhibited in Doomed Mammals illustrates selections from the Potato Boy, Frog-Monkey, and DuckLips sagas. The three stories deal with volatile friendship, scientific mutation, and how to accept responsibility. The show is a retrospective of the most recent events unfolding within these stories, revealing some interesting twists that are sure to peak your curiosity. The show will be on display at The Tomato Head in downtown Knoxville until April 3rd and will then move to the Maryville Tomato Head from April 4th- May 2nd. A closing reception will be held Saturday May 1st from 3-5pm at the Maryville Tomato Head restaurant. At the reception, Armbruster will have a limited edition book relating the story of Potato Boy and his pet duck Elmore entitled “Idealism Requires Patience.” Julie Armbruster’s work has evolved to include much more intricate compositions and details. Her work is often realized through automatic drawing and then refined through layered rendering and delicate outlining. The landscapes seem oddly familiar and often directly reflect her surroundings in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. The world rendered in the paintings is set at a distance from the viewer with the addition of the resin surface and illustrative style. The shine and saturation of color give the work an inviting pull. The viewer is further entranced by the complexity of emotions conveyed by the characters that are often faced with some sort of weighty decision or traumatic occurrence. The narratives are realized through anthropomorphic characters that seem bewildered and internal. Her stories are both funny and dark and typically lack a straightforward resolution. Julie Armbruster’s work can be seen on her website www.JulieArmbruster.net and in her hometown of Asheville, NC at the Woolworth Walk and Honeypot Boutique.

Talented emerging artists nationwide apply annually for Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts’ Artist-in-Residence program, a coveted opportunity of creative discovery for early career artists. Arrowmont’s four current resident artists will open their annual exhibition that showcases their talent and work created during their 11-month residency. The current residents are metalsmith Victoria Altepeter, ceramic artist Thaddeus Erdahl, clay artist Martina Lantin and wood artist Kent Perdue. Arrowmont's Artist-in-Residence program is designed to provide early career, self-directed artists time and space to develop a major body of work in a creative community environment of students and visiting instructors. Each resident is provided their own studio space in the Resident Studios Complex, which is a short walking distance from their living quarters on campus. Residents supply their own equipment, but are otherwise afforded a private and spacious studio to work in for 11 months.
In the Sandra J. Blain Galleries. Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 576 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. For information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

The Bijou Theatre hosts a First Friday reception to kick off a two-month exhibit featuring the works of East Tennessee artist Betty Bullen. The reception will be held Friday, March 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the upstairs gallery of the U.S. Cellular Stage at he Bijou Theatre. Betty Bullen has studied with an exclusive list of world-class artists including David Leffel, Robert Johnson and Tom Browning. Her paintings are recognized for entertaining composition, confident brushwork, and masterful use of color, but it is her passion and dedication to the work that have brought her success. She paints from life as much as possible, capturing a moment in time, painting the ordinary in an extraordinary way. She has earned a reputation as an artist to collect who excels in still life and figurative as well as landscape painting. Bullen's subjects are scenes "from the heart." Her work has been exhibited in solo and juried group exhibitions and has won many awards. The general public is invited to participate in this reception and First Friday event. The show will be on display throughout the months of March and April for Bijou patrons and visitors to enjoy when the theater is open for performances. Visit www.KnoxBijou.com for a schedule of upcoming events
at the Bijou.

Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information: 865-522-0832, www.knoxbijou.com.

Providing visitors with a fascinating glimpse into aspects of Appalachian culture that are fading from the scene, among them some that were infrequently practiced but that nevertheless came to be associated in the public consciousness with the region. With camera and recorder in hand, photographer Don Dudenbostel and field recordist Tom Jester documented places, practices, and personalities, such as churches where they “take up the serpent,” moonshining, Mennonite communities where life is lived much as in the mid-1800s, religious symbols, and the less savory aspects of cockfighting and KKK meetings. Also included are roadway scenes, such as tourist courts, ferries, filling stations, peanut stands, and grocery stores. The exhibit also examines the concept and stereotypes people often have of Appalachia by placing the featured subjects within the larger historical context. Among the several items featured are a game cock transport box, male and female serpent-handling dolls and folk-art by the Reverend Jimmy Morrow, the hat of Popcorn and a half-gallon jar of moonshine autographed by him, wood-carved crafts, a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe c. 1920, a tent revival sign, and more. A catalog and CD of recordings featured in the exhibition is available for $10 in the Museum Shop. Both the exhibition and catalog are made possible through a grant from the Gene and Florence Monday Foundation.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: Monday-Friday: 9AM-4PM; Saturday: 10AM-4PM; Sunday: 1-5PM. For information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

China is viewed by most in the Western world as a homogeneous country with a single culture. Its land mass is similar to that of the United States, but it is inhabited by 1.3 billion people, making it the most populous country in the world. This population is composed of more than 56 official ethnic groups, each with its own customs, traditions, language, foods, and in some cases, religious beliefs.

In the many centuries of China’s history, numerous ethnic groups have ruled, and each has made contributions to the art and culture of what we have come to view today as “Chinese.” In this exhibition, the museum presents a brief glimpse into China’s history, with 80 examples of art from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–220 A.D.) to the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911 A.D.) and several contemporary works. Panels introducing each of the dynasties provide historical, geographical, and economic background.

1327 Circle Park Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: Mon - Sat: 9:00A to 5:00P, Sun: 1:00P to 5:00P. Information: 865-974-2144, http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu

Visual artist Anne Wilson has been at the forefront of artwork connecting conceptualism and handiwork, activism and aesthetics, investigating new possibilities for what has been called "relational aesthetics." Discussion with the artist on January 23.

Wilson's practice extends the relational in terms of labor, collaboration, and identity construction, blending pedagogy with aesthetic production. Her work has been exhibited extensively including exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan; the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and as part of the 2002 Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Anne Wilson: Wind/Rewind/Weave is an exhibition organized by the Knoxville Museum of Art, installed by Wilson to investigate the crisis of production and skill based textile labor. Included is Rewinds, a new work created entirely in glass; video documentation of Wind-Up: Walking the Warp, a 2008 performance in Chicago; and a large site-specific project, Local Industry, that takes the form of an active weaving/winding factory set up in the museum space. Run over the course of several months, this project will involve the Knoxville community in the collaborative production of a unique bolt of cloth. http://www.annewilsonartist.com

Free admission. Hours: Tues-Thurs 10-5; Fri 10-8; Sat 10-5; Sun 1-5. 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive, Knoxville, TN 37916. 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org, info@knoxart.org

Sundays at 8:00 PM. 17th-18th Century Dancing with live music. A performance group, newcomers are welcome. Rapper sword and morris dance teams. Free. At the Laurel Theatre in Knoxville, 16th Street and Laurel Avenue. Information: 546-8442, www.jubileearts.org

A new show performed by an award winning troupe new to the Smoky Mountain Palace. The cast offers the traditional Chinese cultural acrobatics but in a very fast paced, and at times breath taking, manner. The costumes are absolutely gorgeous; the music selected not only is appropriate for the acts but actually enhances them, and the skill of the acrobats is extraordinary. There are traditional acts such as the Chinese Yo-yo, and these ladies not only show off their skills but their stunning costumes as well. The men hoop divers take it to the extreme by diving through hoops that are in motion. A simple schoolyard seesaw, or springboard, is the vehicle that catapults a young lady from the board to the shoulders of another acrobat three people high in the air. A new act that is rarely performed outside of China is the Face Off or Mask Changing. It is a form of Chinese expressionist theater that is documented to be at least 300 years old and is impossible for the audience to explain after seeing it. The face mask on the beautiful young lady changes from one mask to another, without being touched, in the blink of an eye. To the absolute joy of everyone who has seen them, The Jungjo Drums all girl ensemble is back after spending last year preparing for, and participating in, the Beijing Summer Olympics. After two extremely successful seasons of Chinese acrobats, the third version has been highly anticipated and has proven to be exciting and entertaining beyond expectations. It again reinforces the opinion that the Smoky Mountain Palace’s Cirque de Chine is the best theatrical production west of New York and east of Las Vegas.

Cirque de Chine, 179 Collier Dr, Sevierville, TN 37862. For information: 865-429-1601, www.smokymountainpalace.com