Calendar of Events

Three nights with Widespread Panic! Widespread Panic has announced dates for their 24-date, 17-city Summer tour, tagged 'The Dirty Side Down Tour'. The tour kicks off with a three-night stand at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison CO, and includes headlining festival dates, a three night run at the Chicago Theater and a date at New York's legendary Radio City Music Hall. Dirty Side Down is the title of the Widespread Panic's 11th studio album, set for a May 25 release on ATO Records. The 12 songs on the album feature the band in top form in both their songwriting and performances. Their eclectic blend of rock, jazz and blues are felt throughout the album, along with darker nuances, as heard on the epic opening track "Saint Ex." Dirty Side Down was produced by John Keane along with Widespread Panic, and recorded in his Athens, GA studio.

2011 will mark the 25th Anniversary of Widespread Panic, and they show no signs of slowing down. Panic continues to be one of the top touring acts in the country, playing to packed houses and setting attendance records. Panic's live performances have become legendary and the symbiotic relationship between the artist and their fans is something to behold. Dates in Boise, Chicago, Boston, Knoxville and Charlotte (nine different shows) will feature the 'Feeding People Through Music' Food Drives, where fans will be able to make donations to the local area food banks at the venue. For
more information on the program, go to www.widespreadpanic.com/goodpeople/feeding-people-through-music-food-drives. For on-sale dates and tour info, visit widespreadpanic.com.

Tickets are $37, plus applicable service fees. Historic Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information: 865-684-1200, www.tennesseetheatre.com. For tickets: 865-684-1200, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

Billed as a musical within a comedy, "The Drowsy Chaperone" is a hilarious, tuneful, Tony Award-winning take on musicals and theatre. when a die-hard musical theatre fan plays his favorite cast album, a 1928 smash hit called "The Drowsy Chaperone," the show magically bursts to life in his run-down apartment and the audience is instantly immersed in the glamorous, rollicking tale of a celebrity bride and her uproarious wedding day. Populated with a cast that includes jovial gangsters, a hapless bridegroom, a harried best man, a latin lothario, a flaky chorine, a boozy chaperone and many others this is a joyous and fun-filled shows that will send laughter soaring into the rafters. This production is suitable for General Audiences.

Oak Ridge Playhouse, 227 Broadway in Historic Jackson Square, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. For information and tickets: 865-482-9999, www.orplayhouse.com

A unique installation of video, films and multi-image performance works by Norman Magden, School of Art Professor of 4D Arts, will be on display at the University of Tennessee, Downtown Gallery. The exhibition is titled THROUGH A TRANSPARENT LENS INSIDE OUT, which refers to the time based images displayed and Magden’s focus on transparent and super imposed images to create a mesmerizing effect. The exhibition will be a quasi-retrospective in that one part will show earlier works and another section will contain more recent pieces.

Magden’s work recently received first place in the Experimental Film category at the Los Angeles Movie Awards and received several Awards of Excellence for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design. He also received First Place in the Experimental Film category in the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival with additional awards of Best Cinematography, Best Concept, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. Other venues where his work was selected for screening include New Filmmakers (Hollywood), International Vampire Film Festival (New Orleans), Festivus Film Festival (Denver), Peoples Awards Film Festival (Quito, Ecuador), Byron Bay International Film Festival (Australia), Kansas City Film Festival and The Rome International Film Festival (Georgia).

The exhibition will open on Friday, July 16 from 7:00 – 9:00 PM, as a special premiere for A1LabArts members. The public opening and reception will be the First Friday, August 6 from 5:00-9:00 PM.

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

An exhibit featuring the art work of Ken Moffett and photographs of Karen Krogh will be on display at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.
Karen Krogh, Photographs - "TVUUC: The Light of Love"
For 23 years photography has been an artistic passion for Karen Krogh. The opportunity to freeze a moment in time and to reflect upon it drives her interest in this art form. Beginning as a photo lab assistant in California she became a corporate photographer for the Toyota Motor Company. Later she moved on to magazine and public relations work. She is currently associated with a Knoxville commercial studio and also accepts freelance assignments.
The images in this exhibit are reflections from a most difficult and challenging year in the life of Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Her photographs convey the incredible resiliency of a congregation of courageous and loving people.
Ken Moffett, "Transparent Colors"
Ken Moffett's exhibit features five decades of watercolor painting by this architect/artist. His vocation as an architect has limited his time for artistic activities but not his success as an artist. His work has been exhibited in five states and is represented in several private collections. Ken's technique of using a single brush for an entire painting helps to define his work, freeing him from conventional detailing and creating integrated and somewhat abstract compositions. He has lived in Knoxville since 1975 and has been a member of TVUUC since the 1980s.

Opening reception Friday, July 16, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists' talk at 6:30 p.m.

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org

Boone, NC artist Sandy Adair has been creating custom weavings, off-loom weavings, and macramé wall pieces for over 28 years. The Blue Ridge mountain landscape surrounding Adair's home has been a continuing source of inspiration to her. Tapestry weaving is a slow process of layering in one needle of yarn at a time until an image is formed. Once completed, the weaving is stretched across a frame, secured and backed with muslin. Adair's award winning tapestries have been collected internationally.

Kim Nixon, a traditional rug hooker, believes in artwork that reminds us of our past while transcending the present. She uses pattern to bridge the gap between what is background, where we have come from, to what we see in front of us. Her rugs, foot stools and stair risers are hooked with strips of hand-dyed wool. Nixon's works mesmerize with their mosaic beauty and set up their own rhythm, offering images that stir universal associations.

Hanson Fine Art & Craft Gallery, 5607 Kingston Pk, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: Monday-Friday 10AM-5:30PM; Saturday 10AM-5PM. For information: 865-584-6097, www.hansongallery.com

Reception on July 10, 7-9PM with gallery talk at 6:30 PM.

Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 9AM-5PM; Saturday-Monday, 1-4PM. For information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org

Appalachian Arts Craft Center: 2716 Andersonville Highway, Clinton, TN. Hours: Monday-Saturday 10AM-6PM; Sunday 1-5PM. For information: 865-494-9854, www.appalachianarts.net

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition entitled “Forms and Figures”, featuring work by seven artists:
+ Alan Finch (Knoxville, TN) – Finch is a visual artist and independent curator whose current digital photography focuses on the abstract in nature. www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/photographers/?inc=details&id=116603
+ Kathy Frankford (Morristown, TN) - Frankford is a visual artist with landscape and natural happenings as the focus of her photography series. http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kathy-frankford.html
+ Carl Hill (Knoxville, TN) – Hill is a landscape/nature/travel photographer whose current panoramic photography emphasizes the forms and structures of the horizon.
+ Scott Lee (Knoxville, TN) – Lee is a film director/producer/artist and photographer. His “Dirty Bride Series” is a photographic conceptual set that includes six images of a woman dressed in a bridal gown. www.35degreesnorth.com
+ Ross Mol (Clinton, TN) – Mol’s main interest in photography is getting “the shot” with as little editing as possible.
+ Carole Usdan (Florida/North Carolina) – Carole is a fine arts photographer using a photographic dialogue to describe the ubiquitous push and pull among solitude, alienation and intimacy. www.usdanphoto.com
+ Dennis Usdan (Florida/North Carolina) – Dennis is a fine arts photographer and retired lawyer focusing on the clarification of observed details. www.usdanphoto.com

“Forms and Figures” will be on display in the Balcony at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from July 2-30, 2010. An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on July 2 from 5:00-9:00 PM. The Emporium Center is located at 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM with additional hours on Saturday, July 3, from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, July 5. For more information, call (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present “A Celebration of Color", an exhibition featuring new oils, acrylics, and watercolors by Larry S. Cole. Cole’s eclectic works range from realism to the abstract and reflect the use of an intensely colorful palette. The exhibition will be displayed at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from July 2-30, 2010, and an opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on July 2 from 5:00-9:00 PM.

Larry S. Cole is a Knoxville native who has had a life-long interest in painting. Although primarily self-taught, he studied art at the University of Tennessee and was influenced by the works of Andrew Wyeth and local artists Carl Sublett and Xavier Ironside. “Artists want observers’ senses to be drawn to their works, and they employ various techniques to create that connection,” says Cole. “I try to develop that relationship primarily through color. Light falling on a face or landscape continually transforms the mood of that subject as the light’s intensity strengthens and wanes. I try to capture those colors in a way that invites the observer into an emotional bond with the subject.” Cole’s painting subjects range from interesting people he meets to settings in Greece, Italy, the Eastern U.S. seacoast, and his native South. “I feel a sense of adventure with each new work I undertake,” says Cole. “Starting a painting is like embarking on an exciting voyage, one in which I always make new discoveries. I agree with Pablo Picasso who said, ‘Art washes from the soul, the dust of everyday life’.” In addition to the works displayed in his gallery, Cole also paints commissioned works for private and corporate collectors. In the last year, he has begun participating in regional exhibitions and competitions. His painting “April Showers” was selected as a finalist in the 2009 Dogwood Arts Festival Limited Edition Print competition. He was a juried participant in the 2009 Artsclamation! (Fort Sanders Foundation benefit and exhibition), and Artsclamation! subsequently chose his works for their 2010 and 2011 benefit calendars. For more information, visit Cole’s studio at The Gallery House, 4050 Sutherland Avenue, in Knoxville. www.larrycolegalleryhouse.com

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM with additional hours on Saturday, July 3, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. For information: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com.

Photographer, visual artist and independent curator Alan Finch will be at Bliss Home (29 Market Sq) from 5-9pm on Friday, July 2 to meet and talk about his work. His current digital photography focuses on the abstract in nature, and was recently included in ArtScapes at the KMA, Arts in the Airport, and Through the Lens at the Oak Ridge Art Center.

bliss home 29 market sq, knoxville, tn 37902
865.558.5677, www.shopinbliss.com

205 East Hill Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37915. Regular tour schedule: Monday - Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (April - December); Monday -Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (January - March). Information: 865-525-6514, www.jameswhitesfort.org, jameswhitefort@aol.com

August 2nd, marks author, James Baldwin's 86th Birthday. Knoxville-based artist, Gary Elgin is celebrating by donating his recent work: "James Baldwin, Always Welcome At The Table" to the Burlington Branch of the Knoxville Library system located at 4614 Asheville Highway. Elgin, who's work "Keegan Eating Biscuits" was recently featured as a finalist in the 1st Annual International Biscuit Festival art competion, is a new and fresh face on Knoxville's established art scene. The Burlington Branch Library will host Elgin's new exhibit "Familiar Faces: Old & New" in their media room/gallery. On Tuesday, August 10th at 12 noon, a special reception for the unique portrait exhibit will take place. The celebration will include readings from Baldwin's work, as well as a formal presentation of Elgin's Baldwin portrait to the Library. The Library hopes that this donation may be the start of a growing permanent collection by local artists. The "Familiar Faces" exhibit includes 12 works, from 1989 to the present, and includes a number of Knoxville's "familiar faces" as well as a few of celebrities, such as television's Queen of Comedy, Lucille Ball and comedian, Ed Wynn, but it will be Baldwin's portrait that will take center stage on Tuesday August 10th. The exhibit event is open to the public and free of charge. There will be refreshments as well as a birthday cake to help celebrate "Jimmy's" special day. For library/exhibit hours or information on this or other library events, please contact the Burlington Branch Library at (865) 525-5431. Gary Elgin can be contacted at (865) 803-9756.