Calendar of Events

Between a Ballad and a Blues chronicles the life and work of African-American-Appalachian renaissance man Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong and his musical partners, Carl Martin and Ted Bogan. Together they formed one of the most famous string-band groups in the history of American music. As a group and solo arts, Martin Bogan and Armstrong toured the globe sharing string band music with the world, planting the seed for other American music forms including Country and Blues. The play centers around the character of Howard Armstrong who narrates the tale which is highlighted with stories and songs from both Bogan and Martin. The play spans Howard’s lengthy seven decade musical career.

August 19 & 22 at 7:00 PM

At Knoxville Botanical Garden & Arboretum's Greenhouse, 2743 Wimpole Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37914. Information: 865-544-0447, www.carpetbagtheatre.org; 865-862-8717 (Garden). Tickets: 865-523-7521, www.KnoxTIX.com

The 2010 Indiegrrl International Music & Arts Conference & FESTIVAL will be taking place in Knoxville, TN on August 19 to 22 featuring four days of workshops and seminars presented by industry professionals as well as a vendor expo featuring products, goods and services. Keynote Speaker is Ashley Capps of AC Entertainment fame, founder of Bonnaroo, the Big Ears Festival and more. Host hotel is the Holiday Inn World's Fair Park in Downtown Knoxville. Specials room rates apply for attendees and vendors. Indiegrrl is a non-profit Organization providing Networking, Educational and Showcase Opportunities to Women in all areas of the Arts. Indiegrrl welcomes IndieGUYS who wish to attend and who are supportive of women in the arts. For conference or showcase pricing and attendance information, visit www.indiegrrl.com.

Conference Attendee Registration is $100 and includes all conference and festival events, workshops, showcases, etc. Daily armband passes of $10 each will be available to the general public to see all showcases taking place on that given day. $25 armbands will be available to the general public and will allow admittance to ALL showcases for all 4 days of the conference, including main stage.

For additional information, visit the Indiegrrl.com web site at www.indiegrrl.com or contact: Karen E. Reynolds, 865-688-8521 or karen@indiegrrl.com

ArtAbility event, sponsored by the HeartSong Center, at Gettysvue, to highlight young artists with disabilities. More details to come! For information: 865-219-0130 www.discoveret.org/ettac

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Grounds and trails open during daylight hours. Visitor Center: Monday: by appointment only for tour groups and school trips; Tuesday-Saturday: 9AM-5PM; Sunday: 1-5PM (March 1 - November 30). For information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

You can “discover who you are” at the Federation of Genealogical Societies national conference. The conference theme is “Rediscovering America’s First Frontier” and is co-hosted locally by the East Tennessee Historical Society and the Kentucky Historical Society. The national event will feature lectures and workshops led by well-known national and local speakers covering basic research topics, as well as the latest in genealogy trends, technology, and methodology.

The conference is packed with an array of activities ranging from sessions on how to research Tennessee and Kentucky pioneer ancestors, as well as ethnic studies for Cherokee, African American, Celtic, German, Scots Irish, and more. Other topics include migration patterns, DNA testing, Civil War records, TVA grave removal records, church records, other various “how-to” and informational classes, and much, much more. Full days are devoted to sessions that will be helpful to genealogy society leaders and Librarians Day covering topics helpful for librarians who serve genealogists. An exciting addition to the program is a visit the Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, who will be the guest speaker at a luncheon on August 18.

Another exciting feature is a free “Kids Camp” of activities and learning for children on Saturday, August 21, sponsored by FamilySearch. Ancestry.com will be set up to provide free scanning services by appointment for old photos and documents.

Visitors to the exhibit hall will find an array of information about the latest in technology, software, publications, DNA research, as well as books and genealogy items and national and local groups. Exhibit Hall entrance is free and open to the public.

The FGS Conference will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center in downtown Knoxville, just blocks from the East Tennessee History Center research facility and museum. Conference registrants can still receive an Early Bird Discount by registering by June 21. For more information, www.fgs.org or and click 2010 Conference or email office@fgs.org. For information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

A musical based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling and the Walt Disney Studios animated film. Performances: August 13 through 28, 2010. Located at 800 Tyson Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-599-5284, www.childrenstheatreknoxville.com, info@childrenstheatreknoxville.com.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition featuring oils and acrylics by the South Knoxville Senior (SKS) Painters in the Balcony at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville. The SKS Painters started out at the newly opened South Knoxville Senior Center in October 2007 when Mary Harris volunteered to teach a painting class. Harris, a Knox County native and Powell High graduate, is a self-taught artist who taught oil painting for sixteen years at Vance-Granville Community College in Louisburg, NC. What started out with just one senior citizen has now expanded to an overflowing class and the creation of the "SKS" Painters. While most had never painted before, each had a strong desire and a wish to learn to paint when they retired. With growing fellowship, the class meets every Wednesday for the lessons in putting paint to canvas, etc. Although they are working with different media and different applications on varied surfaces, the class mostly paints in acrylics. Several of the SKS Painters have now experienced the pleasure of having their work not only appreciated but also purchased, and several artists have been commissioned by individuals to paint landscapes, portraits, and historical sites. Along with learning to paint, they have applied their life-learned skills in marketing, social networking, woodworking, photography and computer technology in their art endeavors. These artists have developed their own style and favorite things to paint.

The exhibition will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. For more information, call (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

Jane South has achieved international attention for her innovative mixed-media constructions that blur the lines between drawing, sculpture, installation art, and architecture. Born in Manchester, England, she draws inspiration from the industrial urban character of her hometown and of her adopted home in Brooklyn, New York, where she has resided since 1989. Using little more than a scalpel and colored inks, South transforms flat sheets of paper into a range of sculptural objects whose shapes mirror the contemporary urban environment. She cuts, folds, paints, and attaches each element to create forms resembling vents, containers, ladders, scaffolding, and other functional, industrially-fabricated structures. Working without a preconceived plan, the artist assembles these individual parts in elaborate groupings that thrust outward into space as dynamic sculptural assemblages. The slotted cut-outs on the surfaces of South’s drawings make visible their internal structure, and create intricate shadows that extend into the surrounding environment.

The public is invited to a free exhibition preview at the KMA Thursday, August 26 from 7 to 9pm. Artist Jane South will be on hand to meet with guests, who can also enjoy the opening of Contemporary Focus 2010 on the same evening. More information is available at www.janesouth.com.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM; Friday, 10AM-8PM; Sunday, 1-5PM. For information: 865-934-2036, www.knoxart.org

ARTIST RECEPTION: Saturday, August 7 from 1-3 p.m.

Abraham Pardee is a 2010 graduate of Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville/Smithville, receiving his BFA in metals. Calling on his formal training in psychology and mixing those studies with the study of metals as craft, Abraham constructs metal objects which are, for him, symbols of human interaction. Using forged steel as his foundation, Abe adds design and artistic statement through the use of other materials such as wood, copper, bronze and brass. His sculptures represent both a reflection of himself... and the way in which he sees the world.

5607 Kingston Pike ~ Knoxville, TN 37919
865.584.6097 ~ www.hansongallery.com
Summer Gallery Hours: Mon - Fri, 10 - 5:30; Sat, 10-4

Featured during the month of August:
Paintings by Asa McEwing - www.asamcewan.com
Custom/cast silver jewelry by Denae Oglesby
Handcrafted furniture from Nigeria, carved and designed by Joseph Oluwaseyi

Unarmed Merchants, 129 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 12-7PM. Information: 865-549-5769, www.unarmedmerchants.com

The Arts & Culture Alliance collected more than 2,500 votes from the general public, individual members of the Alliance, and a panel of jurors to select artwork for the Top Choice Exhibition. Top Choice features recent 2-D and 3-D works by 27 artists from Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, and Ohio. The exhibition will be displayed at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from August 6-27, and an opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on August 6 from 5:00-9:00 PM featuring chocolate fondue from the Melting Pot. Winner-take-all awards will be given to the three pieces attracting the most cash "votes" before 8:00 PM that evening.

The Alliance received nearly 250 submissions from 62 artists for the exhibition. The Alliance invited the general public, their individual membership, and a select panel of five jurors (Mark Hall, Maryville College Art Department; Nandini Makrandi, Curator of Contemporary Art, Hunter Museum; Jeff Morton, Covenant College Art Department; Elizabeth Snipes, Missouri State University Department of Art + Design; and Jennifer Stoneking-Stewart, Belmont University Department of Art) to cast their vote for their favorite five works! The 15 works receiving the highest number of votes within each sector appear in the exhibition, which includes works in the areas of photography, oil, watercolor, acrylic, pastel, collage, stained glass, wood and marble sculptures, and more.

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, August 7, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. For information: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com.

By Charles Marowitz, Directed by Patrick McCray. Winner of the Louis B. Mayer Award. Created by an American-born playwright-director who has become one of the most celebrated figures in the modern British theatre, this diabolically clever (and frequently funny) play was first presented as part of the Olympic Arts Festival in Los Angeles and went to Broadway in 1987. It was produced at the Nederlander Theatre with Frank Langella as Sherlock Holmes and Donal Donnelly as Doctor Watson. Illuminating aspects to the master sleuth's character heretofore ignored, the play is both true to the spirit of the original and a totally fresh and absorbing theatrical excursion.

Theatre Knoxville Downtown, 319 N. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $10 plus fees for Thursday & Sunday; $15 plus fees for Friday & Saturday. For information: 865-544-1999, www.theatreknoxville.com. For tickets: 865-523-7521, www.KnoxTIX.com