Calendar of Events

Mary Ruden (photography) will be featured long side Kitty Siegel (jewelry). Mary Ruden's work focuses on exotic butterflies from all over the world.
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/photographers/?inc=details&id=123633

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

SEPTEMBER 3-28
A collection of works by local artists:
Michael Underwood, award-winning director, cinematographer and President of Knoxville-based Tantrum Pictures, creates alluring and unconventional fine art photographs which transport, inspire and elevate the viewer. "My goal," says Michael, "is to produce distinctive, memorable, and engaging work--work that isn't afraid to ruffle reality..."

Knoxville painter Kathie Odom's art reflects her life. She leaves the anatomy of her work exposed. In her use of washes and oils, light diffuses and textures emerge, creating interest in her landscapes and quiet scenes. Kathie's compositions are places where the possibility of life exists. Barn. Nest. Field. Dwelling. Bud.
Shed. The vision of Home.

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

The UT Downtown Gallery is proud to present the first in a series of fall exhibitions. Featured will be the art of a current member of the UT School of Art faculty and a former participant in the Visiting Artist in Residence program. This month we are featuring a wall painting/installation by UT Professor David Wilson, who joined the faculty in 1985, and Chicago artist Pamela Fraser, who taught at UT during the fall semester, 1999.

Pamela Fraser will give an Artist Lecture, September 2, at 7:00pm in the Art & Architecture Building, room 109 on the UT campus. Please join us for a First Friday Opening reception with the artists September 3 from 5:00pm until 9:00pm. Admission is free and the public is welcome.

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 Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition by the Tennessee Artists Association titled “The TAA Annual Fall Juried Show” and featuring original art by more than 40 Tennessee artists including oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, photography, and mixed-media. The exhibition will be displayed at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from September 3-24, 2010. An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on September 3 from 5:00-9:00 PM, and awards for the show will be given at 6:00 PM.

“This is TAA’s second show at the Emporium Center, and we are very excited about the opportunity to present the breadth and quality of Tennessee artists’ works represented by our members,” says Joanne White and her co-chair, Steve Black. Sponsors of this show, including FastFrame, Jerry’s Artarama, The Town Framery, Franklin Gallery, Cheap Joe’s and CMI Moulding, have made it possible to provide awards and recognition to the artists.

Founded in 1974, The Tennessee Artists Association (TAA) is a civic organization of fine artists with 55 current members. The Tennessee Artists Association encourages each individual artist to grow and develop through fellowship with other artists, educational programs, opportunities to exhibit and sell art, and to serve the community through classes. For more information, visit www.tennartists.org.

The TAA Annual Fall Juried Show will be 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, September 4, from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, September 6, for Labor Day. For information: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a collection of new works titled “Let’s Play with our Emotions” by Rafael Casco, the current Betsy Worden Memorial Artist-in-Residence at the Emporium Center. The exhibition features works created during the time of Casco’s residency (April through September 2010) that were inspired by the Toltec tradition in which people learn to have and show total respect for themselves and those around them. Toltec tradition guides people to take care of their bodies, souls, and the planet. “I use my imagination and art work to create a reality in which the world is a place of justice and happiness,” says Casco. The exhibition includes acrylic paintings, airbrush technique, mixed media, plaster masks and sculptures, and hand-painted furniture and plates. Casco will also display a series of masks created by students with whom he works. “Let’s Play with our Emotions” will be displayed in the Balcony at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from September 3-24, 2010. An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on September 3 from 5:00-9:00 PM.

Rafael Casco was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras where he received a degree as an art teacher from the National School of Fine Arts in Honduras and studied psychology at the National Autonomous University. He has participated in different art events in Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, and throughout the United States. He uses his art to design pottery, furniture, and to create and install custom murals; his collection also includes carving, molds, caricatures, and drawing. Casco taught art to at-risk children and adults in Latin America and the U.S., including his work with the YWMCA in San Jose, CA, where he used art as a gang prevention strategy with low-income Hispanic youth. After living in Los Angeles for a few years, the destruction in Honduras from Hurricane Mitch compelled him to return to his home country. He worked with children living on the street and used his skills in art therapy. He also taught art in the high schools while continually searching for ways to show his own art. In 2005, he returned to the U.S. to pursue his dream of exhibiting and selling paintings.

Casco sends some of his paintings to the Institute of International Languages in Honduras to be sold for scholarships for children who want to learn to speak English but cannot afford the tuition. He currently shows work at Earthspeak Studio and Creative Spirit Crafts in Gatlinburg and for the past three years has participated in the Artist-on-Location and Latino Art Exhibition at the Knoxville Museum of Art. In 2010, Casco served as a panelist for the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Arts Education – Community Learning grants. He was also recently selected to be one of ten artists from East Tennessee participating in a TAC program called Arts360° being piloted in five Knox County schools. Arts360° emphasizes arts integration in which math, science, reading and other subjects are integrated with and taught through music, dance, visual art, theatre and creative writing. Casco and the other artists will provide residencies and serve as peer coaches.

“Let’s Play with our Emotions” will be 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, September 4, from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, September 6, for Labor Day. For information: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com.

Featuring works small enough to fit in a shoe box! All mediums.

SHOW WILL OPEN ON THE FIRST FRIDAY – SEPTEMBER 3
AND CLOSE ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17.

865-805-3190; www.a1labarts.org.

Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center’s Fall Music Series will present three concerts in September. All the concerts begin at 7:00 pm and are presented in the Heritage Center’s outdoor amphitheater which has a roof over the entire amphitheater so that concerts take place rain or shine. The Fall Music Series is sponsored by PetSafe. Admission to each concert is $4.00 per person at the door, with Heritage Center members admitted free. Food and beverage concessions are available for purchase on site. No coolers, food, drink, or pets are allowed. For more information, call the Center at 865-448-0044 or visit www.gsmheritagecenter.org.

Friday, September 3, The Grassabillies - www.grassabillies.com - Bluegrass, rockabilly and country
Friday, September 10, Blue Mother Tupelo - Bluesy southern soul and roots music
Friday, September 17, Pistol Creek Catch of the Day - Rockabilly and western swing

865-448-0044; gsmhcevents@yahoo.com; www.gsmheritagecenter.org

Once a month, Knoxville's pedestrian-friendly streets transform into a block party during FIRST FRIDAY. Each celebration, enjoy receptions at your favorite art galleries, live music by local musicians, and more! FIRST FRIDAY is a stage for local galleries and Knoxville's vital downtown cultural scene. It's a place to meet friends new and old! From the shops and galleries on Gay Street (The Emporium Center, Art Market Gallery and more) to Market Square (Bliss, World Grotto and others) to the spaces in the Old City (Old City Java, A1ArtSpace, and more) and in Old North Knox (Fluorescent Gallery), there's something for everyone! You can always expect a diverse crowd, cool local art, live music, and plenty of surprises! Information: http://knoxvillefirstfriday.com/wp

Come celebrate “First Friday” at the Museum of East Tennessee History on Friday, September 3, from 5:00-8:00 pm. The Museum of East Tennessee History will feature the infrared photographs of local photographer and businessman, Daniel Brent Golden, manager of Hart Graphics, Inc. In his artwork, Golden combines his two favorite avocations, photography and fly fishing, to create large panoramic images of North America's fly-fishing waters. Golden has recently taken an interest in the invisible light of infrared (IR) photography, using this technology to capture waterways throughout East Tennessee. For this special First Friday exhibition, the Clinch, Watauga, and Holston rivers will be featured. The series has been praised as “hauntingly beautiful” and as “containing a vividness and depth matched only by our memories.”

First Friday guests are also invited to tour the new feature exhibition at the Museum of East Tennessee History, Vanishing Appalachia: Photographs by Don Dudenbostel, Field Recordings by Tom Jester, as well as the signature exhibition Voices of the Land. Guests will also enjoy refreshments provided by Club Leconte.

The “First Friday” evening is free and open to the public. The East Tennessee History Center is located at 601 S. Gay Street, across from the Tennessee Theatre. 865-215-8824; www.easttnhistory.org

Continuum is the first joint art exhibit for husband and wife artists Brian and Carri Jobe in five years. They acknowledge many seen and unseen connections between their work/processes, while their mediums and studio practices are quite different. The word continuum is defined as “a continuous sequence in which adjacent elements are not perceptibly different from each other, although the extremes are quite distinct”. The idea of perpetual sequences resonates with both artists. They share an affinity for the rhythms found in the act of making art (physically and intuitively). Although, both artists arrive at different conclusions, much more is shared than not as they build mutually influenced bodies of work.

Brian’s work can been understood in light of his statement: “Systems in nature, like the self-similarity of fractals, are my motivation. They expose life’s minutiae – a hidden vitality beneath the surface. I replicate repetition in nature through detailed process-oriented sculpture. I channel energy into meticulous organization and establish a sense of order through the assemblage of objects. My materials are industrial, chosen with the intent of being re-contextualized when combined en masse. Within installations, the context of site chiefly determines the final form.”
http://www.brianjobe.com

Carri’s work is described in her statement: “Color and texture dominate my process. When creating, I engage two systems: 1) allowing the initial application of paint to become permanently visible; 2) covering over it with multiple layers. Allowing a single stroke to become permanent can be painful but honest. Covering over the same stroke can initiate the construction of a system and structure. These two forms converge at times, but can also remain completely separate within the work. I am continually exploring how to use this method to effectively communicate the language of composition and color. My visual source materials are rooted in daily surroundings and personal interactions, past and present. Therefore the work can be playful, awkward or both. When creating, I am mainly concerned with formal issues, but the character of the source material always reveals itself in the completed work.”
http://www.carrijobe.com

Exhibit promo: http://orderdisorder.com/continuum/

627 N. Central St., Knoxville, Tennessee

Featuring local photographer Julie Bernal.
URBhana, 115 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information: 865-951-5454, www.urbhana.com

Featuring works by Carl Gombert, Mark Hall, Polly Ann Martin, Adrienne Schwarte, and Brian Wagner. Public reception on Friday, September 24, 6:00-8:00 PM as part of the Last Friday Art Walk: http://maryvilleartwalk.com/web/

Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com. Hours of Operation are Monday-Friday 10am-6pm.