Calendar of Events

Knoxville Zoo’s Kritter Kids programs introduce preschoolers to the amazing world of animals with special hands-on learning sessions that are sure to keep them engaged and excited. Offered throughout the fall, Kritter Kids programs are specially designed to appeal to the interests of two through five year-olds, and will explore some very intriguing animal facts on a kid-friendly level that makes learning fun. Knoxville Zoo’s education staff will give little animal lovers the inside scoop on “Animal Opposites”, covering some of the extremes in the animal kingdom, “Yummy in the Tummy”, a yucky (or yummy) look at what animals eat, and “Creature Features”, a fun explanation of
why animals have some of their unique physical features.

Sessions are offered for two and three-year olds on Tuesdays, and will be held on September 28, October 5, 12, 19 and 26, and November 9 and 23, 2010. Sessions for 4 and 5-year olds will be offered on Saturdays and will be held on September 25, October 23 and November 6, 2010. Programs feature stories, crafts, and visits from zoo animals. A snack and drink are provided, and each child must be accompanied by an adult. Single sessions are $20 per child or three sessions for $50, and zoo members receive a discount on single and multiple sessions. Adults attend free with a paid child. All sessions are held indoors, rain or shine, at the zoo’s Tiger Tops building. Preregistration is required and can be made by calling Knoxville Zoo’s Education Department at (865) 637-5331, ext. 350 or ext. 374. For more information, visit the zoo’s web site at www.knoxville-zoo.org.

Art Market Gallery of Knoxville will spotlight the work of two member artists: clay sculpture by Karen Kyte and paintings by George Rothery. Mr. Rothery, a marine artist who concentrates in oils and acrylics, creates paintings inspired by the South Carolina coast and a nearly lifelong love of the water, sailing and racing. His work is in many public and private collections and has been exhibited nationally. Ms. Kyte creates contemporary, spontaneous sculptures out of clay that are reflections of both who she is and how she sees the world. She says that this particular exhibit is “about the face and figure and how they reveal the sprit.”

The gallery will host a First Friday Reception for the Featured Artists on October 1 from 5:30-9 p.m. with light refreshments and live music performed by jazz and blues vocalist Liz Martin.

Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11AM-6PM; Sunday 1-5PM. For information: 865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net

Grammy award winning bassist Eddie Gomez brings his trio with pianist Stefan Karlsson and drummer Ed Soph for a very special evening of music with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra.
Advance reservations required? YES
How to obtain admission: To obtain advance coupons, send an email with the number of coupons you are requesting to: emathis@knoxjazz.org. Cut off for advance coupons is at 8:00 PM on Monday, September 27.
Contact: Emily Mathis, 865-573-3226, emathis@knoxjazz.org
At the Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial building; corner of 15th Street and Middle Drive on UT campus | www.knoxjazz.org

This is a Penny Performance event for Knox County students ages 5-18. Visit www.penny4arts.com for more information.

A traveling exhibition from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. One of the most celebrated styles of Maya pottery is Chamá Polychrome, named for a small site tucked into a curve of the Chixoy River in the Alta Verapaz of modern Guatemala. Other than the beautiful ceramic cylinders, spectacularly painted with multi-hued portraits and narrative scenes, very little is known about the site. Through artifacts, text panels, rare photographs, maps, graphics, and videos, this unique exhibit reveals the world this Maya region during the Late Classic era (AD 700-900). The exhibit portrays a time of political change in a troubled outpost of the Maya world, and a human story of power and intrigue among people who lived more than 1300 years ago. Nineteen Chamá Polychrome vessels are accompanied by more than 100 objects that illustrate Maya daily life, religious ritual, and shifts in rulership. The history of one Maya group unfolds in the exhibit’s themes:
• Class and hierarchy among the Maya.
• Trade along the Chixoy River, down to Tikal and the other great Maya cities of the Petén.
• Pilgrimage journeys to sacred caves and rivers.
• Religion and ritual in the sacred landscape of the Popol Vuh, the great Maya creation myth.
• Chiefly power and artistic style in scenes on polychrome vessels that illustrate historic events.
• The Maya of Chamá today, heirs of a culture the survives more than 500 years after the Spanish conquest.
• New techniques of scientific analysis that help us understand the ancient Maya through their material remains.

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

Juried mixed media exhibition by regional artists. Reception on September 18, 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

University of Tennesee, Knoxville, School of Art graduates Bill FitzGibbons (BFA, sculpture, '72) and Creighton Michael (BFA, painting, '71) are featured in this joint exhibition at the UT Ewing Gallery. Included are paintings from Michael's MOTIF series, FitzGibbons' new Fire Drawings, and a collaborative video and dimensional drawing piece by both artists. A correlative lighting installation by FitzGibbons will also be on display at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

A catalog of the exhibition will be available from the Ewing Gallery. Please join us for a public lecture by FitzGibbons and Michael at 7PM, Thursday, September 16, followed by the exhibition opening reception next door at the Ewing Gallery. Light refreshments will be served.

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

At the 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: www.knoxart.org; 865-335-3358, holahoralatina@yahoo.com, www.holafestival.org

Free and open to the public
Opening reception Friday, September 17, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists' talks at 7 p.m.

This exhibit features the art work of Bobbie Crews and photographs of Clay Thurston. Bobbie Crews has been painting professionally since 1993. She earned her BFA in studio art from the UT School of Art, graduating Suma Cum Laude in 2007. Her artwork is widely collected in the U.S. and overseas. Locally her work is exhibited in schools, government buildings, churches, businesses, and private homes. Bobbie teaches art, speaks on art and is a courtroom sketch artist. She is also an activist for women in the form of artwork for education and awareness of domestic violence. A retired physical education teacher with the Oak Ridge schools, Clay Thurston now pursues photography full time. He has traveled extensively in the continental U.S. and Alaska and across the globe photographing the beauty and diversity of the land, its wildlife, and its people. Clay has been an award-winning nature and wildlife photographer for about 35 years. Inspired by his wife and best friend, Bobbie Crews, he now seeks to find the art in an even wider range of subject matter.

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

“Homecoming”, Marie Merritt’s one woman show, opens to the public in the lobby and mezzanine of Niswonger Performing Arts Center. The exhibit is a celebration of the vibrant work of Marie Merritt in a masterful combination of transparent and opaque oil paints. She is a native of Greene County and draws inspiration from East Tennessee history and that of southern Appalachia, translating their beauty, people, and places into stories told on canvas. Her own memories of her childhood in this county provided the motivation for her to take up painting as an adult. “Marie’s paintings are wonderful oils in a very representational genre with tiny traces of romanticism” says James-Ben Stockton, director of Greeneville’s regional art center. “Her work was so well received at the Capitol Theater last year during the “Civil War Views” exhibit that I’m having a preview event in the gallery from September 1-4.” This preview exhibit of Civil War inspired art
will take place at James-Ben: Studio and Gallery Art Center and include Marie’s open-stock prints and note cards and two original paintings of John Hunt Morgan. The “Thunderbolt of the Confederacy” is also portrayed through cold-cast bronze sculptures from Dell Hughes. Civil War inspired images including portraits of Stonewall Jackson and Nathan Bedford Forrest will also be on hand. Barbara Bible “Jake” Carter’s evocative watercolors depicting Civil War scenes will be included, along with prints from Lynne Olka and Kenneth Hinkle. “Visitors should take special interest in Suzanne Saltzman’s detailed and panoramic action photos of Civil War reenactments,” says Stockton.

September 7, “Homecoming” will open at Niswonger Performing Arts Center. A Meet the Artist event will take place Sunday, September 19th from 12:30 to 3 PM.

James-Ben: Studio & Gallery Art Center, 129 North Main Street, Historic Morgan Square, Greeneville, TN 37743. Information: 423-787-0195, www.james-ben.com

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

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.