Calendar of Events

Big Read Juke Joint Launch Party in Market Square
Throughout October, we will be reading Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" for this year's Big Read. Throw on a long string of pearls or suspenders and join us as we kick off The Big Read with a First Friday juke joint. Dance to jazz from acclaimed vocalist Kelle Jolly and pianist Emily Mathis, play cards on the lawn, and visit the tables of our partners. At 6 p.m. gather in front of the stage for a short presentation from the YWCA and then head over to The Big Read table to grab reader's guides and one of 100 free books. Following the event, make your First Friday rounds, where you'll find more juke joints, including fabulous costumes, jazz and banjo music, and special cocktails at select locations. Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance attire encouraged. For more information on The Big Read, go to www.neabigread.com, www.ywcaknox.com, or www.knoxlib.org.

ETTAC receives funding from United Way of Anderson, Blount, Knox, and Jefferson Counties. Call us if you need services and live in one of these counties so we can tell you more!

East Tennessee Technology Access Center, 116 Childress Street, Knoxville, TN 37920. For information: 865-219-0130, www.discoveret.org/ettac

Monroe Area Council for the Arts (MACA) will present two of Appalachia’s most sought-after and talented singer/songwriters at The Moneta Theatre in historic downtown Sweetwater in October.

Mitch Barrett, who is known as a keen life observer and riveting performer, will perform on Friday, Oct. 1. Barrett deftly laces thought-provoking subject matter with a satirist’s sense of wit and irony and has won many prestigious songwriting competitions, including the Telluride Troubadour, the Kerrville New Folk Competition, and the Merlefest Chris Austin competition. Barrett’s music draws from his Appalachian heritage and the values it instilled: agrarian work ethic, simple living, the importance of family and celebrating the joys and struggles of everyday life through music.

MACA’s Moneta Theatre Series is sponsored by Hunter’s Bakery & Café and Hamilton Sound & Recording. Advance tickets for both shows are $12 and may be purchased at Hunter’s Bakery & Café; online at www.monroearts.com; or by calling the MACA office at 423-442-3210. Tickets will be $15 at the door on the night of the performance.

Family photographs and home videos and how to care for and interpret them is at the heart of Ashley Maynor’s award-winning documentary, "For Memories' Sake," which will be screened at the Museum of East Tennessee History on First Friday. "For Memories' Sake" is a half-hour documentary written, directed, and edited by Maynor that chronicles her grandmother’s obsession with the photographic image, probes Maynor’s relationship with her grandmother, and explores the American South in a rapidly-changing media age. “For Memories Sake” has been recognized as the Winner, Best Documentary, by the University Film and Video Association and as an Official Selection at a number of film festivals, including the Maryland Film Festival and the Indianapolis International Film Festival. Screenings will start at 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the East Tennessee History Center’s auditorium. Maynor is encouraging attendees to bring samples of their photographic and/ film collections that they might have questions about, so she can give on-the-spot recommendations on how to care for these materials.

The Museum of East Tennessee History—"Voices of the Land: The People of East Tennessee," "East Tennessee Streetscape," and "Vanishing Appalachia: Photographs by Don Dudenbostel, Field Recordings by Tom Jester"—will also remain open from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. with free admission. "Vanishing Appalachia" closes October 3, 2010, so this event marks one of the last opportunities to view this popular exhibition. Refreshments will be available in the lobby of the museum and are furnished through a partnership with Club LeConte, a member of the Club Corp Family.

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

Group painting show with 10 MFA painters!
627 N Central St
Knoxville TN
865.386.8848
Grey Floor Projects

Opening Reception on Friday, October 1, 5 p.m.
A new series of paintings by Knoxville based artist Brandon Douglas entitled "Honoring Tradition." The series is based on capturing the character possessed by traditional fire helmets worn by the men and women of the fire departments of Knoxville and Knox County. This event is free to the public.

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

This will be a new production of the classic tale, designed and conceived by Carroll Freeman and Brian Salesky. Fast-rising Korean star Jin-Won Park will make her U.S. stage debut as the innocent Butterfly, condemned by the Japanese culture of early 1900 for choosing to forsake family and community and marry a reckless American naval officer, when the heartbreaking story is staged at the historic Tennessee Theatre on Friday, October 1 at 8:00 PM and Sunday, October 3 at 2:30 PM. Brian Salesky, now in his sixth year as Knoxville Opera’s Executive Director, is expanding his artistic vision by co-creating and constructing a dramatic new set for the well-known opera. “It is thrilling to see the new set take shape in our studio” says Salesky. “The unique production includes a massive 17’ high Japanese torii gate, a 60” gong, flying shōji screens and an imposing Kabuki character not usually presented in Butterfly.”

Friday, October 1, at 8:00 pm and Sunday, October 3, at 2:30 pm. At the Tennessee Theatre. For more information: 865-524-0795, www.knoxvilleopera.com

Wednesday, September 29, 6:30 PM - The full Orchestra dress rehearsal is part of the Penny Performance program for Knox County students ages 5-18. Visit www.penny4arts.com for more information.

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

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