Calendar of Events

By Lerner & Lowe. The magic and beauty of the Scottish Highlands form a backdrop for the enchanting story of a magical village that only appears for one day every hundred years.

Crossville, TN. Information: 931-484-5000; www.ccplayhouse.com

Interested in learning what role Jewish community members Sam and Virginia Morrison played in Elvis Presley’s career? (Hint: It happened on Market Square.) Ever wonder what Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” would have been called if one of Knoxville’s Jewish community leaders, Max Friedman, had not spoken up? Curious about what distinguishes the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge as unique in American history?

The story of Jewish immigration to Tennessee and how those who came here embraced the culture they found is the subject of this touring exhibition from the Tennessee State Museum. It follows the Tennessee Jewish experience from the 1770s, when the first Jews immigrated to upper East Tennessee to escape religious persecution in Europe. The exhibition then guides visitors through more than 200 years of history by way of compelling stories and images that illustrate the development of Jewish communities across the state; in East Tennessee, congregations located in Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Chattanooga, and Blountville are featured. The exhibition also explores how Jews were able to preserve their religious and cultural heritage while at the same time embracing and supporting the culture found in Tennessee.

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

Celebrating the Human Form. In the Sandra J. Blain Galleries. Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 576 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. For information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

A juried and judged show. Open to the public. Opening reception on Friday, October 8, 6:30-8:00PM.

213 Hotel Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37918. Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 10AM-5PM; Saturday, 9AM-1PM. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityart.com

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

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.

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

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

Contemporary Focus 2010 is the second installment of an annual KMA series that serves as a vital means of recognizing, supporting, and documenting the development of contemporary art in East Tennessee. Each year the KMA features emerging artists who work in new and experimental ways. Contemporary Focus 2010 presents the work of Emily Ward Bivens, Nick DeFord, and Evan Meaney. The art categorized as “contemporary” represents the leading edge of where artists are working today. Contemporary art is experimental, provocative, exciting – it is an investigation into new ideas that change the way art is made.

The public is invited to a free exhibition preview at the KMA Thursday, August 26 from 7 to 9pm. Contemporary Focus Artists Emily Ward Bivens, Nick DeFord, and Evan Meaney will be on hand to meet with guests, who can also enjoy the opening of Jane South: Shifting Structures on the same evening.

Emily Ward Bivens uses found and made objects to forge narratives, provoke or encourage interaction, and reveal fictional and non-fictional mysteries. These objects shift from prop to subject to evidence when used in performance, video, and installation. Characters or identities are created to act as subjects, authors, inventors, and curators of the work.

A Knoxville native, Nick DeFord earned his BFA in drawing from the University of Tennessee, and an MFA in fibers from Arizona State University. His work explores the visual culture of geography and cartography using common household materials. Through maps, globes, travel guides, pamphlets and charts, DeFord disrupts commonly recognizable systems to examine our relationship to identity and place, the known and the unknown.

Evan Meaney has been working with film, video, and emerging media for over a decade. Educated at Ithaca College and the University of Iowa, his interests have grown to include deconstructive sequencing, ghost stories, breakdancing, and the poetry of hexadecimal code.

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

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

Direct from a highly-acclaimed run on Broadway, the Tony-nominated Soul of Shaolin will premier at the Eastern Shanghai Theater in April. A Chinese martial arts spectacular, Soul of Shaolin features over 30 Chinese performers skilled in the art of Shaolin Kung Fu and tells the touching story of Hui Guang (pronounced “whey gwong”), an orphan boy who is discovered by the legendary monks of the Shaolin Temple and is raised among them. The show debuted at New York's Marquis Theatre in January 2009 as part of the China on Broadway series of productions. It received rave reviews from many American critics, with the New York Post describing the show as "a dazzling display of skill", while the Associated Press called it "astonishing and amazing".

In addition to a spectacular show, the Eastern Shanghai Theater will feature state-of-the-art sound and lighting and a spectacular 198-square foot LED backdrop. According to the show's executive producer, Lizhi Zhao: “The story of Shaolin is timeless and appeals to all audiences, young and old.” People coming to the Smoky Mountains this year may not want to miss limited engagement of Soul of Shaolin.
Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. each night with matinee shows Tuesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. For ticket prices and bookings call 865-453-8888 or visit www.EasternShanghaiTheater.com.