Calendar of Events

Walk past the painting of Napoleon and you’ll swear that his eyes are following you. Seated airplane passengers appear to pitch back and forth on another canvas. No, these are not images from a scary movie, but rather two of 13 works soon to be on exhibit at Pellissippi State Community College. “Fw: Re: Zek,” an exhibit featuring the paintings of nine artists based in Slovenia. The exhibit will travel around the state to a variety of other colleges, all of them members of the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies.

Not only are the paintings unique, but so too are the artists. The young painters are all former graffiti and street artists who are part of a creative collective known as the Zek Crew. Formed in Slovenia in 2001, the Zek Crew members turned their talents for street graffiti into a design cooperative. The Crew now counts among its members graphic and industrial designers, typographers, illustrators, an architect and a VJ.

The Zek Crew is best known for its award-winning internet comic generator, the Stripgenerator. In 2009, Zek Crew was recognized for its custom-made billboards, winning the prestigious Grand Brumen Award at the Fourth Biennial of Slovene Visual Communication. The members have been the focus of numerous exhibitions and graffiti events across Europe, including Italy’s Biennale of Young Artists in 2008 and Belgrade Design Week in 2009.

The “Fwd: Re: Zek” exhibit at Pellissippi State was housed this spring at the Embassy of Slovenia in Washington, D.C. Its debut at Pellissippi State marks the exhibit’s first stop on a statewide tour coordinated by TnCIS.

And what about those roving eyes and swaying passengers? The works on exhibit are printed on “lenticular” panels that give the illusion of animation to otherwise static images. The concept can best be described as “dynamic posters” or “interactive pictures.” Anyone who is familiar with the old-fashioned prizes in Cracker Jack snack boxes or who has seen the Rolling Stones’ tongue logo has witnessed the lenticular effect at work. The Zek Crew brings that process to the art of painting.

“Fwd: Re: Zek” runs at the Bagwell Center for Media and Arts gallery on the Pellissippi Campus. Exhibit hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or by appointment. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Classes of art students are invited to attend as well.

Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Information: 865-539-7280, www.pstcc.edu; tcastillo@pstcc.edu

The sale features both undergrad and graduate work from both the Printmaking & Ceramics Departments at UTK. All fine art pottery and prints are available for sale. There will also be selected artwork from the printmaking archives available for purchase, featuring works from UTK Alumni, Celebrity prints, and distinguished visiting artists. Funds from the sale will aid the Potter's Club and the Print Club in attending conferences, workshops, and bringing visiting artists to the campus.
In the Art & Architecture Building, 1 & 2 floors. Silkscreen demonstrations from 11am-3pm.

http://art.utk.edu/

Wendy Lowe Besmann, a freelance writer whose work has appeared in "The New York Times," "USA Today," and "Better Homes & Gardens," will discuss her book, "A Separate Circle," revealing many stories of Jewish life in Knoxville.

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

Opening reception on November 12, 6-7:30 PM with artists' talk at 6:30 PM. www.clinart.biz

Lil Clinard bases her watercolors on many of the photographic images she and husband John have taken on their wide ranging travels. She seeks expression in a loose and impressionistic manner of brush stroke, texture, color, light and composition, rather than photographic realism, allowing the viewer to complete the picture. "Watercolors lend themselves to this style and approach perfectly" she says.
She and John enjoy painting together and support each other's very different painting techniques. Lil has shown her work in regional group exhibitions, galleries and juried shows winning numerous awards. Her work has been juried into the Knoxville Arts & Cultural Alliance National Juried Show for the past three years. One of her cityscapes won “Best of Show” in the 2008 Tennessee Artists Association Juried Show, and she was awarded “Best Watercolor” in the 2010 Fountain City Art Center’s Juried Show. She participated in Artclamation! in 2009, and ArtXtravaganza in 2010. She is a member of the Art Market Gallery and active as an officer of the Knoxville Watercolor Society, Tennessee Artists Association and Art Guild of Tellico Village. She also is a member of Fountain City Art Center, Oak Ridge Art Center, and the Arts and Culture Alliance.

John Clinard
Though an Oak Ridge engineer by trade for 30 years, John Clinard's interest in art has existed since an early age. "Encouraged by my mother, Dot, to begin pencil drawings and oils I was inspired and taught by Dixie Snapp starting at the age of thirteen. (Dixie Snapp, now deceased, remains Greeneville’s most famous artist.) Later at UT in Knoxville, Charles Kermit Ewing taught both my wife Lil and me art appreciation and art history." John is, nevertheless, a mostly self-taught artist who has been painting for over 50 years. "I focus primarily on oil painting using a variety of subjects. Some paintings are composed from photographs from TN and from places visited, domestic and foreign. My work is mostly impressionistic, though certainly representational, with my focus on depth and perspective, contrast, simplified palette, and non-complicated but interesting composition." John is a member of the Fountain City Art Center, the Arts and Cultural Alliance, the Tennessee Artists Association, and the Tellico Village Art Guild.

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Art Gallery hours: Monday-Thursday 9AM-5PM; Friday 9AM-4:30PM; Sunday 9AM-1PM. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org

This month’s show features the oil paintings of Cindy Cutting and the furniture of Stephen Shankles.

Townsend Artisan Gallery, 7277 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Townsend, TN 37882. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10-5PM, Sunday 12-5PM. Information: 865-448-8018, www.townsendartisangallery.com

Opening reception Friday, November 5, 6-9 pm
Daniel Maw - Artist, Illustrator, Cartoonist - www.danielmaw.com

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 is pleased to present an exhibition by the Knoxville Watercolor Society entitled “For the Love of Water Media”. For nearly 50 years, the Knoxville Watercolor Society (KWS) has shared its love of painting in an aqueous media. Through monthly meetings and workshops, the organization has continued its purpose of educating its members as well as the community to understand watercolor or water media as a significant art form. KWS members have shown their work and won acclaim in regional, national, and international shows. The public can view the Society's latest aqueous creations from November 5-24 at the Emporium Center, beginning with an opening reception on First Friday, November 5, from 5:00-9:00 PM.

Membership in the Knoxville Watercolor Society is open to artists 21 years or older living within a 40-mile radius of Knoxville and currently active in the serious pursuit of watercolor. KWS holds its meetings on the first Monday of each month at 6:30 PM at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 6500 Northshore Drive. Most meetings are open to the public, and all people are encouraged to join KWS as associate members. Active members are selected through an annual juried process each November. For more information on membership, please contact 865-947-7857.

The reception on Friday, November 5 is free and open to the public, and complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be served. “For the Love of Water Media” is on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM with additional hours on Saturday, November 6, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition entitled “Archetypes” by Kenneth M. Moffett, Knoxville architect and artist. The exhibition title refers to a set of diagrammatic master plans derived from work done over the years in collaboration with others in an architectural firm. This portion of the exhibition concerns a theory of coordinated aesthetic order embodied in the plans on display. In their original form, the plans were prepared for actual exposition parks and fairgrounds. The remainder of the exhibition consists of work by the artist in a variety of media, including drawings and acrylic paintings. These too, in some cases, are efforts to transcend conventional illustrative composition and achieve something more epitomized or “archetypal.”

“Archetypes” will be displayed in the Balcony at the Emporium Center. An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on November 5 from 5:00-9:00 PM. 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, November 6, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. For information: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com.

The UT Downtown Gallery is proud to present the third 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, recent paintings by UT Professor of painting Jered Sprecher who joined the faculty in 2006, and New York artist Carrie Moyer, who taught at UT during the fall semester, 2001. Carrie Moyer will give a lecture, sponsored by UT School of Art's
VASDCO committee, November 4, 2010 at 7:00pm in the Art & Architecture Building, Room 109.

Please join us for a First Friday Opening reception with the artists November 5 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

By Barbara Robinson. Join us for a laughter-filled, heart-warming evening and remember the true reason for the season!

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

Ms. Fitch paints wooden furniture and toys with colorful, whimsical patterns that bring smiles to adults and children alike. Mr. Gebhart is a nature and landscape photographer who draws much of his inspiration from the Smoky Mountains. He endeavors to initiate the viewer to make a connection with the natural world around them. A First Friday Reception for the Featured Artists is planned for November 5th from 5:30-9 p.m. with complimentary refreshments and live Celtic music performed by Gil Draper.

Starting in November, the gallery will offer hand-made ornaments for sale to benefit the Community School of the Arts, a non-profit program that provides free instruction in music, visual arts, modern dance and drama to children from underserved areas of Knox County.

Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Special Holiday Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday, 11am-6pm & Sunday 1-5 pm. For information: 865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net

String quartets from The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will travel to local libraries during the month of November to read stories and play music for pre-school aged children as part of the orchestra’s Story Time Program. The theme for this season’s program is Happy Birthday KSO! The program will open with a reading of the KSO’s recently published book Better Than Cookies, As Good As Cake, written by KSO cellist Stacy Nickell Miller. Pre-school children will then learn about the “treats” that animals eat in The Wide-Mouthed Frog, hear Dr. Seuss’s Happy Birthday To You! and join in wishing the KSO a happy 75th birthday! These performances will help to highlight the connections between music and literacy and introduce the string instruments to young audience members. All Story Time performances are FREE and open to the public.

November 2 10:00 AM Burlington Library
November 3 11:00 AM Karns Library
November 5 10:30 AM Powell Library
November 5 4:00 PM Cedar Bluff Library
November 9 10:30 AM Sequoyah Library
November 10 11:00 AM Halls Library
November 12 10:15 AM Fountain City Library
November 13 11:00 AM Borders Books (Deane Hill Shopping Center)

Information: 865-291-3310; www.knoxvillesymphony.com