Calendar of Events

Saturday February 5, 2011 at 6pm, The Beck Cultural Exchange Center will be hosting the Opening Ceremony of the annual Beck Cultural Exchange Center Black History Month Exhibit entitled, WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED!; an extensive collection of historical artifacts from the actual Civil Rights Era touring from the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. This brilliant and yet delicate display is celebrating the 51st Anniversary of the Tennessee Civil Rights Sit-In Movement and is scheduled to tour across the United States beginning right here in Knoxville, Tennessee! The WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED Exhibit contains tables, bar stools, signs, pamphlets, booklets, magazines, postcards, photos, and a host of other original treasures that have been preserved from the actual Sit-In Movement during the 1960’s and beyond! This one of a kind exhibit that also features postcards of Dr. Martin Luther King at our very own Highlander Center in New Market Tennessee, will inspire you and move you to a deeper understanding of the African American heritage and their determination to Overcome, as well as the many other cultures that aided in that “Dream” coming into fruition!

The Opening Night Ceremony of the WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED Exhibit will feature our area’s most talented speakers, presenters, musicians, actors, and dancers, including The legendary Robert J. Booker, Dr. Harold Middlebrook, Avon Rollins, Sr., Will Boyd & Kelle Jolly, Knoxville Opera’s Michael Rogers, Vocalist Horace Smith, Orator Janice Nzie, Poet Andre Canty, Dancers Mikael Merchant & Daniel Lineberger, Singer/Producer Lar’Juanette Williams & Optasia Productions cast of We Shall Overcome!, and the outstanding Blues Hall of Fame East Tennessee native, Wallace Coleman with His Band from Cleveland Ohio! WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED Exhibit will be on display at The Beck Cultural Exchange Center, Inc. during the entire month of February. Come relive history through the walls of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center with tours of the facility, exhibits, and music all month long. We invite you to enrich your life by learning more about the birth of the Civil Rights Movement and Sit-in Demonstrations here the state of Tennessee. WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED is sponsored by AT&T, Premiere Building & Maintenance, The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Greater Knoxville, and The Tennessee Arts Commission. WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED opens February 5, 2011 at The Beck Cultural Exchange Center, 1927 Dandridge Avenue, 6pm and will run the entire month of February! Don’t Miss It!

1927 Dandridge Avenue, Knoxville. TN 37915. Phone: (865) 524-8461; www.beckcenter.net

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Lucas Richman will present an evening of romantic Broadway and Hollywood favorites. Maestro Richman, also the show’s producer, has invited notable vocalists Christiane Noll, Debbie Gravitte and Doug LaBrecque to join the orchestra on stage to perform smash hits from The Way We Were, Wicked, Titanic and Mama Mia, plus music of George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Performed at the Civic Auditorium, 500 Howard Baker Junior Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37915. For information and tickets: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

Old-Time Music
A master of traditional Appalachian fiddle and banjo styles, Dirk Powell was inspired as a teenager by his grandfather James Clarence Hay of Ashland, Kentucky to move from early classical training to the music of his family heritage. Riley Baugus began honing his musical skills with close friend and neighbor, fiddler Kirk Sutphin, by visiting elder traditional musicians in and around Grayson County, Virginia and Surry County, North Carolina. He often visited, played with, and learned from fiddlers Tommy Jarrell and Robert Sykes and from banjo player Dix Freeman.

Jubilee Community Arts, 1538 Laurel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37916. For information: 865-522-5851, www.jubileearts.org. For tickets: 865-523-7521, www.KnoxTIX.com

The lunar calendar for Chinese New Year's Day is February 3, 2011 (The Year of Rabbit). Every year, local Chinese organizations in the Knoxville area hold a festival to celebrate this biggest holiday in China and several other Asian countries. The East Tennessee Chinese New Year’s Festival is the largest Chinese New Year show in the area with over 900 attendees. Performances this year include traditional Chinese folk dancing, singing, Chinese Martial arts, Violin, Chinese Yo-Yo, and more -- such as drawings for door prizes. This exciting event will be held at Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building on the campus of the Univ. Tennessee Knoxville. Tickets are $5. For more information, please visit http://KnoxvilleChineseCulture.org/FESTIVALS/cny.html

CAC Beardsley Community Farm will hold a Cold Weather Gardening Workshop to give gardeners some tips for extending the growing season. The workshop will include a tour of CAC Beardsley Community Farm and address cold weather growing techniques, with a primary focus on building cold frames with salvaged materials. Knox Heritage donated the windows used for the cold frames at the farm. In addition to showing how cold frames are built, workshop attendees will also get some tips on when and what to plant in early spring and late fall. At the end of the workshop, attendees will have the opportunity to purchase salvaged windows from Knox Heritage to build their own cold frames at home.

A $5 donation is requested for this workshop. To register, call Khann Chov (865-556-2299) or Liz Moniz (865-546-8446), or email beardsleyfarm@gmail.com. CAC Beardsley Community Farm is located at 1719 Reynolds Street, behind the Laura Cansler Boys & Girls Club in the Mechanicsville neighborhood.

We are proud to have new paintings by Kimberly Woods-Pelton. Her nostalgic and colorful work will be on display and available for purchase all month.

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

The Unarmed Merchants is proud to announce that we will be featuring the photography of Charles Graves for the month of February. The show titled "People, Places and Things" will include around 20 hand selected works from Charles last 30 years. Opening reception is on Friday February 4.

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

Ceramic artist Walter McConnell will visit the University of Tennessee to construct a sculpture in the UT Downtown Gallery the first week of February. McConnell, who is well recognized for his large-scale, unfired ceramic sculptures will work with UT art students to construct this project. McConnell’s installations address the relationship between nature and culture – more specifically, the means through which contemporary culture constructs an understanding of nature. McConnell currently serves on the faculty at the New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred, NY.

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

A Showcase of Foothills Craft Guild Members' work - On exhibit and for sale

Friday, Feb. 4 9 am – 9 pm (First Friday reception 5 – 9 pm )
Saturday, Feb. 5 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday, Feb. 6 12 – 6 pm

100 S. Gay Street, 37902. For more information: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com or www.foothillscraftguild.org

The Arts & Culture Alliance and Foothills Craft Guild proudly present “Fine Craft in February,” a showcase and sale of works by Foothills Craft Guild Members. This show highlights the handmade, original work of 35 East Tennessee craft artists working in a variety of media including: clay, jewelry, metal, fiber, lamp-worked and blown glass, leather, wood, photography, and mixed media collage. The Emporium gallery provides an ideal environment in which to view the work and meet the artists.

The Show hours are: Friday, February 4, 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM; Saturday, February 5, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM; and Sunday, February 6, 12:00 - 5:00 PM. Admission is free. A public reception takes place on Friday, February 4, from 5:00 - 9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities in downtown Knoxville.

Among the participants in this show are the following area artisans: Hugh Bailey (clay), Carol Pritcher (fiber-weaving), Lynnda Tenpenny (collage), Gloria Felter ( fiber-quilts), Janis Proffitt (wood), Matt Salley and Chris Szaton (blown glass), and Kathryn Aycock (jewelry). This exhibit and sale serves as a precursor to the 45th Annual Fine Craft Fair to be held in November 2011 at the Jacob Building in Chilhowee Park.

At the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street. For more information: (865) 523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com.

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will continue its Library Tour with string quartets traveling to local libraries during the month of February 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. The book introduces string instruments by telling the story of a young girl who receives a violin. She finds that the sound that her violin makes, both alone and as part of a string quartet, is better than cookies and as good as cake. The characters in the book, illustrated by Stephen Brown, are loosely based on members of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. 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.

February 3 11:00 AM Smart Toys and Books
February 8 11:00 AM South Knoxville Library
February 10 4:00 PM Farragut Library
February 11 10:30 AM Caryville Library
February 15 10:30 AM Murphy Library
February 16 10:30 AM Carter Library
February 17 10:20 AM Lawson McGhee Library

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

A celebration of the human history, natural beauty, and cultural traditions of Townsend TN, Cades Cove, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Discover the stories of people and the land. Enjoy special evening and supper programs of history, music, dance, and stories. Visit with descendants of the early settlers in the Smokies. Explore the wintertime beauty of the Park. Enjoy Mountain Craft and Mountain Music Showcases. Hike with Park Rangers, naturalists, and historians. Learn about Cades Cove and other special places in the Smokies.

Events take place in Townsend, Tennessee and nearby. For more information: Townsend Visitors Center, 865-448-6134, www.smokymountainfestivals.org