Calendar of Events

Artworks of monumental physical scale are overwhelming. The diminutive viewer is confronted and consumed by the gigantic. Presented with the miniature, the viewers, no longer assigned to the passive role, can instead devour the work, taking it into their souls. The miniature invites the viewer into a personal and intimate relationship. With attention drawn to the significance of the seemingly insignificant, the momentousness of the miniscule is magnified, thus instilling monumental value.

This exhibition investigates the power of small-scale artists’ books to challenge their readers with grand, powerful, urgent, and poignant content. In addition to the work of current UT Assistant Professor of Printmaking, Althea Murphy-Price, as well as three UT school of art alums, MIMB includes books from 141 artists from the United States, Korea, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, India, Pakistan, the UK, Canada, Mauritius, and Argentina. The miniature books range from complicated structures, poems, and humorous texts, to intricate drawings. Many of the books use unconventional materials and innovative bookmaking techniques; including relief printing, intaglio, lithography, silkscreen printing, and the newest digital processes.

To see images of individual books, visit the MIMB flickr page at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimborg/

Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: M-F 10-5, Sun 1-4. For information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

The O’Brien Art Gallery on the Roane County Campus is currently featuring the paintings of Nashville based artist Ev Niewoehner. For gallery Hours, contact Bryan Wilkerson at 865.882.4649. www.roanestate.edu/art/gallery

An exhibit featuring the photographs and painting of Terri Swaggerty and oil paintings of Emily Spence Stables will be on display at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Free and open to the public. Opening reception Friday, January 14, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists' talks at 6:30 p.m.

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

Bliss Home is kicking 2011 off with a First Friday artist that is not one to be missed! Melissa Johnson has created truly unique and playful pieces of art that are not only beautiful, but also make a bold statement. The materials she uses range from actual vintage newspapers and magazines to vintage children's encyclopedias and fabric. The pieces capture Johnson’s personal experiences by involving culture and religion, love and relationships, body image, and American social codes and roles both from the 1960's and current. Her work will be on display at the 29 Market Square location through February!

29 market square. Addn info: anne@shopinbliss.com; 865.673.6711

Sevier County artists, aged 18 and older, were invited to submit artworks for consideration and 100 works created by 54 artists were selected for exhibition in the school’s main gallery. An opening reception and presentation of awards will be held Friday, January 28th from 6-8 pm in the Main Gallery. The event is open to the public and free to attend. Martha Connell curated the exhibition and sifted through more than two hundred works in order to select the art featured in the exhibition. Connell is from Atlanta and serves as a curator for a number of museum exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe. The exhibition features a diverse array of media including painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, furniture, woodturning, ceramics, fibers, basketry and jewelry. Arrowmont’s galleries are free and open to the public.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 576 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. For information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

The exhibition includes more than 40 works Bates produced in response to Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it brought to the Gulf Coast. His iconic images capture in dramatic fashion destroyed property and displaced people, as well as the emotional devastation in the wake of this event. Many of the paintings are monumental in scale, including The Storm, a triptych that measures 21 feet in width. In this series, Bates’ paintings affirm both horror and life and serve as powerful reminders of the ability of art to represent the spectrum of human experience.

Bates, a well-known Texas artist who has long chronicled the people and places along the Gulf Coast, is based in Dallas. His work has been presented around the country in solo exhibitions at major galleries and in numerous important group shows.

The Knoxville Museum of Art is the only venue in the eastern United States hosting this exhibition, which is organized by the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri.

A members-only preview party is scheduled for Thursday, October 28 from 5:30 – 7:30pm and will include a gallery talk by the artist.

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