Calendar of Events

History/Sightseeing, relaxing and enjoyable river cruises. Learn about area Civil War history, see beautiful homes and gardens with narration by the spirit of Sam Clemmons. Learn about early river steamboats that visited Knoxville. 90 minute trips Friday through Sunday at 3:00 and 5:15 plus Friday evening at 7:30. $16 Adult and $14 for children 5-11 with advanced paid reservations to 765-3407.

"Cold War Crisis: The U-2 Incident" exhibit details the story of Francis Gary Powers, a U-2 pilot flying photographic reconnaissance missions for the CIA. His plane was downed by a Soviet surface-to air missile on May 1, 1960 and he was convicted of being a spy and held in Russian prison until February 11, 1962, when he was dramatically exchanged for a Soviet spy in New York, in the first Cold War Spy exchange.

American Museum of Science & Energy, 300 S. Tulane Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Monday-Saturday 9AM-5PM; Sunday 1-5PM. For information: 865-576-3200, www.amse.org

There will be an opening reception on Friday, April 8 from 5:30 * 7:30, free and open to the public.

Knoxville Arts and Fine Crafts Center, 1127 Broadway Suite B, Knoxville, TN 37917. For information: 865-523-1401, www.cityofknoxville.org/recreation/arts

The Tennessee Iris Invitational sponsored by James-Ben: Studio and Gallery Art Center will be on display at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center, overlapping the Greene County Iris Festival, May 20-22. A Meet the Artists reception will be held May 1 from 1-3 p.m., followed at 3 p.m. by a Greeneville High School band concert. Featured works include reverse painting on plexiglas, manipulated digital images, oil on canvas, watercolors and sculpture by dozens of artists from across the state. Viewing hours are Monday — Friday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

212 Tusculum Boulevard, Greeneville, TN 37745. Info: 423-638-1679, www.greenevillenpac.com

The Knoxville Watercolor Society will be showing their newest works in a Spring Show and Sale at the Knoxville Museum of Art's Community Gallery from March 18th to May 15th. On Sunday, March 20th an opening reception which is free to the public will take place from 2 to 4 PM. Refreshments will be served.

Call Wilda Clark at 865-588-6828 or the Museum at 865-525-6101 for more information. 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: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

February 17, 2011 (Knoxville, TN) – The Knoxville Museum of Art presents Xiaoze Xie: Amplified Moments March 11–May 15, 2011.
Amplified Moments is the first major U.S. exhibition to survey the work of Xiaoze Xie (pronounced shout-zah shee-ay), an important Chinese contemporary artist. More than 30 works document his achievements in painting, drawing, photography, installation, and video, and represent his use of books and newspapers to symbolize the fragile nature of history and memory.

Although Xie intended to pursue a career in architecture, the violent military crackdown on student protesters at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989 compelled him to shift his energies. He left the People’s Republic of China three years later after completing his training as a painter, and began using symbolic imagery derived from newspapers, decaying books, museum libraries, and media images of current events. For Xie, stacks of printed pages represent not only cultural memory and the passage of time, but the ways in which history is interpreted and recorded according to various belief systems and political agendas.
Xie’s labor-intensive paintings consist of successive layers of pigment applied over several weeks. Working largely from photographs, the artist paints in a manner that is influenced by his camera. Some imagery appears cropped, blurred, and hazy, as if viewed through a photographic lens or perhaps through the filter of memory. The resulting compositions reach near-photographic precision without losing the evidence of the artist’s masterful brushwork.

KMA members are invited to an exhibition preview Thursday, March 10, from 5:30 to 7:30pm. The artists and exhibition curator Dan Mills will present a short gallery talk at 6:30pm. A cash bar will be available.

Admission and parking are free. For more information, contact Angela Thomas at 865.934.2034 or visit www.knoxart.org.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM; Friday, 10AM-8PM; Sunday, 1-5PM. www.knoxart.org