Calendar of Events

Knox County Public Library’s Brown Bag Green Book series continues as Rabbi Beth Schwartz from Temple Beth-el discusses The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Berry in the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street.

“Thomas Berry showed great insight into the sanctity of the universe, long before our current interest in the environment,” Schwartz observes. “He saw that modern people find it hard to relate to that holiness, and he sees the problems from both rational science and contemporary religious institutions. Berry eloquently discusses what we need to do to reconnect with a sacredness that is larger than ourselves.”

A leading scholar, cultural historian, and Catholic priest who spent more than fifty years writing about our engagement with the Earth, Berry possessed prophetic insight into the rampant destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of species. In this book he makes a persuasive case for an interreligious dialogue that can better confront the environmental problems of the twenty-first century.

Copies of the books from this series are available at the Library. For more information, please call Emily Ellis at 215-8723 or visit www.knoxlib.org

At Union Ave Books. Local book-lovers will read their favorite passages from the novels of Cormac McCarthy. Scheduled readers to be introduced by Charlie Thomas include RB Morris, Jack Neely, Wes Morgan, Steve Dupree, Norris Dryer, and Melinda Meador. Please feel free to bring a book (or buy one at the store) and share with us your own favorite passage.
www.knoxvillewritersguild.org

The Knoxville Museum of Art presents Art by the Kids, For the Kids in the KMA Education Gallery. The exhibition showcases artworks created by the oncology and hematology patients of East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Organized by University of Tennessee Dance Marathon, the exhibition is part of a year-long effort to raise funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer and other blood diseases. UTK’s Dance Marathon specifically benefits the oncology and hematology patients at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. For more information please visit activities.utk.edu/dance-marathon.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM; Sunday, 1-5PM. For information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

1st through 3rd Grades. Have you ever heard an Indigo Bunting sing or a chipmunk chip? Have you ever felt the bark of a sycamore tree or the leaves from a beech tree? Join us and we explore the natural world using our five senses, and yes, we will even be using our taste buds! To register for camps contact Jennifer Roder: 865-577-4717, ext. 130 or jroder@ijams.org

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Grounds and trails open during daylight hours. Visitor Center: Monday: by appointment only for tour groups and school trips; Tuesday-Saturday: 9AM-5PM; Sunday: 1-5PM (March 1 - November 30). Information: www.ijams.org

Please join us for an afternoon of refreshments and fine art! Meet the artist, Wendy West, and see her show, “Then and Now: A Retrospective,” featuring her work in glass, pottery, and pastels at the Townsend Artisan Gallery from 4 to 6 pm on Saturday, August 13.

Townsend Artisan Gallery, 7277 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Townsend, TN 37882. Information: 865-448-8018, www.townsendartisangallery.com

The Ewing Gallery of Art & Architecture at The University of Tennessee announces its current summer exhibition, About Architecture. This exhibit is comprised of works from the large permanent collectionthat incorporate issues and aspects of architecture, whether it is historical, contemporary, fictional, or for documentation purposes. Some of the works on display have not been shown before. A sample of artists selected include Roy Lichtenstein, Walker Evans, Edward Westcott, and Joseph Delaney. This exhibition is free and open to public. Summer Hours until August 16, 2011: Tuesday-Thursday, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM; Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

The Playhouse kicks off its 2011-2012 season with the joyous, fast paced musical comedy "Hairspray." Turn back the clock to 1960's Baltimore when big-hearted, big-haired Tracy Turnblad dances her way onto the Corny Collins Show. With her discovery of a brand new sound comes new friends, new obstacles, and bigger hair. Can Tracy get past her fabulously snobby nemisis, integrate the television show, and snatch the boy of her dreams without mussing her hair? Get your tickets to find out!

Oak Ridge Playhouse, 227 Broadway, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Information and tickets: 865-482-9999, www.orplayhouse.com

The 36th Annual Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair
Voted one of the South’s most popular summer events, Gatlinburg readies itself for the 36th Annual Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair. Over 180 craftspeople will be exhibiting and demonstrating their crafts at the Gatlinburg Convention Center this July 15 through 24. During these dates the Gatlinburg Convention Center transforms into an enormous multi-level community of craftspeople from all over the U.S. The 36th Annual Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair will host some of the country’s finest artists and craftsmen that offer their unique art for sale.

Hours are 10am to 6pm daily and 10am to 5pm on Sundays. Music shows are 12, 2 and 4pm daily 12 and 2pm on Sundays and are included in the admission cost ($6 for Adults and children 12 and under free. Group rates available). For additional information call 865/436-7479 or visit our website at www.craftsmenfair.com

Free and open to the public with an opening reception Friday, July 15, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists' talks at 7 p.m.

Carl Gombert, "Order" - Carl Gombert was born in Brimfield, Ohio in 1959. He started taking painting lessons at the age of 14 with money he earned delivering newspapers. He earned a BFA in Drawing from the University of Akron and an MFA in Painting from Kent State University. He worked as a stagehand before pursuing a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts at Texas Tech University. He has exhibited in more than 150 shows throughout the country, and since 1993 has taught painting, drawing and art history at Maryville College in Tennessee.

Ricky Beene, "Salt of the Earth: The Petros Portraits"
Ricky Beene is a painter from Petros, Tennessee, a small town situated in the Cumberland Mountains. A native Appalachian and teacher by training, Ricky is a self-taught artist who works primarily in acrylics on gessoed hardboard. He has had previous exhibits at Carson Newman College, the Oak Ridge Art Center, and the Emporium Center in Knoxville. "For the last ten years I have been painting portraits of people from my home town in a series called Salt of the Earth:The Petros Portraits. These paintings, currently numbering near 150, depict a large cross-section of the people who live in Petros. I also have been working on a smaller series of brushed ink drawings that are called The Wide-Spot Suite. Together all these pieces represent a single vision of the people of our town. There is a shared bravery and trust poured into the making of these portraits, and I hope that they show something of the struggles and joys of life in a small Appalachian town".

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

Art Exhibit/Artist Reception - Opening: Friday, July 8, 7-9pm - Refreshments provided
Don't Miss This Salt Lake City Artist's Knoxville Debut!

Red Line Gallery, 11519 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37934. Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 11AM-6PM, Saturday 12-4PM. Information: 865-288-0277, www.redlinegallery.net

Recent photographs by Paul Lee

Gallery talk: Friday, July 15, 6:00 PM
Last Friday Art Walk reception: July 29, 6:00-9:00 PM

In the Blackberry Farm Gallery of the Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Hours: M-F 10-5. Information: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

Opening Reception: First Friday July 1, 5:00–9:00 p.m.
2011 marks the 150-year anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War. On view will be 41 paintings, which document the important battles of the Civil War including Gettysburg, Chattanooga, Vicksburg, Shiloh, Chickamauga, and Knoxville among others. The paintings are mixed media collage--part graphics with watercolor and colored pencil merging in the background that portray the realism and tragedy of the Civil War. LeFevre objectively documented each battle and he avoided revealing any personal preference he may have had for the Union or the Confederacy.

Richard LeFevre taught graphic design and illustration courses at The University of Tennessee for 33 years and was the first graphic design faculty member hired by the Department of Art. He continued his professional career while teaching at UT. One of his most enduring interests was the history of the Civil War. He served as President of the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable and was an activeCivil War reenactment soldier. Richard LeFevre died in 2000 and bequeathed this collection to UT’s Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture.

UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Wednesday-Friday: 11AM - 6PM; Saturday: 10AM - 3PM. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown