Calendar of Events

Saturday, AUG 27 at 2:00 PM and Monday, AUG 29 at 6:30 PM

SEEKING: Cast of 3 adult male (play 70's,late 30's+), 2 adult female (play 60's +, late 30's +) and one youth male actor (play age 13)
Requirements: Cold reading from script. Recent headshot or photo.
Performances: October 7 - 23 , 2011

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

Featuring artists John Bissonette, Brian Jobe, and Greg Pond. Contemporary Focus is an annual KMA series that serves as a vital means of recognizing, supporting, and documenting the development of contemporary art in East Tennessee. Each year the series presents emerging artists who work in new and experimental ways. Contemporary Focus 2011 features three artists who work through different methods but share an aesthetic concern exploring concepts of space in innovative ways. John Bissonette uses traditional materials such as paint and canvas to produce colorful scenes of urban decay. His images reference banners or flags from abandoned storefronts and display windows once used to attract the attention of passersby, but now exist as mute abstract shapes. Brian Jobe transforms three-dimensional objects using brightly colored zip-ties. The thousands of ties extend otherwise ordinary objects into new, imposing forms. Greg Pond works with computer technology to program interactive, responsive sculptures, often using sound as a primary medium. His structures act as generative bases for tracking, manipulating, and projecting sounds made by audience members as they move through the exhibition space.

Opening reception is Thursday, August 25. KMA members are invited from 6-7pm, with the event opening to the public at 7pm. Artists will be on hand for questions and a cash bar will be provided.

Throughout the run of Contemporary Focus 2011, each artist will present a lecture or workshop about their artwork:
Saturday, September 17, 1-4pm Artist in Action with Greg Pond
Friday, September 23, 1-4pm Artist in Action with Brian Jobe
Wednesday, October 19, noon-1pm, Dine & Discover with John Bissonette
Saturday, October 22, 1-4pm, Artist in Action with John Bissonette

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM; Friday, 10AM-8PM; Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

The exhibition consists of faxes submitted by nearly 100 artists sent to the initial showing of FAX at The Drawing Center, New York, along with seminal examples of early telecommunications art. The KMA will invite additional artists to submit works through a working fax line in the gallery throughout the duration of the exhibition. All the transmitted pages will be archived or displayed together with the active fax machine, which may produce new faxes from invited artists at any moment. The result—an ongoing cumulative project—is a show concerned with ideas of reproduction, obsolescence, distribution, and mediation. Here, reproducible yet erratic faxes displace traditional notions of the hand‚ still commonly associated with the medium of drawing, and foreground the role of drawing as a generative process.

FAX is a traveling exhibition co-organized by The Drawing Center, New York, and Independent Curators International (ICI), New York, and circulated by ICI. The guest curator is João Ribas. The exhibition and the accompanying catalogue were made possible, in part, by members of the Drawing Room, a patron circle founded to support innovative exhibitions in The Drawing Center’s project gallery; and by support to ICI from The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and ICI Benefactor members Agnes Gund, Gerrit and Sydie Lansing, and Barbara and John Robinson.

Opening reception is Thursday, August 25. KMA members are invited from 6-7pm, with the event opening to the public at 7pm.

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

The three Magrath sisters gather Mississippi to await news of their grandfather, who is living out his last hours in the local hospital. Lenny, the oldest, is unmarried at thirty with diminishing marital prospects; Meg, the middle sister, is back after a failed singing career on the West Coast; while Babe, the youngest, is out on bail after having shot her husband in the stomach. Overflowing with humor and infectious high spirits, this Pulitzer Prize winner is also, unmistakably, the tale of a very troubled family escaping their past to seize the future.

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

Now on display at Farragut Town Hall, Farragut Arts Council member Pam Ziegler is showcasing her collection of "Woodland Creature and Dogwood Blossom Pottery" by Douglas James Ferguson. Founder of Pigeon Forge Pottery (which closed in 2000), Ferguson created internationally known handmade pottery for more than 50 years. In addition, Farragut resident Carlyle Urello has loaned her collection, "Butterflies of the World," by McCulloch.

For more information about this exhibit or to access a Featured Artist of the Month application, please contact Lauren Cox at lauren.cox@townoffarragut.org or 966-7057 or visit www.townoffarragut.org.

The Carpetbag Theater presents the 2011 Home Grown at the Garden Series consisting of touring works, local artists, and original works of The Carpetbag Theatre.

On August 25 and 28, The Carpetbag theater will present The Cooking Show con Karimi & Comrades. The Cooking Show con Karimi & Comrades is a live cooking performance for your mind, heart, stomach & funny bone that the Associated Press called “a globally flavored recipe that packs some punch lines.” Chef Mero Cocinero Karimi creates revolutionary recipes LIVE onstage, serving up stories and delicious culinary samples, guaranteeing every audience member their own satisfying taste.

Other Home Grown at the Garden performances:
September 8 - Theatre of War - FREE!
September 11 - Readings from “Speed Killed My Cousin”
September 18 - Café Noir in the Garden

At Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum, 2743 Wimpole Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37914. For tickets, call 865-523-7512 or visit www.KnoxTIX.com. For more information: thecarpetbagtheatre@gmail.com, 865-544-0447, www.carpetbagtheatre.org.

The Knoxville Museum of Art hosts an exhibition of original Haitian art in the Community Gallery through September 4. Works in the exhibition will be sold at a silent benefit auction on Sunday, August 28 2-4pm. Must be present to bid. The sale will also include works done by local artists. The exhibition and sale are organized by God’s Planet for Haiti to benefit the Community Elementary School of Hatte-Cotin, Haiti. For questions regarding the artwork, or the upcoming silent auction, contact Jemps Maignan at 856.257.7680 or Jemps@GodsPlanet4Haiti.org. The KMA Community Gallery is available to not-for-profit organizations.

1050 World’s Fair Park; open to the public Tuesday through Saturday 10 am–5 pm, and Sunday 1 pm-5 pm. Admission and parking are free. For more information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

By Agatha Christie - Directed by: Windie Wilson
Performances: Oct 14-30, 2011
Audition Times: Saturday, Aug 20, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Sunday, Aug 21, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Sunday, Aug 28, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Available Roles - 5 men and 3 women of varying ages
Please bring a headshot or recent photo, if possible. Resumes are helpful but not required. No prepared monologue is needed; auditions will be cold readings from the script.
Auditions will held at the theatre, 319 N. Gay Street [directions]. For more information, call 544-1999 or email info@theatreknoxville.com. www.theatreknoxville.com

Booder Barnes is the featured artist this month at Union Avenue Books. There will be a reception on Friday, August 5, at the bookstore 5-9pm. His work will be on display through the end of the month.

517 Union Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902. 865-951-2180

Bliss Home will feature Ryan Blair for August’s First Friday. A reception will be held at Bliss Home, 29 Market Square, from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, August 5. Blair not only devotes his time to painting on his own, but also teaching. “When not in the studio, he teaches art full time to 650 local elementary students.” His inspiration comes from the imagery of Tennessee. Living in the foothills of East Tennessee provides some of the best shapes and colors to mirror in his work. He pulls from adventures such as exploring the local mountain sides, streams or paddling his canoe.

24 Market Square, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: anne@shopinbliss.com, 865-216-1237, www.shopinbliss.com, www.ryanblairart.com

The Art Market Gallery of Knoxville will offer two special exhibits in conjunction with this year’s East Tennessee History Fair, which will be presented by the East Tennessee Historical Society on August 20. “Who, What, Where in East Tennessee” is an interactive exhibit opening August 5 at the gallery. It will feature artworks in a variety of mediums, with each representing either a prominent person, event or place in East Tennessee. This exhibit invites visitors to guess who, what or where is portrayed in each of the artworks and to enter their guesses for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to the gallery. The winner will be announced on Sunday, August 21.
A second exhibit, “Reflections of an American Tragedy,” a collection of Civil War paintings and limited-edition canvas giclees by award-winning artist Marie Merritt, will be on display in the lobby of the Art Market Gallery. Marie has a deep fascination with history, especially the Civil War. She says of these paintings, “Although a controversial and tumultuous time in our nation’s history, those hardships and strife shaped much of who we are today: people of faith, character and strength. I seek to tell those stories with understanding and honor.”

The gallery will host an opening reception with light refreshments and live music for these exhibits on Friday, August 5, from 5:30-9:00pm. This reception will also mark the opening of the gallery’s August featured member-artists exhibits, paintings by Jay Hollopeter and jewelry by Kathy Seely.

Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11AM-6PM; Sunday 1-5PM. For information: 865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net

Art Market Gallery of Knoxville is pleased to present an exhibit of recent works by Jay Hollopeter of Tazewell and Kathy Seely of Oliver Springs.

Jay Hollopeter, who holds a BA in Studio and Commercial Art from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, creates vividly colored, whimsical paintings that include three-dimensional elements. He says, “My paintings come from a long time passion for humor, color and simplicity. I strive for art that is approachable, humorous, slightly biting and subversive all at the same time.” In addition to paining, Jay is an accomplished graphic designer and illustrator.

Kathy Seely creates unique mixed-media jewelry and beaded sculpture. Using a range of materials, from metal pieces that she fabricates to stones, old buttons, vintage glass and tiny glass beads, she employs a multitude of beading and jewelry skills to craft her works. She says, “I seek to find new and unexpected ways to combine the beautiful, the mundane and the unusual into very wearable and very special pieces of jewelry that invoke a personal relationship between the object and the wearer.” Kathy has exhibited nationally and has works in many public and private collections and her art has been published in numerous books and magazines.

A First Friday Reception for the exhibit is planned for August 5 from 5:30-9 pm with complimentary refreshments and live music performed by Grayson Dagnan. Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11AM-6PM; Sunday 1-5PM. For information: 865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net