Calendar of Events

The Athens Area Council for the Arts is pleased to present “The Space Between”, an exhibit of artwork by Toneeke Runinwater Henderson, September 7 – October 28, 2011, at The Arts Center, 320 North White Street, in Athens, Tennessee.

The public is invited to meet the artist at an opening reception at The Arts Center on Friday, September 16, 2011 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Toneeke was born and spent her early years in the West before moving to Florida as a teen. She flourished in the prominent art communities there and was encouraged by famed wildlife artist, Guy Coheleach, and Bill Grinstead, known for his floral paintings and painting knife oils. A long time resident of Calhoun , Tennessee , Toneeke has gained a measure of regional and national recognition for her eclectic and prolific approach to her art. Working in almost all media, she has made each her own as she experiments, combines, and synthesizes her life’s experience. From delicate watercolor landscapes to large scale textural assemblages, she strives to exceed boundaries and explore the “challenges of her heart and mind”. Manipulated photography, sculptures using traditional and found media, and texturized acrylic paintings are all used to define thoughts and explore ideas. Also a spiritual therapist, certified in several techniques, she uses these skills to encourage self-healing through art classes designed to help others remove creative blocks or work through issues by the process of directional and meditational art therapy.

The Arts Center is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. For more information or directions, call The Arts Center at 423-745-8781, or visit the website at www.athensartscouncil.org.

Blackberry Farm Gallery presents
Surface, Inside-Out
by Alison Oakes
September 6, 2011 through September 30, 2011
Reception for Last Friday Artwalk,
Friday, September 30, 2011 6-8PM

The UT Downtown Gallery is pleased to present the work of Scott Sherk in this exhibition of sound sculptures, soundscapes and field recordings. Mr. Sherk lives and works in Allentown , PA and is a Professor of Art at Muhlenberg College. Mr. Sherk has also exhibited internationally, completing sound projects in Iceland and Italy and his work has also been shown in several exhibitions at the Kim Foster Gallery in New York City .

Mapping sound explores ideas about the representation of space through the use of sound. If sculpture is an exploration of space through form, in these works of sound sculpture, sound becomes the primary focus of the exploration of three-dimensional space.

Included in the exhibition will be a sound drawing in eight channels of field recordings of New York City . This three-dimensional drawing with sound in space uses vector based amplitude panning of three sound sources over eight speakers. Also presented are several sculptural shapes that contain soundscapes of natural sounds in identifiable spaces. These works play with ideas about perspective and the perception of space through sound. Recent works that juxtapose video images with audio will also be presented for listening with headphones.

Scott Sherk will perform a live set of field recordings and audio manipulations along with video actualization of ambient sound during the First Friday Opening event on September 2, at 7:00pm in the UT Downtown Gallery, 106 South Gay Street.

Please join us for a First Friday Opening reception with the artist, September 2 from 5:00pm until 9:00pm. Admission is free and the public is welcome.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present "In Absence", an exhibition of new works by Brandon Woods, Emporium Center Artist-in-Residence from April – September 2011. The exhibition opens Friday, September 2, at 5:00 PM in the Balcony of the Emporium Center. This solo exhibition catalogs the six months of Woods’ residency and includes oil paintings and photography. Woods' work explores the imagery of abandoned buildings, portraying them as symptoms of a consumer-driven culture. In a society that is constantly changing, he views abandoned spaces as "tangible fragments of a discarded history...tossed aside and left to be forgotten in the wastelands of time". As a result, in this exhibition he hopes to illuminate mankind to their sense of loss in the face of consumerism and technology.

His process involves digital photography and graphic design software to create digital drawings on which he then bases his paintings. The finished work is minimalistic, incorporating simple forms and pure colors. "Ultimately, the finished paintings are silhouettes and caricatures of the actual environments," says Woods. "They are observations of a forgotten world through the eyes of modern technology, leaving us to ponder the fading memories of our culture, our definition of progress, and what we are willing forsake for it."

Brandon Woods was born in 1987 in Knoxville. He received his B.F.A. at Middle Tennessee State University. He is an award-winning artist, most recently receiving a Personal Development Support grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission. For more information, visit his web site at www.brandonwoodsart.com.

Please note: the Emporium will be closed on Monday, September 5, for the holiday. Arts & Culture Alliance at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM. Information: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com

HoLa Hora Latina is pleased to present “Frutos Latinos II”, an exhibition by Hispanic artists that live and work in the United States, particularly in the southeast region and the Knoxville area. The exhibition is hosted by the Arts & Culture Alliance at the Emporium Center and is on display in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage month in Knoxville and HOLA Festival on September 24. The exhibition opens Friday, September 2, at 5:00 PM in the main gallery of the Emporium Center. Fourteen artists will showcase works in the following media: oil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic, collage, and more. These artists will also display small works at the Knoxville Museum of Art, opening September 15.

This exhibition shows the diversity of media and style produced by contemporary Hispanic artists who explore what it means to now live and work in the United States. The artists included in the exhibition are: Antuco Chicaiza (Ecuador); Rafael Casco (Honduras); Valeria Eiler (Chile); Astrid Galindo (Mexico); Jorge Gómez del Campo (Mexico); Stella C. Martin (Colombia); Aida Reyes (El Salvador); Dina Ruta (Argentina); Patricia Tinajero (Ecuador); Loren Velázquez (Puerto Rico); Eugenio Wade (Argentina); Patty Wade (Argentina); Ruth Chang White (Perú); and Jorge Yances (Colombia).

“Frutos Latinos II” will be displayed in the main gallery of the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street. An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on September 2 from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and wine. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, September 5, for the holiday. For more information: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com.

Bliss Home will feature Todd Witcher for September’s First Friday. A reception will be held at Bliss Home, 29 Market Square, from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, September 2. Witcher is executive director for Discover Life in America. DLIA is a small non-profit organization based in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Its goal is to learn of all the species that call the Smokies their home and share the information with scientists and the public. With his nature-focused career, Witcher pulls from his surroundings to create his artwork. This month enjoy photographs of the Ferns of the Smokies. Each fern is a new scientific finding and the high-resolution photographs allow every detail to be seen. Witcher will be featured beginning September 2 and remain through the month.

For more information, contact Anne at anne@shopinbliss.com
Bliss; www.shopinbliss.com; 865-216-1237; 24 Market Square; Knoxville, TN 37902

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition of watercolor paintings by local artist Thomas H. Windham. This collection of works chronicles the history, challenges, and accomplishments of this artist, who has a neuromuscular disorder that makes this exhibition special.

An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on September 2 from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and wine.

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.

Featuring nineteenth century Tennessee-made earthenware and stoneware
Tennessee Turned: Earthenware and Stoneware Made in East Tennessee 1800-1900 is a major exhibition of nineteenth-century pots made in East Tennessee. This once-in-a-lifetime grouping of more than 200 distinctive regional pieces will make for an unforgettable exploration of this chapter of Tennessee history.
“This pottery, of which we are justifiably proud, provides a unique link in the continuum of the American potting tradition as it spread across the United States.”

The exhibit will explore all aspects of nineteenth-century pottery production in East Tennessee, as well as featuring comparative examples from other parts of the state. Visitors will learn how to “read” a pot, how a pot was made in the nineteenth-century, the difference between earthenware and stoneware, and the importance of pottery for households.

On Friday, June 3, ETHS will host the Smoky Mountain Pottery Festival at the History Center for an opening reception, pottery demonstrations, and a viewing of the Tennessee Turned exhibit. Two special “Pottery Day” events to be held June 25 and September 17 will invite the public to bring in pottery objects they may have in their families for possible identification and to be documented photographically for historical purposes.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: Monday-Friday: 9AM-4PM; Saturday: 10AM-4PM; Sunday: 1-5PM. For information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

Now in its fifth year, this world-class exhibition of 25 large-scale sculptures can be viewd in downtown Knoxville and the McGhee Tyson Airport. The 2011 exhibition juror will be John Henry and will feature up to 35 large-scale, outdoor sculptures. The selected sculptures will be exhibited in downtown Knoxville. For more information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com