Calendar of Events

The Athens Area Council for the Arts’ Big Time/Small Town Performance Series continues on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 with SAN JOSE TAIKO sponsored by Madison Avenue Compounding Pharmacy.

Since 1973, San Jose Taiko has been mesmerizing audiences with the powerful, spellbinding, and propulsive sounds of the taiko. Inspired by traditional Japanese drumming, San Jose Taiko performers express the beauty and harmony of the human spirit through the voice of the taiko as they weave traditional Japanese sounds with the best of world rhythms. San Jose Taiko merges Japanese, African, Balinese, Latin, and even American rock and jazz to produce an innovative, contemporary sound that transcends cultural boundaries.

Showtime is 7:30 PM at the Athens City Middle School , 200 Keith Lane in Athens , Tennessee .
Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students and are available by phone at 423-745-8781, on line at www.athensartscouncil.org, and at The Arts Center, 320 North White St. in downtown Athens .

Learn how easy it is to be "green" this holiday season! With better choices and small steps we can all help to create a healthier planet this holiday season. Free. Please call (865) 577-4717, ext. 110 to register.

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Grounds and trails open during daylight hours. Call for Visitor Center hours. Information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

The Knoxville Museum of Art celebrates the season with the first-ever holiday display in the Thorne Miniature Rooms, on view until early January 2012.

East Tennessee miniature artisans and Thorne Room experts Annelle Ferguson and Jolie Gaston designed a display which includes eight period vignettes representing the American home during the holidays. The vignettes contain a variety of 1/12 scale furnishings, many of which are adorned with miniature needlework in the form of quilts, samplers, rugs, tablecloths, and chair seats hand crafted by Ferguson. In addition, Ferguson and Gaston transformed one of the KMA’s nine Thorne Miniature Rooms, the Victorian Parlor, by adorning it with a selection of miniature Christmas toys and a small decorated tree based on mid-19th century English designs.

The Knoxville Museum of Art's Thorne Rooms are among America's most well-known miniature diorama groups. They were developed in the 1930s and 40s by Mrs. James Ward Thorne of Chicago. The Knoxville Museum of Art is one of five museums in the country to have a collection of Thorne Rooms.

The museum is located in downtown Knoxville at 1050 World’s Fair Park and is 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, contact Angela Thomas at 865.934.2034 or visit www.knoxart.org.

Children’s Theatre of Knoxville will present a live stage version of the beloved Jean Shepherd film: “A Christmas Story,” for nine performances, Thursdays through Sundays from December 9 through 18.

Ten-year-old Ralphie Parker daydreams of getting a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. But Mother and Ralphie’s old man agree: “You’ll shoot your eye out!” Ralphie’s dreams and schemes come to life on the CTK stage, as he fantasizes about fighting Black Bart, going blind from eating Lifebouy soap, writing the greatestChristmas essay of all time, and much more.

The COMPLETE PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE is:
Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 PM
Saturday, Dec. 10 at 1 PM and 5 PM
Sunday, Dec. 11 at 3 PM
Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7 PM
Friday, Dec. 16 at 7 PM
Saturday, Dec. 17 at 1 PM and 5 PM
and Sunday, Dec. 18 at 3 PM.

Reservations are strongly recommended for all CTK performances. To reserve tickets for the production, e-mail thenumber of adult and child tickets needed, along with your
requested performance date and time, to tickets@childrenstheatreknoxville.com at any time. Or you may call us at (865) 599-5284 between the hours of 10 AM and 5 PM.

TICKETS are $12 per person. CTK is continuing our special Adult & Child Combination rate for this production: If an adult and a child enter together, these two may be admitted for $10 each.
Reservations are strongly recommended for all CTK performances.

The play is being performed at CTK’s theatre in downtown Knoxville, located at 800 Tyson Street.

Virginia Derryberry's "Alchemical Narratives" includes large scale oil on canvas figure paintings that blend narrative elements from mythology and alchemy, the forerunner of modern science. My intent is to suggest multiple interpretations rather than straightforward illustration of a specific narrative.

Clayton Center for the Arts
Blackberry Farm Gallery
Open Monday- Friday 10-6

Denso Gallery, Clayton Center for the Arts
Exhibit open Monday-Friday 10-6

The Tennessee Artists Association is a volunteer organization created by artists for artists of all levels of ability.

Saturday 12/10, Shiny and the Spoon & Kata Hay
Monday 12/12, Vagabond Swing & Elisabeth Pixley-Fink and Andru Bemis
Tuesday 12/13, Mandy Barnett
Wednesday 12/14, The Morgans
Thursday 12/15, John Francis & Les Kerr
Friday 12/16, Megan McCormick & Renee Wahl
Saturday 12/17, Tilford Sellers & Oldest Boy and Girl
Monday 12/19, Kory & Kelsey Wells, Sweet Fancy Moses, and Maggi Vaughn
Tuesday 12/20, The Madelines
Wednesday 12/21, Christabel and the Jons, Rene Moffatt
Thursday 12/22, Wade Hill and the Hillians
Friday 12/23, Todd Steed and the Christmas Sons
Saturday 12/24, Robert Anderson
Tuesday 12/27, The Harp Dogs
Wednesday 12/28, The Skipperdees
Friday 12/30, Oona Love
Saturday 12/31, Naughty Knots
Tuesday 1/3, Barbara Lamb, Caroline Doctorow
Wednesday 1/4 WestWend

The simple joys of an old-fashioned Christmas await Museum of Appalachia visitors through December 24th. Recalling times past when Christmas was a simple family holiday, cabins will be decorated in pioneer style with cedar Christmas trees draped in paper chains, popcorn strings, sweet gum and sycamore balls.

Special holiday exhibits include the Children's Display in the Hall of Fame, with toys and furniture made by loving parents and grandparents; and Granny Irwin's traditional Christmas Crazy Quilt. "Christmas in Old Appalachia" runs from December 3 to December 24.

Christmas shoppers may browse the gift shop for unique regionally hand-crafted items or simply rest by the fireside in wooden rockers. Hot, country-style lunches are served daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Museum restaurant; home-made holiday desserts are available all day.

The Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day in December except for Christmas Day. It is located 16 miles north of Knoxville, one mile east of I-75, exit 122.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present its National Juried Exhibition of 2011, a new exhibition featuring selected works from 38 artists in the Southeast and Midwest . The National Juried Exhibition was developed in 2006 to provide a forum for local artists to compete on a national scale and display their highest quality work. The exhibition features both traditional and non-traditional work and will be displayed at the Emporium Center Gallery from December 2, 2011 - January 27, 2012. A public reception will take place on Friday, December 2, from 5:00-9:00 PM with a brief awards ceremony at 6:00 PM in which $1,000 in cash awards will be announced.

The reception on Friday, December 2, is free and open to the public, and complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be served. The National Juried Exhibition of 2011 is on display December 2, 2011 - January 27, 2012 at the Emporium Center , 100 S. Gay Street , downtown Knoxville . Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM with additional hours on Saturdays, December 3 and January 7, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Please note that the Emporium will be closed December 22 – January 1. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit our Web site at www.knoxalliance.com.

Dec. 2 -25, Friday and Saturday 12:00 - 8:00 PM, Sunday 12:00 - 6:00 PM
Dec. 26, 27 and Dec. 29 through Jan. 1, 12:00 - 6:00 PM

general admission $6, children 4 and under free

An exhibition, utilizing audiovisuals and interactives, to explain a major international research project with the goal of demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy. The U.S. ITER Project Office is hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, with partners Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in New Jersey and Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. AMSE Second Level.

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

At the Fairfield Art Guild, 451 Lakeview Drive, Crossville, TN 38558

www.isiksonmez.com