Calendar of Events

The Knoxville Museum of Art announces the winter series of Alive After Five with nine performances, premiering with The Streamliners Swing Orchestra featuring special guest vocalist R. B. Morris on Friday, January 6, from 6:00 to 8:30 pm.
Alive After Five is a unique live music series presented on thirty or more Fridays per year in four seasonal series. The programs take place in the smoke-free, casually elegant setting of the Great Hall in the Knoxville Museum of Art. There is a live band on stage, seating at tables, two cash bars, food from area restaurants, free freshly popped popcorn, free parking, and a licensed therapeutic masseuse available. Audience members can enjoy listening to music, dancing, and browsing the museum’s art galleries.

Admission to the winter premier of Alive After Five is $12 for general admission and $8 for museum members and college students with ID. Ages 17 and under are admitted free. For more information about the Alive After Five series, please contact Michael Gill at (865) 934-2039.

The 2012 Winter Series Schedule for “Alive After Five”: (all shows 6:00-8:30 pm)

January 6– The Streamliners Swing Orchestra featuring R. B. Morris Big Band Swing
January 13 – Wallace Coleman Classic Chicago-style Blues
January 20 – Jenna & Her Cool Friends Knoxville Blues Challenge Winners
January 27 – Chad Volkers ‘Solar Maximum’ CD Release Party & Tribute to Pat Metheny Guitar jazz
February 10 – Pistol Creek Catch of the Day Rockabilly & western swing
February 17 – “Fat Friday Mardi Gras” with Roux Du Bayou Cajun, zydeco, & swamp pop
February 24 – Brad Walker Orchestra Classic big band music
March 9 – Tall Paul & Crawdaddy “Parrot Head” and tropical rock
March 16 – “St. Patrick’s Day Eve” with Four Leaf Peat Traditional Irish music

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

Drawing from the Museum's extensive collection of ornithological prints, Curator Gerald Dinkins has selected 90 examples of aquatic bird prints by ten artists. In general, the term waterbirds is used to describe species within several worldwide families, and includes the vast array of sea birds and waterfowl. The artists represented are Eleazar Albin (1713-1759), Mark Catesby (1682-1749), Xaviero Manetti (1723-1784), Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), John James Audubon (1785-1851), Prideaux John Selby ((1788-1867), John Gould (1804-1881), Daniel Giraud Elliot (1835-1915), Henry Eeles Dresser (1838-1915), and Rex Brasher (1869-1960). All of the prints are hand-colored and comprise engravings, lithographs, and in the case of Brasher, photogravure.

The following taxonomic groups are represented: Alcidae (Auks, Murres, and Puffins), Procellariiformes (Tubenoses, including Albatrosses, Storm Petrels, Petrels, and Shearwaters), Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Swans), Stercorariidae (Jaegers), Gaviidae (Loons), and Podecipedidae (Grebes). Many of the artworks depict birds interacting in their natural settings, and show the two worlds they occupy – water and sky.

Frank H. McClung Museum, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9AM-5PM; Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-974-2144, http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu

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

Historians have long mulled over the big and small questions surrounding the American Civil War. Scholars and enthusiasts alike look at the 1860s from every angle and still come up with new theories and ideas. As part of a four month sesquicentennial celebration of the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, Knox County Public Library invites the public to join in a free five-part reading and discussion series called “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War.” The library is one of 65 public libraries nationwide receiving grants to host the book discussion series developed by the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Library has multiple copies available for check out of each of the three books being discussed. Attendees are encouraged to bring a bag lunch as well as an appetite for meaningful discussion. All programs begin at noon and occur in the East Tennessee History Center Auditorium, 601 South Gay Street , Knoxville , Tennessee , 37902 :

November 2 at 12 PM, March (2005), by Geraldine Brooks

November 23 at 12 PM, Selections from America’s War: Talking about the Civil War and Emancipation on their 150th Anniversaries (2011), by Edward L. Ayers

January 4 at 12:00 PM, Selections from America’s War: Talking about the Civil War and Emancipation on their 150th Anniversaries (2011), by Edward L. Ayers

January 25 at 12:00 PM, Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam (2002), by James McPherson

February 22 at 12:00 PM, Selections from America’s War: Talking about the Civil War and Emancipation on their 150th Anniversaries (2011), by Edward L. Ayers

For more information about the series please visit www.knoxlib.org/lincoln or contact Mary Pom Claiborne, 865-215-8767.

In observance of the Civil War’s 150th anniversary, Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center is hosting an exhibition from the Tennessee State Museum, Common People in Uncommon Times: The Civil War in Tennessee. The exhibition focuses on how the war affected the lives of Tennesseans through personal stories of participants whose sagas illustrate a land divided.

The narrative of personal struggle and endurance during the Civil War is presented on 10 graphic panels taken from the State Museum’s collection of photographs and artifacts from the era, as well as from other collections across the state. Each panel portrays a different theme: Confederate leaders, Union leaders, African-Americans, civilian home front, common soldiers, war on the water, reconstruction and commemoration.

Admission to the special exhibition is included in the museum admission price, and free for Heritage Center members. For current hours and admission rates, visit www.gsmheritagecenter.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