Calendar of Events

This is the first annual Ijams Hike-a-Thon, a fundraising event for Ijams! Hikers will be able to collect pledges from family and friends and then spend the month of March hiking Ijams Nature Center and the Urban Wilderness Trail. Why? Because you love hiking! To make your miles count! To protect the trails you love! For the exercise! To get your family out on the trail – or just to motivate you! Funds raised will help preserve and protect the environmental and historical resources of Ijams Nature Center and the Urban Wilderness and provide educational opportunities to our local schools and citizens.

Everyone can participate. Young and old, newbie or experienced hiker – anyone who loves hiking and hiking trails or the greenway can participate. Hike as an individual or a team of 2 to 10 people. Ijams Hike-a-Thon runs the entire month of March, 2013.

Saturday, March 30 - HIKE-A-THON: Closing Events
5 p.m. HIKE-A-THON: Closing Hike
6 p.m. HIKE-A-THON: Closing Ceremony
7-10 p.m. HIKE-A-THON: Hikers Ball. After a full month of hiking, it's time to scrape the mud off your boots and kick up your heels at the Hiker's Ball! This event will feature hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and live music from The Bearded. Party attire is optional, but hiking boots are mandatory!

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition by the Tennessee Artists Association (TAA) entitled “March Brushstrokes: Tennessee Artists Association Juried Show”, featuring original art by over 40 Tennessee artists including oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, photography, and mixed media. The exhibition will be displayed at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from March 1-28, 2013. An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on March 1 from 5:00-9:00 PM, and awards for the show will be given at 6:00 PM. “This is TAA’s fourth show at the Emporium Center, and we are very excited about the opportunity to present the breadth and quality of Tennessee artists’ works represented by our members,” says Sharon Gillenwater and her co-chair Michael McKee.

“March Brushstrokes” will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, from March 1-28, 2013. An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on March 1 from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d’oeuvres. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM with additional hours on Saturday, March 2, from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Friday, March 29, for the holiday. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

View the 77 piece new show, "Reflection," on view until March 28. Also on view are wonderful works of imagination by students from Powell area schools.

Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 9AM-5PM; Wednesday & Friday, 10AM-5PM; Saturday, 9AM-1PM. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartctr.com

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition featuring drawings of the human figure by nearly 25 local artists entitled “Body Language”. The juried exhibition includes charcoal, pastels, pencils, inks, watercolors, oil paints, digital imaging on computer tablets, clay, and more and is coordinated by the Knoxville Monday Night Life Drawing Group. "Body Language" will be on display in the Balcony at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from March 1-28, 2013, and an opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on March 1 from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and wine.

“The practice of drawing the human form from personal observation is as valid in the 21st century as it was with the old masters,” says Bobbie Crews, exhibition coordinator. “Artists have always studied life in order to express what is seen and experienced as creative work connecting them to the world.”

Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM with additional hours on Saturday, March 2, from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Friday, March 29, for the holiday. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

The Fountain City Art Center’s theme exhibit, “Reflection,” will run from February 15 – March 28, 2013.
Fountain City Art Center is located in the old library building at 213 Hotel Avenue next to the Fountain City Park.

Public viewing hours are Tuesday and Thursday 9-5; Wednesday and Friday 10-5; and Saturdays 9-1.

February 1 - July 28 "JAPAN 1945: IMAGES BY U.S. MARINE PHOTOGRAPHER JOE O'DONNELL" is a traveling exhibition organized by the Tennessee State Museum that showcases 22 of the most compelling images to document the aftermath of U.S. bombing raids on the Japanese cities struck by the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Artifacts and explanatory panels complete the exhibition. AMSE Lobby.

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

Becoming the Volunteer State, a traveling exhibition of the Tennessee State Museum, Nashville will be on display in the East Tennessee History Center from January 28, 2013 through May 19, 2013.

There will be a preview for ETHS members from 2:00-4:00PM, Sunday, January 27, 2013 and a Brown Bag Lecture and Gallery Tour with exhibit curator Myers E. Brown II, at noon at the East Tennessee History Center on Wednesday, February 6, 2013.

East Tennessee History Center, 601 South Gay Street, Knoxville.
More information online at www.eastTNhistory.org.

January 19 - May 12 "Zoom Into Nano" traveling exhibition offers a hands-on, interactive experience on how scientists see and make things that are too small to see. Nanoscale science and engineering is the process through which materials are manipulated on the molecular scale to generate very, very small structures and devices. Exhibit activities include a magnification station, particle progression, shrink a pattern, atom transporter, shaking solids, infinity crystal, carbon nanotubes, stretch a molecule dissolve a crystal and more. AMSE second level

The American Museum of Science and Energy, located at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge, is open Monday - Saturday from 9 am - 5 pm and Sunday 1 - 5 pm. AMSE admission is Adults $5, Seniors (65+) $4, Students (6 - 17) $3, Children (5 and under) no charge. AMSE members are free.

Elaborate silver and gilt jewelry, as well as carpets and textiles from the Turkomen tribes of Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan are the focus of the current exhibition. The Turkomen are one of the major ethnic groups of Central Asia who traditionally lived a semi nomadic existence, migrating with the seasons to access pasture and fertile land. Both jewelry and textiles were forms of transportable wealth that often served as markers of social position. While tribal lands and traditions have changed and evolved, Turkomen peoples continue to play an important role in the culture of Central Asia.

Hours are Monday-Saturday 9:00AM-5:00PM and Sunday 1:00-5:00PM. Admission is free. McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Drive, Knoxville, 37996. 865-974-2144 or mcclungmuseum.utk.edu.

It's time for parents to register their students for 2013 Homeschool Friday Programs offered two times a month for Grades K-2 and Grades 3-6 at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge. Topics for the interactive programs are the same for each of the specific groups; however, the class time varies as does the cost for the Homeschool Friday Programs. The K-2 classes meet at 10:30 am for one hour with cost of $7 for non-members and $5 for AMSE members. The Grade 3 - 6 classes begin at 12:30 pm and continue for two hours with the cost of $12 for non-members and $9 for AMSE members. For more information and to register for the Homeschool Friday Programs go to www.amse.org or come by AMSE.

May 10 HOMESCHOOL FRIDAY PROGRAM features "Geology" for Grades K-2 at 10:30 am for one hour with cost of $7 for non-members and $5 for AMSE members. Grades 3-6 at 12:30 pm for two hours with the cost of $12 non-members and $9 for AMSE members. Students will learn about the layers of the earth, their composition, depth, temperatures, and their relation to minerals. Activities include testing 9 kinds of minerals and observing 15 kinds of rocks. For more information and registration forms, click www.amse.org or get a flyer at AMSE.

May 24 HOMESCHOOL FRIDAY PROGRAM features "Trees" at Freels Bend Cabin in Oak Ridge for Grades K-2 at 10:30 am for one hour with cost of $7 for non-members and $5 for AMSE members. Grades 3-6 at 12:30 pm for two hours with the cost of $12 for non-members and $9 for AMSE members. Which trees are used to make baseball bats, pencils and Popsicle sticks? Learn about the trees of East Tennessee and how they are used in our lives. Students will learn how to measure a tree's height and diameter in this outdoor class. For more information and registration forms, click www.amse.org or get a flyer at AMSE.

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

Dedicated to the purpose of promoting swing dance.

Wednesdays, lessons at 7:00 PM, open dance at 8:00 PM. Call 865-224-6830 for information.
Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave., Knoxville.

The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority (McGhee Tyson Airport) and the Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville are pleased to present “Arts in the Airport: 75 Years of Making Memories in Aviation,” a new exhibition featuring selected artwork from nearly 40 artists in the East Tennessee region. “Arts in the Airport” was developed to allow regional artists to compete and display work in the most visited site in the area. The selected art features contemporary 2- and 3-dimensional artwork and will be exhibited in the secured area behind McGhee Tyson Airport’s security gate checkpoint from October 12, 2012 – April 11, 2013 with an opening reception on Wednesday, November 7, at 5:00 PM.

A gallery of images may be viewed at www.knoxalliance.com/album/airport_fall12.html.

The Arts & Culture Alliance, with assistance from Dorothy Habel, juried the exhibition with final approval by the Airport Authority. Prizes include $1,000 in awards to be announced at the reception on Wednesday, November 7, at 5:00 PM (awards ceremony at 5:00 PM). For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit www.knoxalliance.com.