Calendar of Events

April 4 to April 27, the CACE Galleries at the Shanks Center for the Arts will exhibit the work of Fairfield Glade resident, John Simms, who is recognized by the Portrait Society of America and the international Stroke of Genius as a painter of heirloom portraits. Simms’ paintings in acrylic, charcoal, oil, and watercolor range from still life compositions to portraits that depict the likeness and persona of his subject. Other creations by Simms represent unrecorded historical facts and portray positive values shared by all cultures.

The opening reception with refreshments is First Thursday, April 4 from 5 to 7 PM in the Warehouse Gallery located at 140 North Main Street in Crossville near the historic Depot and Taylor Hotel. During April, the Shanks Center is open Wednesday – Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM. Parking is available behind the building at Taylor and Thurman Avenues.

The perfect “gals night out” play by the Emmy and Oscar winning creator of True Blood, Six Feet Under and American Beauty. The nosy, pot-smoking sister. The “ugly” middle school sidekick. The religious cousin. The lesbian future sister-in-law. The friend with the bad reputation. Five reluctant bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, trying to avoid the over-the-top reception taking place in the backyard of a Knoxville, Tennessee estate. As the day goes on, these very different women realize they have more in common than they think!

Clarence Brown Theatre / Carousel Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com. For tickets: 865-974-5161, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

The Department of Fine Arts at Tennessee Wesleyan College and the Athens Community Theater announce their joint production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare on April 4-13, 2013 in the Sue E. Trotter Theater at The Arts Center in Athens, Tennessee.

Shakespeare set his play long ago in Athens, Greece. This town & gown production also takes place long ago – in Athens, Tennessee! The story unfolds in 1822, the year of Athens’ founding. The female lovers, their families, and their leader, Theseus, are the Cherokee who lived in this area for generations. The male lovers wooing the women are Mountain men who have come down from the hills. They have new neighbors, the Scotch-Irish American settlers who have come seeking new lands and a new life. The music of Felix Mendelssohn is featured throughout the production.

The play is directed by Dr. Eric Love, Assistant Professor of Theater and Speech. Musical direction is provided by Dr. Nathan Windt, Assistant Professor of Music. The cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a mixture of student and community actors.

Show dates are April 4,5,6,11,12,13 at 7:30 and April 7 at 2:00. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for students and are available by phone at 423-745-8781, at www.athensartscouncil.org, and at The Arts Center, 320 North White Street in Athens, TN.

The Town of Farragut Arts Council presents Barbara Gray as the featured artist for March and April. Her work is featured in specially designed cases on the second floor of the rotunda in the Farragut Town Hall.

A graduate of the Memphis Academy of Arts, Gray's exhibit highlights drawings and paintings that feature people and abstract elements that are subjects in much of her work and contain expressive light and energy, distortion and sometimes humor.

The Farragut Town Hall is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located at 11408 Municipal Center Drive directly across from the Farragut Branch Post Office.

Slated for April 2-19, the Annual Student Art Show at Pellissippi State Community College showcases the best works of students at all levels of art studies. The juried exhibit gives students not only the opportunity to share their works with the community but also the chance to be awarded prizes for their creations.

This year’s exhibit offers a diverse selection of art, including drawings, paintings, watercolors, sculptures, ceramics, and blacksmithing pieces, as well as 2-D and 3-D designs.

The Annual Student Art Show is free, and the community is encouraged to attend. The event is in the gallery of the Bagwell Center for Media and Art at Pellissippi State’s Hardin Valley Campus. Regular exhibit hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

An opening reception and award ceremony, also free and open to the public, takes place in the gallery on April 2, 3-5 p.m.

For additional information about the exhibit or The Arts at Pellissippi State, call (865) 694-6400 or visit www.pstcc.edu/arts.

MFA Thesis Exhibitions

April 1 - 5: Jessica Brooke Anderson, Ashton Ludden, and Clifton Riley
Friday April 5, 5pm-8pm

April 8 - 12: Natalie Harrison, Alex McClurg, Hannah Short
Friday April 12, 6-9pm

April 15 - 19: Alicia Faciane, Brandon Donahue, Gretchen Bundy, Kelly Porter
Reception Friday April 19, 6pm

Gallery Hours: Monday through Friday 11:30AM-5:00PM, closed Saturday and Sunday.

Ewing Gallery of Art & Architecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
1715 Volunteer Blvd., Knoxville, TN 37996-2410
ph: 865.974.3200

The Knoxville Museum of Art presents Tradition Redefined: The Larry and Brenda Thompson Collection of African-American Art March 22 through June 16, 2013.

Larry and Brenda Thompson have amassed a remarkable collection of art by African Americans from around the nation. The strength of the Thompson’s collecting process lies in their considered attention to artists who have typically not been recognized in the traditional narratives of African American art.

In addition to acknowledged “masters,” the Thompsons have collected works by artists who have been labeled “emerging,” “unknown,” “outsider,” “eccentric,” “vernacular,” “regional” and more. The result is a collection that redefines the landscape of American art, offering a more in-depth, inclusive understanding of African American artists and their aesthetic and social concerns.

Knoxville Museum of Art 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.

As their time at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts draws to a close, artists Heather Ashworth, Jason Burnett, Erin Castellan, Ashley Gilreath and David Katz share a collection of new work developed during their 11-month stay on campus.

The Annual Artists-in-Residence Exhibition opens with a gallery reception on Saturday, March 9, from 6 to 9 p.m. in Blain Galleries. The exhibition will be on display from March 9 through May 4, and both the reception and exhibition are free and open to the public. This year’s Residents will exhibit works that include functional wood furniture, whimsical pottery, ceramic installations, embroidered paintings, metalsmithing and enameling.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts
556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738
865.436.5860

Opening on March 1 is an exhibit of art quilts entitled “WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS”, produced by Sisters with Artistic Attitude, a sub group of the Village Quilters Guild of Loudon County, TN. This exhibit will remain on display through April 30, 2013. Members of the group embarked on a year and half long project to fashion individual quilts from the pieces and blocks given to them from the other group members.

Each member chose a theme and/or color scheme which formed the basis for the contributions. Each individual created a block each month for another member. Then came the challenge as each member had to merge the contributed blocks of various styles and techniques into a cohesive and attractive finished art quilt.

The public is invited to meet the quilters at an opening reception for “With A Little Help from My Friends” on March 8, 2013, from 5:30 – 7:00 pm at The Arts Center. Light refreshments will be served.

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.

"2 Many Pixels” photo gallery is proud to present "What She Saw", a beautiful mosaic of images by 3 young women and Knoxville photographers: Shelby Gordon, Erika Smith and Rachel Vykukal. This exhibit is an exploration of the female sensitivity and its transcription through the photographic medium. The photographs are all for sale, gallery archival prints, signed and numbered by the artists. The photos will remain on the walls throughout the months of March and April.
Reception on Friday night, April 5th., 6pm to 9:30pm
"2 Many Pixels"130 West Jackson avenue, suite 201, Knoxville, TN 37902
The gallery is open weekdays 10 am to 5 pm and after hours or weekends by appointment at 917 532 4913 or patrice@2manypixelsphoto.com

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.