Calendar of Events

The Tennessee Volunteer Gourd Society (TVGS) will hold its 6th annual spring gourd festival entitled Home Grown & Hand Made at the Bledsoe Community Complex. The complex is located at 234 Allen P Deakins Rd, Pikeville, TN 37367. This show is a good opportunity for the public to meet regional gourd artisans, crafters and growers. Admission to the event is free to the public and RV parking is available on the grounds. As our theme indicates, all products displayed and demonstrated will be “home grown” and “hand made”. Several gourd growers from the region will be displaying and selling a marvelous variety of gourds--all dried and ready for crafting. Crafters use gourds to create masks, decorative vessels, statues, seasonal ornaments and elegant objects d’art. A ribbon competition will be held this year with approximately 22 classes and judging by American Gourd Society certified judges according to the AGS judging criteria. There will be gourd crafting workshops and demonstrations available throughout the 3 day event. Some techniques used in crafting gourds are pyrography, pine needle weaving, silk dyes, acrylic painting and decoupage. The Tennessee Volunteer Gourd Society is the Upsilon Chapter of the American Gourd Society. We are a 501(c)(3) organization. Our purpose is to band together those persons who are interested in the history, horticulture, culture, uses and art/crafting of gourds. For information about the festival and the TVGS, visit our website www.tennesseevolunteergourdsociety.org.

Outdoor KnoxFest is a three-day urban adventure for people of all ages and skill levels to experience Knoxville from a bicycle seat, paddle board, canoe, trail, climbing wall and more. Teaming with the Dogwood Arts Festival, Outdoor KnoxFest will be Friday, April 19 through Sunday, April 21, 2013 and will benefit the Legacy Parks Foundation.

Saturday, April 20
9:00 am Pickel Road Rides — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
9:00 am Urban Wilderness Trail Run — Knoxville Urban Wilderness
10:00 am Bike Maintenance Clinic — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
10:00 am Rock Climbing 101 Clinic — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
11:00 am Fly Fishing 101 Clinic — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
11:00 am Urban Wilderness Hike — Knoxville Urban Wilderness
11-4 pm Get Out & Play Activities — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
12:00 pm “First Time in the Woods” Mountain Bike Ride — Knoxville Urban Wilderness
1:00 pm “Where’s the Trail?” South Knox Mountain Bike Ride — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
2:00 pm Disc Golf Clinic — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
2:00 pm Urban Wilderness Hike — Fort Dickerson Park
3:00 pm Fly Fishing 101 — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
3:00 pm “Bikes ‘N Blooms” Scenic Bike Ride South — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
3:00 pm Advanced Mountain Bike Ride — Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness
4:00 pm Get on the Greenway Runs — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
4:00 pm Group Paddle on the River — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
4-10 pm Twilight Criterium Road Race — Downtown/Depot & Gay Street

Sunday, April 21
9:00 am Bike Maintenance Clinic on the Trail — Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness
11-4 pm Mountain Bike Checkpoint Race — Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness
2:00 pm Sunday Singles Disc Golf Tournament — Morningside Park
2:00 pm “Where’s the Trail?” North Knox Mountain Bike Ride — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
2:00 pm Urban Wilderness Scramble — Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness
2:00 pm Group Paddle on the River — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center
3:00 pm “Bikes ‘N Blooms” Scenic Bike Ride North — Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center

The Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center located on Volunteer Landing will be the hub for this year's mix of outdoor recreational venues that encourages people of all ages and levels of experience to participate. From guided trail rides, runs, hikes and paddles, the festival showcases Knoxville’s outdoor amenities with a special spotlight on the Urban Wilderness, a 1,000-acre urban playground only minutes from downtown. The event is produced by Legacy Parks Foundation, a Knoxville-based non-profit actively working to make East Tennessee a recreational destination of the Southeast. For more details and to register for the events visit OutdoorKnoxville.com.

Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center
www.gsmheritagecenter.org or call 865-448-0044

April 19-20 Smoky Mountain Fiber Arts Festival: Vendors, classes, demonstrations and more for fiber arts enthusiasts.
Visit www.smokymountainfiberartsfestival.org for more information.

A fundraiser at the Laurel

Preview, 6:00-9:00 PM on Friday - $10 members, $15 non-members.
Refreshments, beverages and music - tickets for the preview event are limited.

Sale, 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM on Saturday

Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37916. 865-522-5851, www.jubileearts.org

The Townsend Artisan Guild, Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center and Blount Partnership are presenting the fourth annual Smoky Mountain Fiber Arts Festival at the Heritage Center in Townsend Tennessee. This festival is an interactive fiber arts event ranging from the source of the fiber to finished products. Activities include animal exhibitions and spinning fur into fiber, educational demonstrations of fiber processes, hands-on projects for children and adults, classes and workshops, fiber arts market of competed fiber goods and fiber arts supplies, and information about local fiber activities, businesses, and instructional resources. Further information is available on www.smokymountainfiberartsfestival.org.

The best of local humor returns in Forbidden Knoxville Goes Psycho - a musical satire of all things Knoxvegas. Flying Anvil Theatre presents this no-holds-barred cabaret skewering the foibles and follies of naughty local newsmakers and politicians using songs from Carly Rae Jepsen to Elvis to Broadway.
Stacey Campfield? Check. UT Frat boys' unusual drinking habits? Check.TVA, local news casts, wine in grocery stores? They're all covered.

The show is produced by Flying Anvil Theatre's Executive Director Staci Swedeen and musical directed by Christopher Hamblin. Rounding out the cast are Dana Wham, Krisha Newport, Jim Richardson and Bill Howard.
Forbidden Knoxville Goes Psycho runs Friday and Saturday, April 12 and 13, Friday April 19 and Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27. All shows are at 10 PM. Tickets are $15 at the door. Big Fatty's is located at 5005 Kingston Pike. Seating is limited and reservations can be made by calling (865) 219-8317.

Farragut and feeder schools
Exhibit Reception - April 19, 6:30-8:00 PM

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

Bliss Home is pleased to present Nature's Splash of Colors, an exhibit by international award winning photographer, Dennis Sabo. Nature's Splash of Colors is an interpretation of the "growing interest and concern for our environmental impact and fragile ecosystems". Each photo is taken of natural, common subjects which are refined into an interpretive collage of color, motion and textures.

Dennis Sabo hails from Loudon, Tennessee where he specializes in contemporary fine art abstract, landscape and seascape photography. Dennis' photography has been featured in a variety of books and magazines, like Blue Planet, Living Southern Style and Ocean Conservancy.

Bliss Home 29 Market Square Knoxville, TN 37902
Friday, April 5th, 2013 through the end of the month
Opening Reception: Friday, April 5th, 2013 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary snacks and drinks will be served.

The Art Market Gallery of Knoxville will present two exhibits in April: a show of recent works by painter/printmaker Gay Davis Bryant and wood-turner Janis Proffitt, both of Knoxville, and the annual Members Silent Auction, which is a Dogwood Arts Festival Featured Event.

A First Friday opening reception for the exhibits is planned for 5:30 to 9 p.m., Friday, April 5, with complimentary refreshments and live folk and “new grass” music on guitar and ukelele by Molly Rochelson. The reception also opens bidding on a large variety of works by gallery artists and artisans for the annual Members Silent Auction, which will run April 5 – 28.

The Art Market Gallery is located at 422 South Gay St., next to the Downtown Grill & Brewery, and a few doors away from Mast General Store. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday. The gallery is handicapped accessible. For more information, call 865-525-5265, or visit artmarketgallery.net, or facebook.com/Art.Market.Gallery.

The Annual Members Silent Auction at the Art Market Gallery will be held April 5-28. This Dogwood Arts Festival Featured Event allows visitors to bid on original artworks by the gallery’s 60 professional artists for a chance to buy them at a fraction of their value. Some 60 items, running the gamut from paintings to pottery, will be available for bidding. This year, in response to requests by patrons, the auction will take place during a longer period of time than in the past.

The first day of bidding on auction items coincides with the monthly First Friday Reception from 5:30 to 9 p.m. April 5, to which the public is invited. The reception also gives the public an opportunity to meet many of the gallery’s artists as well as enjoy the complimentary refreshments and live music.

Member owned and operated by more than 60 regional artists, the Art Market Gallery has been a cultural icon in Knoxville for 30 years. The handicapped-accessible gallery is situated at 422 S. Gay St., next to the downtown Grill & Brewery and a few doors down from Mast General Store. Gallery hours are 11a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 865-525-5265, visit artmarketgallery.net, or facebook.com/Art.Market.Gallery.

Mystery and Mayhem Dinner Theater is teaming up with Volunteer Princess Cruises to present a memorable dining experience filled with mystery, deception and a delicious meal.
“Murder at the Café Noir” is an interactive murder mystery that will be performed while guests enjoy a three-course plated dinner and cruise the still waters of the Tennessee River. The Knoxville skyline creates the perfect scene for this show that is sure to keep the audience guessing.
This unforgettable evening will take place every Thursday night in April and May, beginning on April 4, 2013. The yacht departs from Volunteer Landing Marina at 7:00 pm. For only $59.95 per person, guests not only receive a fantastic meal on a two hour cruise, but they also experience a chilling show in a fun atmosphere that cannot be beat.
Reservations must be made in advance for the cruises and can be made by calling the yacht’s office at (865) 541-4556 or online at www.volunteerprincess.com.

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.