Calendar of Events

Spend a Saturday morning at the gardens with Knoxville Botanical Garden Grounds Manager, Mathew McMillan, creating your own garden art. With the sand-casting technique you will be learning in this workshop, you can sculpt simple to elaborate decorative and functional birdbaths and art to fill your gardens.

Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum, 2743 Wimpole Ave, Knoxville, TN 37914. Hours: Gardens open daily from dawn to dusk. Information: 865-862-8717, www.knoxgarden.org

Come play with worms and enjoy learning about how worms eat your garbage and how they create great compost for your garden. Not only will you learn all about the benefits of worm composting, but you will make a portable worm bin to take home for your composting pleasure!

Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum, 2743 Wimpole Ave, Knoxville, TN 37914. Hours: Gardens open daily from dawn to dusk. Information: 865-862-8717, www.knoxgarden.org

Email: vicki@knoxgarden.org

Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum, 2743 Wimpole Ave, Knoxville, TN 37914. Hours: Gardens open daily from dawn to dusk. Information: 865-862-8717, www.knoxgarden.org

May 10, 6:00-8:00 PM: Opening Reception for Three Femmes Exhibition
Elaine Barnes, Annamaria Gundlach, and Lauren Karnitz will present their works through the end of May at the Clayton Center for the Arts in Maryville. The exhibition is titled “Femmes and Forms”.

Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Info: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

Annual spring dance concert by Arts in Motion Dance Studio and a delightful concert for the entire family. Roane State Theatre, Harriman. Tickets are $18 and available in advance through Arts in Motion and at the door. For best seating, buy tickets in advance. Tickets: (865) 376-0295.

May 10 & 11, 7 pm, May 12, 2 pm
All performances subject to change. Check website periodically for updated information at www.roanestate.edu/theatre

New Midland Plaza SPRING ARTS & CRAFTS FAIR
On Calderwood Street in Alcoa, TN 37701
Free admission; free parking
Hours: Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-4pm
865-983-9644

The 13th Annual Vestival: South Knoxville's Art & Heritage Festival will memorialize the late Knoxville architect and preservationist Charles B. Richmond, who co-founded the non-profit Candoro Arts and Heritage Center and served as its president and champion. Richmond, who died January 3, 2013, was also a watercolorist and photographer. His work, as well as a display of marble artifacts from Candoro's past, will be featured at an opening reception on Friday, May 10, from 5-7 p.m. and during Vestival.

As Vestival tradition holds, the festival begins at 11 a.m. with a casual Mother's Day brunch, which is free for mothers.

The day continues with live music on two stages resounding with Southern rock, blues, jazz, folk, bluegrass, Americana and more. This year’s Vestival performers are Mic Harrison and the High Score, Nancy Brennan Strange and The Strangefellows, Leah Gardner, Jeff Barbra and Sarah Pirkle, Big Gene and Danny Lee's Loud Pack, Jack Rentfro and the Apocalypso Quartet, Guy Marshall, Smiley and the Lovedawg, Big Jon and the Nationals, The Pinklets, Sarah Morgan, and Jim Myers.

Dragonfly Arial Arts and Claire Metz Tribal Belly Dance will perform on the grounds at intervals during the festival. Visitors can browse the wares of local arts and crafts artists, community groups and select from a variety of food choices. There is also a tent for children’s activities.

Old-fashioned cake walks, accompanied by live music, take place throughout the day. Participants pay $1 each to walk the walk for their chance to win a cake donated by one of our community’s generous bakeries.

More information about Vestival, including how local businesses can support the Vestival through sponsorship, is available at http://candoromarble.org/ and on Facebook.

The Guild of the Knoxville Museum of Art presents Artists on Location, its eighth annual plein-air event, exhibition and sale Friday, May 10 through Saturday, May 11. Local and regional artists are invited to showcase their talent by producing a work or works of art on site at the location of their choosing in and around the Knoxville area and then exhibit and sell those works at the KMA Artist on Location exhibition on Saturday, May 11 from 7-10pm.

This year's featured artist, Brett Weaver, a nationally recognized plein-air painter, will give a painting demo Friday May 10 at 7pm at the KMA. The demonstration is free to participants and $10 for visitors.

Schedule of events:
Friday, May 10 - 7pm at the Knoxville Museum of Art: Demonstration by Brett Weaver. Admission is $10 at the door for visitors.

Saturday, May 11 - 7-10pm at the Knoxville Museum of Art: Exhibition and sale of plein air works completed by participating local & regional artists. The evening will include free hors d' oeuvres, cash bar, and live music by the Tom Johnson Jazz Trio. This event is free and open to the public.

Proceeds from Artists on Location benefit the Knoxville Museum of Art in memory of Betsy Worden. For more information on how to be a sponsor, volunteer, or a participating artist in this event, contact Event Chairs Mike and Leah Berry at artistsonlocation@gmail.com or visit www.knoxart.org. KMA: 865-525-6101

Friday, May 10, 7:30 pm - Ijams Family Wildlife Series: Night Sounds
(All Ages) You may think you know the trails at Ijams, but they become a whole new experience at night! Our fearless trail guides will lead you on an adventure in which owls hooting, coyotes howling, and strange rustlings in the brush are wonderful possibilities. Animals and plants use the nighttime to their advantage, and we can sneak a peek into their world! The fee for this program is $5 for members and $8 for non-members. Please call (865) 577-4717, ext. 110 to register.

Saturday, May 11, 9:00 am - Morning Canoe Cruise
Enjoy the delightful spring air as you cruise around the Mead's Quarry Lake with storyteller and naturalist, Stephen Lyn Bales. Intertwined with the sounds of today's wildlife are the distant echoes of industry past. Although human activity resulted in formation of the lake, there is abundant wildlife that makes this water their home today. The fee for this program is $15 per person for members and $17.50 per person for non-members. Pre-registration is required; please call (865) 577-4717, ext. 119 to register.
10:00 am - Ijams @ Blooms Day
(Recommended for Adults) Join Ijams resident green thumb, Peg Beute, as she hosts a vertical gardening workshop at the 11th Annual Blooms Days Garden Festival & Marketplace! Vertical gardening is a trend that is on the rise among those with a green thumb. A boon for those with space demonstrations, this technique can be used on any blank wall or bare fence that needs beautifying. This workshop will be held at the University of Tennessee Gardens on Neyland Drive. Admission rates may apply to attend the workshop. For more information, visit their website: http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/bloomsdays.html.
2:00 pm - Nature Writing and Journaling Workshop
(Recommended for Adults) Itching to write? Join Ijams senior naturalist, Stephen Lyn Bales - author of two books: Natural Histories and Ghost Birds published by UT Press - for this fun nature-writing workshop. To loosen the creative juices, activities will take place outside at various thought-provoking locations around the 300-acre park. The "Perils of Publishing" will also be discussed. Bring a notebook and your favorite writing implement. The fee for this program is $10 for members and $15 for non-members. 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

Dubbed “A lively ‘nun-stop’ musical,” by the New York Times, “Nunsense” concerns the comic misadventures of five nuns—ballet-loving Sister Leo, street-wise Sister Robert Anne, befuddled Sister Mary Amnesia, the Mother Superior Sister Regina, and mistress of the novices Sister Mary Hubert— who try valiantly and with much hilarity to stage a talent show to raise some emergency funds for their convent.

Adult tickets are $17; Student and Senior tickets are $15; Groups 10+ are $12

Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Info: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

The senior adult Young at HeART art group from Marietta Cumberland Presbyterian Church will display their work in May at the Farragut Town Hall. A public reception will be held on Sunday, May 19.

View the exhibition during regular Town Hall hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Public Reception: Sunday, May 19 - 2 to 3 p.m.

The art show and reception are free and open to the public.

At Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Drive (across from the Farragut Branch Post Office). For more information, please contact Lauren Cox, special events and program coordinator, at lauren.cox@townoffarragut.org or 966-7057.

May’s themed art exhibit is titled “Stormy Weather”. Visit us to view how members of the Art Guild at Fairfield Glade interpret this theme.

Once a month, the PCAC gallery exhibit changes, so monthly visits are advantageous for viewing quality artwork, including watercolor, oil, acrylic, pastels, colored pencil, photography, mixed media, and 3-D work, including pottery, sculpture, and jewelry. The gallery is also a perfect place to shop for one-of-a-kind decorations or gifts at reasonable prices. PCAC visitors not only enjoy the latest gallery exhibit, they also learn about the many art classes and day trips offered by the Art Guild. In addition, visitors often get to see a class in progress or watch the open painting, beading, or figure drawing sessions taking place in the art studio.

Art Guild at Fairfield Glade at the Plateau Creative Arts Center, 451 Lakeview Drive, Fairfield Glade, TN 38558. Hours: M-F 9AM-4PM; Saturday-Sunday 1-4PM. Information: 931-707-7249; www.artguildfairfieldglade.net