Calendar of Events

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition featuring contemporary Polish printmaking and media art at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from May 3-31, 2013. Artists in the exhibition include professors, tutors and students with the Faculty of Graphic Arts and Media Art from the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw, Poland. An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on May 3 from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d’oeuvres. Students from the University of Tennessee Print Club will demonstrate screenprinting and relief printing during the May 3 reception.

“The Wroclaw Faculty of Graphic Arts and Media Art Exhibition” will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, from May 3-31, 2013. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM with additional hours on Saturday, May 4, from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, May 27, for the holiday. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

Bliss Home is pleased to present Knoxville artist, Jill Sanders, for May's First Friday. Bliss Home, located at 29 Market Square, will host an opening reception on Friday, May 3rd from 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary snacks will be provided and Jill's art will remain for the month of May.

Jill pulls on her experience as a wood printmaker and graphic designer to create art that features richly colored patterns and natural materials. Jill describes her art as 'narrative scenes with objects and figures, richly layered with patterns and embellished with bits of typography'. Jill is often inspired by her dreams and the places she has seen, which gives her art 'rich sensibility'.

The month of May will feature master artist Eric Buechel in an exhibit at the Shanks Center for the Arts, Crossville TN, which demonstrates Buechel’s wide variety of artistic accomplishments.

Buechel began at an early age learning to draw and paint from his father who is an artist and model-maker born in Koblenz, Germany. At the young age of 16, Buechel purchased a 19th century engraving which later grew into a substantial collection and began his interest in art conservation. During his high school years, he won several art scholarships and attended DCret School of Art, Plainfield, New Jersey and worked under Dr. Furman Finck, an Official Presidential Portrait Artist in his NYC studio. Continuing to enter professional competitions, Buechel graduated from Broward College, Fort Lauderdale FL, was quickly hired as an illustrator for FLM Graphics, Fairfield, New Jersey and continued to freelance with Sikorsky Aircraft, Curtis Wright Corporation, NASA, Strategic Medical, Communications and several pharmaceutical and advertising companies in New Jersey, Manhattan, and Connecticut.

Buechel opened a Design and Advertising Company called Tec-Art and in 1990 formed a new environmental company, Pioneers e-Waste, which was the first to recycle cathode ray tubes. His company, Advanced Recovery, was the featured story on the front page of the New York Times, followed by National Geographic, the Newark Star-Ledger, Chicago Tribune and Popular Science and other media worldwide for the development and marketing of the process of recycling computer and electronic materials and components. Other development processes continued, and in 2001, he was contracted to clean up 6,000 pallets full of technology equipment after the 911 attack on the World Trade Center. After that project, Buechel sold the company and moved to Tennessee.

In 2006, Buechel opened The Artist Corner and Gallery on Main Street in Crossville, but had to close it after three years when he was diagnosed with 4th stage non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2011, following treatment and recovery, Buechel began teaching adults and youth painting and art history classes at the Shanks Center of the Arts, Crossville TN. The Buechel exhibit, opening May 2 with a reception from 5:00 - 7:00 pm, will showcase a wide variety of styles and mediums.

Shanks Center for the Arts, 140 North Main Street, Crossville, TN 38555. Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10AM-4PM. Information: 931-787-1936, www.shankscenter.org

The Art Market Gallery of Knoxville will present an exhibit of recent works by two featured artists for May. Animal artist Victoria Simmons is displaying recent paintings with a focus on bird themes, and furniture-maker Stan Fronczek will show his carefully crafted furniture. Both are Knoxville residents.

A First Friday opening reception for the exhibits is planned for 5:30 to 9 p.m., Friday, May 3, with complimentary refreshments and live music by Sunshine Station, a folk and bluegrass band. Many member artists will be on hand to meet and mingle with visitors.

Member owned and operated by more than 60 professional regional artists, 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.

Through the Lens 4: New Directions in Print Photography and Enduring Expressions

Opening Reception: Saturday, April 27 from 7 to 9 PM
Gallery Talk: 6:30 PM with a Special Opportunity!!!

Victoria Kryah will lead two "make and take" sessions to create a "zine" (small, personal magazine) during the opening. Sessions will be held at 7:30 and 8 PM. While materials will be provided, you may elect to bring a few images of your own to personalize your zine. The event is free and open to the public.

Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 9AM-5PM; Saturday-Monday, 1-4PM. Information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org

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.

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

WDVX: First Friday Live
Knoxville Visitor Center

Join WDVX every First Friday, 7:00 - 8:00 PM, at the Knoxville Visitor Center, 301 South Gay Street, for a live broadcast.