Calendar of Events

Maestro James Fellenbaum and the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra return to Athens on Tuesday, December 10 at 7:30 pm at Athens City Middle School Auditorium as the second performance in the Athens Area Council for the Arts 35th Annual Big Time/ Small Town Performance Season. The chamber orchestra holiday concert featuring Our Three Tenors has become a perennial favorite. Area school children, too, are in for a special treat – prior to the public performance that evening, AACA is sending a woodwind ensemble and four string quartets to eight area schools and two wellness facilities where the ensembles will perform interactive, educational programs targeted toward the age level of their various audiences.

Celebrating his seventh year with the Knoxville Symphony, Maestro Fellenbaum leads the orchestra in inspiring seasonal favorites certain to fill all who hear with holiday cheer. After remarkable success with last year’s holiday concert, McMinn County’s own “Our Three Tenors,” Mike Simmons, Rusty Patterson, and Tim Frazier, join the orchestra for several featured numbers. Simmons, Patterson, and Frazier are no strangers to the AACA stage and, in the years in which they’ve been singing together as “Our Three Tenors,” have achieved a notable, loyal following throughout our region.

Season and individual tickets are on sale for the Big Time/Small Town Performance Season online at www.athensartscouncil.org, by phone at 423-745-8781, by email at office@athensartscouncil.org, by mail at PO Box 95, and in person at The Arts Center, 320 North White Street, Athens, Tennessee 37303.

Popcorn balls and paper chains; Fruits and nuts in their stockings; Carols by the fire; A cedar tree cut in the nearby woods - that's the Christmas most rural Appalachian children knew.

And it's the Christmas we recreate each year throughout the Museum village at our special Christmas in Old Appalachia. Join us as we recreate a meaningful holiday of simpler pleasures and homier joys. Traditional trees and homemade decorations, typical of austere pioneer days, transform the Museum's authentic log buildings; and in the one-room, dirt-floored "Dan'l Boone" cabin, strings of popcorn and cotton bolls circle a dormant tree. Paper chains and other ornaments trim the tree in the Little Tater Valley Schoolhouse.

Sweet gum and sycamore balls are strung throughout the Mark Twain Family Cabin, and a traditional silver star tops a native red cedar Christmas tree in the turn-of-the-century Peters Homestead House. Apples, nuts, homemade toys, and oranges fill stockings hung in the cabins.

Sing Christmas carols along with musicians in the Homestead House, where they'll be singing holiday and traditional songs every day during December. Sit and visit with the kids over some hot chocolate and Christmas cookies from the Museum Restaurant.

Pick up some stocking stuffers in the Museum Gift and Antique Shop, which features everything from hand-crafted ornaments, locally made muscadine and moonshine jellies, and beautiful pottery, along with baskets, quilts, and plenty of Appalachian specialties. Or just come relax in a rocking chair by the cozy, crackling fire in the big stone fireplace.

Museum of Appalachia, 2819 Andersonville Hwy., Clinton, TN 37716 (16 miles north of Knoxville at I-75, exit 122, then one mile east). Open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Information: 865-494-7680, www.museumofappalachia.org

The Market Square Farmers’ Market reprises the popular Holiday Market on the three Saturdays before Christmas and invites shoppers to buy local from area farmers, artisan food vendors, artists and crafters.
Saturdays, December 7, 14, and 21. Farm vendors from 12 – 3 p.m. Food
trucks, artisan food and arts & craft vendors from 12 – 7 p.m.
Where: Market Square, Market Street and Union Avenue

Although the peak growing season is over, regional farmers are offering many root crops, hearty greens, meat, eggs, dairy and other preserved foods —ideal for serving at festive seasonal gatherings or giving to your favorite food lover.

Craft and artisan food vendors will line Market Street, creating a marketplace for handmade items perfect for satisfying recipients on shoppers’ gift lists. Items include jewelry, home décor, bath and body products, hand-blown glass, pottery, turned wood and folk art. And when hunger threatens to distract visitors from the task at hand, Knoxville’s best food trucks will be stationed on Union Avenue to quench cravings.

Visit the Market Square Farmers’ Market information booth to purchase the market’s annual letterpress poster, canvas tote bag and Market Money, which can be used to purchase from any vendor on site. Gift certificates are also available!

The Market Square Holiday Market is presented by Nourish Knoxville, a non-profit organization founded to cultivate and support relationships between farmers, artisanal producers, and the community through outreach, education, and advocacy and to build healthy communities through connections to local food.

For more information, visit http://marketsquarefarmersmarket.org, email
knoxfarmersmarket@gmail.com or call Charlotte Tolley at 865-405-3135.

December First Friday at Bliss Home, 29 Market Square Knoxville, TN 37902 featuring the artwork of Elizabeth Kidder.
Friday, December 6, 2013 through the end of the month.
Opening Reception on Friday, December 6, 2013 6pm to 9pm

Bliss Home is pleased to present Knoxville artist, Elizabeth Kidder, for December's First Friday. Bliss Home, located at 29 Market Square, will host an opening reception on Friday, December 6th, from 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary Steamboat Sandwiches will be provided and Elizabeth's art will be featured for the month of December.

Elizabeth's December exhibit is comprised of illustrations that invite the viewer to walk around the landscape, become the figure and read the underlying tale.
Elizabeth Kidder is a freelance illustrator currently living in Knoxville, TN.

Beginning on December 6, the gallery at the Plateau Creative Arts Center (PCAC) will feature art in the theme of Food for Thought. The public is invited to the PCAC gallery to view original artwork in the form of oil, watercolor, acrylic, pastels, colored pencil, photography, mixed media, pottery, sculpture, and jewelry, created by Art Guild members.
In addition to viewing this fine art work, visitors also learn about the many art classes available during the month, and depending on the day and time, may view a class in session, or watch the open painting, beading, or figure drawing sessions that take place in the studio. The gallery is also the perfect place to shop for a reasonably priced gift of art for Christmas.
The PCAC is open Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Saturday and Sunday 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Beginning on December 24 the gallery hours will change to 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Monday through Saturday. Located at 451 Lakeview Drive (off Peavine), the gallery is handicapped accessible. The Art Guild at Fairfield Glade is a not-for-profit organization and an equal opportunity provider. For more information call 931-707-7249. www.artguildfairfieldglade.net.

Painter Lil Clinard of Loudon and ceramicist Gray N. Bearden of Knoxville, both award winners with works in many private collections, are the Art Market Gallery's featured artists for the month of December. Their recent works will be on exhibit at The Art Market Gallery through Dec. 29 with an opening reception to be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m., Friday, Dec. 6.

Lil Clinard's formal training in interior design has been put to use in designing bold paintings for today’s interiors. A self-taught artist who has painted and drawn ever since she could remember, the Tellico Village resident has been painting for more than 45 years and focuses on watercolors based on photographs from her travels to the beach, mountains, backyard and abroad, and uses rich colors in her flowers, landscapes and cityscapes. Rather than control of photographic detail, however, the Greeneville native’s goal is to express her response to the natural world through brushstroke, texture, color, light and composition.

Taking a break from the corporate world after many years in advertising and marketing, Gray N. Bearden signed up for a wheel-throwing pottery class and was hooked. She returned to college for studio art and art history, did further study at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, and now hand builds functional tabletop ware and sculptural pieces from rolled-out slabs of stoneware clay. Inspired by patterns, textures and symbols, architectural elements, textiles and other influences, this ceramic artist presses created and found objects, or carves, into the clay for decoration and finishes them at various stages with underglazes and glazes.

At the opening reception there will be complimentary refreshments and artisan-made ornaments created by gallery members to help support the Community School of the Arts, a nonprofit program providing free instruction in the arts to children from underserved areas of Knox County. Owned and operated by more than 60 professional regional artists, Art Market Gallery, at 422 S. Gay St., is a few doors away from Mast General Store and next to Downtown Grill & Brewery. Holiday hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday; 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday. The gallery is wheelchair accessible, and parking in the abutting garage and on the street is free on weekends and after 6 p.m. weekdays. For more information, call 865-525-5265, or visit artmarketgallery.net, or facebook.com/Art.Market.Gallery.

The District Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of Joe Parrott’s work, featuring Knoxville cityscape and local landscape paintings in oil. Parrott paints en plein air and in his studio, and his textural paintings emphasize light and shadows. "I want my work to express the elation I feel when I see bright sunlight reflecting off a brick building; when I see sparkling reflections in a body of water; when I see a bright blue sky illuminating objects in a deep shadow. These things inspire me to paint."

Joe Parrott earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration at The University of Tennessee in 1967 and is a self-taught artist. He worked in the graphic arts industry for 43 years while continuing to pursue his artistic aspirations. Greatly influenced by Edward Hopper, Van Gogh and printmaker Lewis Martin, Parrott currently paints full-time and is dedicated to a lifelong pursuit of creative evolution and exploration.

An artist’s reception and Holiday Open House will be held Friday, December 6 from 5-8 p.m. Also opening is a jewelry show by New York designer Elizabeth Garvin. Holiday treats will be provided by the Blackhorse Pub and Brewery, and live jazz will be performed by the Dave Slack Trio. The gallery’s Holiday Open House will continue on Saturday, December 7 from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

The District Gallery | 5113 Kingston Pike | Knoxville, TN 37919 | (865) 200-4452 | www.TheDistrictGallery.com | cinamon@thedistrictgallery.com

UNCOMMON CORE - BEARDEN HIGH SCHOOL ART STUDENTS PRODUCE FIRST FRIDAY EXHIBITION

It isn't every day that dogs put on a gallery showing, but the Bearden High School Bulldogs are arranging their own student run art exhibition, Uncommon Core, for Knoxville's beloved First Friday event on December 6. It will be hosted by Paulk and Co., located downtown. The First Friday reception is from 6-10pm with awards presented at 8:00. Parking is free and adjacent to the event.

Justin Paulk is a Bearden graduate who owns a gallery and studio specializing in stone, metal and concrete sculptures. Bearden's art teachers wanted to give their students the experience of actually working alongside Paulk & Co. to curate, promote and present their own show, while experiencing a workshop/gallery atmosphere, created by a previous Bearden student that is making his way in the professional art world.
The Uncommon Core exhibition is very much student run. The entire content of the exhibit is student produced, curated, promoted and executed. Live performance art including theatre, voice, orchestral & band is also part of the evening's program. The Honors and AP art students are the curators and all levels will display artworks pertaining to their concentrations, or topic of exploration that they have selected. Some works will be included in students' AP portfolio in the spring. It is rare that high school students exhibit at First Friday, since it is typically reserved for professional artists, but it is almost unheard of that an entire First Friday show is completely student-based. This show will be many students' debut as exhibiting artists, and it is a great opportunity to show off fresh talent and gain experience in the world of professional art.

The show will be on exhibit throughout the month of December. Our hours
are: By Appointment or Chance. Paulk & Co., 510 Williams Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-414-8641, www.paulkandco.com

https://www.facebook.com/events/173039036231606

Opening Fri, Dec 6, 5-8 PM
Holiday open house continues Sat, Dec 7, 10-4:30

Holiday Hours (starting December 2):
Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. & Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

The District Gallery & Framery | 5113 Kingston Pike | Knoxville | TN | 37919
(located next to Gourmet's Market) | 865.200.4452 | www.thedistrictgallery.com

Art and Crafts Holiday Market at Casa HoLa!
Suite 109, Emporium Building (100 S. Gay St.), Knoxville!
Friday, Dec. 6 (First Friday), 5:30 until 9:00 PM
Stop by on First Friday* and discover our selection of beautiful, unique gifts! Paintings and photographs by local artists! Hand-painted furniture ** jewelry and “rosarios”!
hand-crocheted items ! Works by Rosalina Tipton ** Lilliana Genua ** Tom McDaniel!
and featuring the work of students of Bethsy Salage at El Taller! !

can’t come on First Friday? visit us during December, 10:00 - 3:00
HoLa Hora Latina: 865-335-3358, www.holafestival.org

The Arts & Culture Alliance proudly presents its 2013 Members Show, the largest annual exhibition of local artists in the Greater Knoxville area. The fresh mix of two- and three-dimensional works created within the last two years encompasses a wide variety of media such as oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, mixed media, photography, fine craft, sculpture, ceramics, fiber, and more from regional artists who are all members of the Arts & Culture Alliance, which serves and supports a diverse community of artists, arts organizations, and cultural institutions. Membership is open to all, and information may be found at www.knoxalliance.com/join.html. Most of the works in the 2013 Members Show are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition. The exhibition will be on display in both galleries of the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville from December 6-23, 2013, and an opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on December 6 from 5:00-9:00 PM with chocolate fondue provided by the Melting Pot of Knoxville. The First Friday reception also features music by Pistol Creek Catch of the Day, K-Town Sound Show Chorus, and a Jazz Jam Session hosted by Vance Thompson and Friends in the Black Box Theatre from 7:00-9:00 PM.

The 2013 Members Show will be on display December 6-23, 2013. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Saturday 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed December 24-28 for the holidays, reopening on Monday, December 30. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

Knoxville Children’s Theatre will present a live stage adaptation of the beloved children’s novel Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. The play will be performed December 6 through 21: Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM, Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM, and Sundays at 3 PM.

Little Women is one of the most widely read novels of all time and named one of the “Top 100 Books for Children” by the National Education Association. As another Christmas arrives with Mr. March still off at the war front, Mrs. March’s daughters are growing up to be strikingly different from each other. Jo is willful, impulsive, and tempermental, whereas Beth is humble and selfless. Meg does not see a future outside her hometown, whereas Amy dreams of Europe. Jo and Laurence are inseparable in their youth, but which of the “Little Women” will he marry? And if “Laurie” is too conventional for Jo, what kind of man will she ever end up with? Ripe with life lessons about the change from child into young adult, Little Women is a timeless American classic.

Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-599-5284, www.childrenstheatreknoxville.com. Reservations: tickets@childrenstheatreknoxville.com