Calendar of Events

Circle Modern Dance is proud to present its 23rd annual production of "Modern Dance Primitive Light" where you can experience exciting new contemporary dance works accompanied by live music set the backdrop of the gorgeous stained glass windows of the Historic Laurel Theater. This year will feature choreography from Danah Bella of danahabella DanceWorks, and a special appearance by Go! Contemporary Dance Works as well as offerings from Circle Core Members and artists from the local community.

Performance times: December 19, 8:00 PM
December 20, 7:00 PM & 9:00 PM
December 21, 7:00 PM & 9:00 PM

Tickets, if available, will be sold at the door for $15 (General admission) and $10 (Student/Seniors/Military).

Our company members have had the incredible opportunity to work with renowned guest artist, Danah Bella, a professor of dance at Radford University whose work has been presented throughout the United States. "Poco a pop se anda lejos" is somber, raw, and strangely alluring, drawing us in with its subtle textures and expressive athleticism. Set to music of Maurice Ravel, this piece showcases the raw talent of a strong cast of dancers.

Circle is happy to welcome back Angela Hill who originally joined the company in 1995 under the founding directors and has just returned from nearly 7 years in Sydney, Australia. Her piece "Overview Effect" is a joyful and yet introspective reflection on a long journey.

Several Circle Core Members will be presenting pieces including Sarah Whitaker and former Go! dancers, Laura Burgamy and Darby O'Connor. MDPL 2013 Director Amanda Merriss will show a new work to an original composition by local songwriter Greg Horne. Rounding out the offerings for this year include artists from the community including Wendy Caldwell, newcomer, Lauren Wilson Phillis and engineer/choreographer, Jun Liu who will again bring his signature flavor of traditional Chinese and modern dance fusion.

As always, MDPL is a cozy and delightful event that has something for everyone including the incredible house band made up of some of Knoxville’s finest musicians including Mike Murphy, Preston Davis and Core Member/Musical Director Nate Barrett.

MDPL is an all ages show and is a participant in the Penny 4 Arts program. Circle Modern Dance would like to thank the Tennessee Arts Commission and WUOT for their financial support. Founded in 1990 as a platform for area choreographers to showcase their work, Circle Modern Dance believes that "everyone is a dancer, and everybody has the right to dance".

At the Historic Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave., Knoxville, TN 37916. Information: 865-309-5309, http://www.circlemoderndance.com/. Tickets: 865-523-7521 or www.KnoxTIX.com

December 19 - The Palace Film Club Presents: It's A Wonderful Life
Starring Jimmy Stuart and Donna Reed. George Bailey is a loved man in Bedford Falls. After money has been misplaced, George realizes he'll go to jail. After wishing he was never born, the angel Clarence grants his wish. George gets a look at life without him in it. He realizes he has a wonderful life, full of friends and family. Clarence finally gets his wings.
Tickets $5.00 Children 9 and Under Free with Adult
Showtime 7PM
Event information can be found at www.palacetheater.com.

The Palace Theater is conveniently located in Downtown Maryville just 17 miles south of Knoxville, TN. South from Knoxville: Travel 129 South past the airport. Take the right fork and turn left at the first light. Pass 4 or 5 lights and Take the first right onto Broadway. The Palace is will be on the right.

On Thursday December 19th, Artistic Spectrum and Bricks4Kids team up to make the ASA-ETC LEGO Club a little extra special for the holidays at West Park Baptist Church.
http://www.artisticspectrum.org/

This Holiday Season, let The District Gallery help wrap up your holiday shopping in a special way. Our staff is ready to assist with everything from great gift ideas, customized wish lists, and spectacular gift wrapping... And don't forget our distinctive custom framing and gift certificates!
Featured artist: Dawn Whitelaw.
Be sure to ask about our Holiday Wish List!
Holiday Hours:
Open 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

In July of 2013, eight artists traveled to France to paint en plein air as part of a workshop held at La Bonne Etoile, about an hour outside of Paris. Six of these artists are represented in the exhibit “Fresh Impressions: Tour de France”at Rose Center through December 19.

La Bonne Etoile was developed to assist artists who would benefit from an experience in another culture as well as offer them a time of seclusion and solitude for creating and recreating. Though some subject matter and scenery are the similar, each artist shares her own impressions and discoveries of this experience. The unique styles and colors of the artists complement each other. They were all inspired by the light, colors, flowers, scenery and culture of France.
Rose Center is located at 442 W. Second Street in Morristown, and is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, contact Rose Center at 423-581-4330, visit www.rosecenter.org, or www.facebook.com/rosecenter

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.

The UT Downtown Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Artist in Residence program at UT’s School of Art. Begun after the retirement of painting professor Carl Sublett, the Artist-in-Residence Program enriches a student's experience further by regularly bringing new artists from outside the university who are actively showing in the contemporary gallery and museum arenas. Each semester an invited resident artist teaches both undergraduate and graduate level courses in the painting and drawing curriculum. The AIR program has been highly successful in making a direct connection to the marketplace of ideas that surrounds art centers such as New York City, Chicago, and LA. The artists we bring to campus represent a spectrum of current sensibilities in painting and drawing holding sway in the art world today.

This exhibition features work from past participating artists from the Ewing Gallery permanent collection.

Please join us December 6 from 5-9pm for an opening reception celebrating the program.

UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Wednesday-Friday: 11AM - 6PM; Saturday: 10AM - 3PM. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

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