Calendar of Events

On Wednesdays each week from 12:30-1:30 PM you might hear some high volume drumming at ETTAC. For the past three months, ETTAC has been hosting a weekly drum circle for people with and without disabilities. Originated by April Stephens with the Cerebral Palsy Center in Knoxville, our drum circle now averages 30 people per session, and continues to grow. Organizations such as Breakthrough and the CP Center join us weekly, as well as families who homeschool their children. Experienced drummers also come to drum with us. So far we have learned different rhythms, drummed to various types of music, and danced to our weekly ritual of the Chicken Dance. Come join us for an hour of fun and excitement every Wednesday, 12:30-1:30pm. All are welcome!

At ETTAC (downstairs, come to back entrance), 116 Childress Street, Knoxville, TN 37920
Information: 865-219-0130, www.ettac.org

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to host a monthly series featuring artists demonstrating their work and discussing their inspirations and processes. The series, entitled “Time Well Spent: Inspiration at Lunch”, is free and open to the public, and guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch. The next presentation in the series features artist Emily Schoen, who will discuss her artistic vision, some of her influences, and the process and challenges of using her current medium: Readers Digest Condensed Book covers. The presentation will take place at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Parking is available at metered spots on the Gay Street viaduct or in the parking lot on Jackson Avenue caddy-corner from the Emporium.

Emily Schoen graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a split major of music and filmmaking. For many years she wrote and sang her original music in and around New York City and performed in various pop bands. She is especially proud to have performed at the famed birthplace of punk, CBGB. However, since moving to Knoxville in 1995, the direction of her artistic journey has taken a distinctly visual turn. Continually influenced by music, films, fine art, photography, and the beauty of the natural world, she works with found objects and paper ephemera to create large- and small-scale abstract pieces. Her latest works use Readers Digest Book covers, a medium both compelling in its limitations for the artist and evocatively nostalgic for the viewer. Schoen’s influences include Bridget Riley, Andy Goldsworthy, Andy Warhol, Louise Nevelson, Saul Bass, and Charles LeDray. Her work reflects her interest in the balance of light and shadow, weight and air, stasis and movement. With her pieces, Emily explores the interplay of color, pattern, shape and a/symmetry to create a notion of equilibrium and a kind of lyrical personal narrative. Her work has been displayed at McGhee Tyson Airport as part of Arts in the Airport and is currently on display in Mayor Rogero’s office in Knoxville’s City-County Building.

For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com/time.html.

Riding a bike is all fun and games until someone gets a flat. Knox County Public Library is pleased to introduce a new series called Life 101 to help teens develop some practical skills, including bike maintenance. Life 101 will be held at Lawson McGhee Library on Saturdays at 2:00 pm. It's aim is to teach teenagers some important life skills for their future. The programs are free and open to all area teens. No reservation required.
February 15: Bike safety
The first leg of this 2-part program will focus on urban bike safety. Local organization, Kickstand, will be on hand to guide participants through the rules of the road and offer other suggestions on how to become a safer, more aware cyclist.

March 1: Bike maintenance and repair
Flats, broken chains, and wobbly seats, oh my! Meet up with volunteers from local organization, Kickstand, to learn essential bike maintenance and repair techniques.

March 8: Stress management: yoga for teens
March 29: Financial literacy

For more information, please contact Bess Connally at bconnally@knoxlib.org, or (865) 215-8767

Athens Community Theatre announces their upcoming musical production of Into the Woods, book by James Lapine, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
Show dates for Into the Woods are February 13-23, 2014.

In this fairytale mash-up of epic proportion, familiar faces embark on the unknown: Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack (of beanstalk fame), dwell in a sylvan community where a meddling witch and a baker are next-door neighbors and the handsome princes from classic fables are competitive and comically vain paramours. Propelled by Sondheim’s majestic score, these characters venture “Into the Woods” and down a different path than that of the stories you’ve heard. The baker and his wife travel in search of a cow, a red cape, yellow hair, and gold slippers to lift a spell placed on them by the haggard witch. Cinderella, Jack, and Little red, too, have set out on inspired quests of their own. As the plot unfolds, these characters’ individual stories intersect through unexpected plot twists, and cameos by other characters of fairytale lore add to the thrill of the journey. In turn farcical and contemplative, James Lapine’s book examines themes of childhood and parenthood, ambition and desire, and takes on allegorical gravity when the tale does not end with “happily ever after.”

Performances are February 13, 14, 15, 18, 20, 21 and 22 at 7:00 PM and February 23 at 2:00 PM. Tickets for all performances are $15 for adults, $8 for students, except for February 14, which is BE MY VALENTINE NIGHT, when you can bring your prince or princess to the theatre for a “buy one get one $3 off” ticket deal; and February 20, which is FAIRYTALE FUN NIGHT, when you can come at 6:00 PM dressed in a fairytale costume for a complimentary magic potion (hot beverage) and $1 off ticket price.
Tickets go on sale Thursday, January 16th and will be available online at www.athensartscouncil.org, by phone at 423-745-8781, or in person at The Arts Center, 320 N. White St., Athens, Tennessee. For more information, contact The Arts Center at 423-745-8781.

Sculptor Raymond Padrón brings a one-man show of his far-ranging and eclectic pieces to Pellissippi State Community College in February, part of The Arts at Pellissippi State. "Journeyman," featuring the artist many may know from his public art installations in Chattanooga, exhibits at the Bagwell Center for Media and Art gallery with an opening reception 4-6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10.

Some of the pieces Padrón will display were done specifically for this exhibit. According to Brian Jobe, a Liberal Arts adjunct faculty member, the sculptor uses a variety of techniques for his work, including casting and woodworking.

The Bagwell Gallery is located at Pellissippi State’s Hardin Valley Campus. Both the opening reception and the exhibit are free and open to the community. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Ample parking is available on campus.

Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

Painter Diana Dee Sarkar and wood-turner Gordon Fowler, both of Knoxville, are the Art Market Gallery’s February featured artists. Their recent works will be on exhibit with an opening reception to be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m., Friday, Feb. 7, during the monthly First Friday Art Walk in downtown Knoxville. At the opening reception visitors may enjoy complimentary refreshments and live music performed by Living Room Roots.

Gordon Fowler, whose background includes carpentry and a degree in microbiology from University of Tennessee, studied at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts and the Kentucky School of Craft. He has been turning wood since 2002, concentrating on creating pleasing shapes with an eye to proportion. "I love the symmetry and symbolism of circles, and am inspired by the patterns and contrasts found in nature," he says. With his three children now grown, this fulltime stay-at-home dad spends time in the kitchen, tending to the chickens, volunteering, and at the lathe, where he enjoys creating works from recycled logs that would otherwise have gone into someone's fireplace or the landfill.

Diana Dee Sarkar grew up in Wichita, KS, with a formal education focused on chemistry and medicine. Painting portraits, still life and landscapes on her own, she became serious about art in 2005, studying various media with Hongnian Zhang at the Woodstock (NY) School of Art, Lois Woolley, Anthony Ryder, Susan Ogilvie, Nelson Shanks and others. She holds a certificate from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and is completing work on an MFA at Academy of Art University. Her paintings have been juried into a show at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art Museum, and the International Miniature Painting competition. She paints representationally, currently in oil and pastel.

Owned and operated by more than 60 professional regional artists, the Art Market Gallery, at 422 S. Gay St., is a few doors away from Mast General Store and next to Downtown Grill & Brewery. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday 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.

Silvia has been on a journey punctuated by artistic endeavors and service to others; a journey where her love of painting and her desire to help victims of domestic coexist. Having worked as bilingual advocate for a domestic violence program she is now in the process of creating a non-profit organization tohelp immigrant women in similar situations. As opposed to her first book, “I Wish…I Wish…I Wish…” which she wrote for children, Silvia’s current book, inSpanish, is on domestic violence. Silvia is a graduate of Leadership Plenty, the Citizen Police Academy, and the Knox County Community Action LeadershipProgram. And when she has extra time, Silvia is a professional chef and loves making fine custom jewelry.

HoLa Hora Latina: 865-335-3358, www.holafestival.org

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present its National Juried Exhibition of 2014, a new exhibition featuring selected works from 36 artists in the Southeast region. The National Juried Exhibition was developed in 2006 to provide a forum for local artists to compete on a national scale and display their highest quality work. The exhibition encompasses all styles and genres from both emerging and established artists working in a variety of media such as drawing, photography, digital media, watercolor, oil painting, encaustic, ceramics, and woodworking and will be displayed in the Emporium Center from February 7 – March 1, 2014. Most of the works are for sale. A public reception will take place on Friday, February 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM with a brief awards ceremony at 6:00 PM in which $1,000 in cash awards will be announced. The First Friday reception also features a performance by Tennessee Stage Company from 6:30-6:45 PM and a Jazz Jam Session hosted by Vance Thompson and Friends from 7:00-9:00 PM, both in the Black Box Theatre. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be available and chocolate fondue will be provided by the Melting Pot of Knoxville.

Paul Collins served as juror for the exhibition. He is a multidisciplinary artist and curator from Nashville. Collins makes drawings, paintings and sculpture that combine humor, tactility and observation to examine the world around us. He has an MFA from Yale and has been a resident at Skowhegan, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and the Vermont Studio Center. Collins works as Gallery Director and Assistant Professor of Art at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville. “This exhibition offers a powerful view of artists’ narratives and responses to the challenge of creating images in today’s day and age,” says Paul Collins. “The works all evidence a strong sense of voice in answering their own questions of what makes us vital as people and what compels us to make artwork.”

The National Juried Exhibition of 2014 is on display February 7 – March 1, 2014 at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturday, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit our web site at www.knoxalliance.com.

The Arts & Culture Alliance proudly presents “Afghanistan: Unordinary Lives”, a new exhibition of 20 photographs by Slovenian artist Manca Juvan that portrays civil society in Afghanistan. Juvan made several trips to the country between 2003 and 2009, documenting the lives of Afghans who, after the fall of the Taliban, had been promised much by the international community. Their lives, unfortunately, were little changed for the better. The images have been published in a book of the same title that aims to encourage continued discussion of Afghanistan, particularly of the daily lives of ordinary citizens who are usually omitted from the political/war discussions in the media. The photographs will be displayed in the Balcony of the Emporium Center from February 7 – March 1, 2014. A public reception will take place on Friday, February 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d’oeuvres available and chocolate fondue provided by the Melting Pot of Knoxville.

“Despite the international community’s efforts to crush the Taliban regime in Afghanistan after 9/11, and its promises of bringing democracy and rebuilding to this war-torn nation, the ongoing war and instability continues to diminish the hopes of the Afghan people,” says Manca Juvan. “Stories on the lives of ordinary Afghans caught in this endless conflict of interest and the ongoing struggle for money, power, and overall control remind us what the real images of war and poverty, of lives far from ordinary, look like.” Prior to exhibition in Knoxville, the collection of images has shown at Gallery MC in New York; Ljubljana Castle, Koroska Gallery of Fine Arts, STOLP Gallery, and Museum of Modern Art in Slovenia; Photomed festival in France; the Federal Parliament of Belgium; and the Abbaye de Neumünster in Luxembourg. For more information on the Afghanistan: Unordinary Lives project, visit www.mancajuvan.com/unordinarylives.

Born 1981 in Slovenia, Manca Juvan has worked as a freelance photographer since 2000 after completing her studies at the Slovene School for Photography. She has been selected as Photographer of the Year in Slovenia for her reportage work in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and has been twice commended for her work on Afghanistan by the Slovenian Association of Journalists. Her book Afghanistan: Unordinary Lives was published by Sanje publishers in 2010 with an English edition following 2012. In 2011 she was chosen as one of three recipients of a scholarship for NYU/Magnum Foundation Photography and Human Rights Program. Juvan has published photographs and stories on Venezuela, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Thailand, India, the United States, Serbia and the EU countries, among others in The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, National Geographic (Slovenia), Time.com, Marie Claire, and The European Voice. She is a member of the International Association of Photojournalists called SPUTNIK. She has worked as a mentor on photo documentary workshops and more recently university photography programs, and she prepared several solo exhibitions and participated in many group displays home and abroad.

Her visit has been coordinated by the Embassy of Slovenia in Washington and Lydia Pulsipher, Professor of Geography, Emeritus at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and Honorary Consul for the Republic of Slovenia to Tennessee. For more information on Manca Juvan, visit www.mancajuvan.com.

At the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturday, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit our Web site at www.knoxalliance.com.

Bliss Home is pleased to present Knoxville artist, Christi Shields, for February's First Friday. Bliss Home, located at 29 Market Square, will host an opening reception on Friday, February 7th from 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary Steamboat Sandwiches will be provided and Christi's art will be featured for the month of February.

Christi's February exhibit is a collection of paintings which express emotions from the past through continued experimentation in innovative, edgy and modern acrylic techniques. Christi uses a very action oriented process along with layer techniques and color to create depth. By using bold colors, texture and movement, Christi aims to evoke an emotional response from the viewer.

Admission: Free
Bliss Home, 29 Market Square, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-329-8868, www.shopinbliss.com

In honor of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the McClung Museum will feature several Olympic-themed bronzes of speed skaters and figure skaters from the Museum's collections.

Art of the Winter Olympics features several pieces by the artist Robert Tait McKenzie—a physician and director of physical education who combined his love of sports and art in a career as a sculptor.

The display, which goes up on February 7, the first day of Winter Olympics competition, will be on view through February 24.

Over the next few months, the McClung will host lectures, family days, and stroller tours related exhibits. As always, admission to both the museum and these programs is free.

More details, as well as information on museum hours and free parking, can be found on the McClung Museum's website, http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu

Pellissippi State Community College is celebrating Black History Month with numerous events at its five campuses throughout February. Activities are free and the community is invited.

The Magnolia Avenue Campus starts the month-long activities with “Healthy Pelli: Campus Health Fair,” Wednesday, Feb. 5. Each Friday in February, the site hosts an African Jazz Cafe in the Lobby.

The Division Street Campus offers two films in February: Disney’s “Ruby Bridges” on the 11th and “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” on the 20th. Both are at 12:15 p.m. in the Student Lounge.

The Magnolia Avenue Campus hosts a “History of African-American Music: Freedom Songs, Blues and Jazz” 9-11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, in the Community Room. The presentation features local jazz artist Kelle Jolly.

The Blount County Campus presents the documentary “The Underground Railroad” Tuesday, Feb. 18, in the Educational Resources Center.

At the Hardin Valley Campus, Feb. 21 brings “A Celebration of African-American Art, Music and Literature.” The event is in the Goins Building College Center, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. It features an art display, performance by the Vine Middle School African Dancers and Drummers, poetry reading by Oak Ridge poet Rose Weaver, and “Taste of Soul Food.”

Also at the Hardin Valley site, Feb. 27 the community is invited to a Faculty Lecture Series presentation: “John Brown: Maniacal Egotist or Moral Crusader?” by Joy Ingram, an associate professor. The talk is at 2 p.m. in the Goins Building Auditorium.

Throughout the month, African-American history exhibits will be on display in the Community Room of the Magnolia Avenue Campus, the Lobby of the Strawberry Plains Campus, the Student Lounge of the Division Street Campus, and the Educational Resources centers of the Blount County and Hardin Valley campuses.

The theme of the display at the Magnolia Avenue Campus is “All About That Jazz”; Division Street, “Embrace African-American Heritage Board of Fame”; and Strawberry Plains, “African-Americans of Influence.”

Other ongoing events include African tea and coffee tastings:
· Hardin Valley, Goins Building Rotunda, 8:30-10 a.m. Wednesdays
· Division Street, Student Lounge, 9-10:30 a.m. Wednesdays
· Strawberry Plains, Lobby, 9-10:30 a.m. Mondays

For more information about Pellissippi State, visit www.pstcc.edu or call (865) 694-6400. To request accommodations for a disability, contact the executive director of Human Resources at (865) 694-6607 or humanresources@pstcc.edu.