Calendar of Events

Reception: Friday, March 28, 5:30-9 p.m.
The District Gallery is pleased to present Terra Madre: Women in Clay, a group show featuring the work of more than twenty female artists with diverse approaches to clay. Terra Madre was formed in 2000 by a small group of artists from East Tennessee. The group’s members are as distinct as their creative work. Each woman comes to the group with her own artistic experience and unique expressive style. “Our mission is to support one another in our clay work, to advance the appreciation of ceramics in East Tennessee, and to encourage each other in the pursuit of our dreams as artists and as women,” said Jackie Mirzadeh, a functional potter and teacher at the Knoxville Arts and Fine Crafts Center. President Patricia Herzog says, “We all need encouragement at times, and I find that talking to women with similar interests and experiences helps me to continue my artistic endeavors with renewed energy.”

The exhibit will include both functional and sculptural ceramics as well as jewelry. Participants are: Elaine Barnes, Gray Bearden, Judy Brater, Jane Cartwright, June Crowe, Tina Curry, Valerie Eiler, Annamaria Gundlach, Candy Finley-Brooks, Amy Hand, Janet Harper, Patricia Herzog, Liz Howell, Lisa Kurtz, Karyn Kyte, Stephanie Levy, LeAnn Lewis, Patty Lewis, Jane Longendorfer, Wendie Love, Sandra McEntire, Jackie Mirzadeh, Shauna Stevens, Linda Sullivan and Belinda Woodiel-Bril.

The District Gallery, 5113 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: Mon-Fri 10-5:30, Sat 10-4. Information: 865-200-4452, www.TheDistrictGallery.com

The last Wednesday of every month, 5:30-7:30PM, join friends of historic preservation for a drink and good conversation. Who knows what topics will be covered, but it's fun to gather together. No need to RSVP, just stop by The crown and Goose, 123 S. Central Street in the Old City.

Knox Heritage: 865-523-8008, www.knoxheritage.org

Springtime will soon be in full bloom in East Tennessee and Historic Crescent Bend House & Gardens is proud to announce the calendar of events for the 13th annual TulipTime at Crescent Bend festival. The three-acre manicured Formal Italian-Styled Gardens at Crescent Bend, which features nine garden terraces and five fountains overlooking the Tennessee River, will be in bloom with over 25,000 tulips of various sizes, shapes, and colors.

Crescent Bend House & Gardens, 2728 Kingston Pike Knoxville, TN 37919. Information: 865-637-3163, www.crescentbend.com

Opening reception: Saturday, April 5, 7:00-9:00pm. Admission is free and the public is invited
Each spring Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts hosts its annual resident artists’ exhibition, which celebrates the five artists who have lived and worked on campus during the past year. The artists-in-residence program, which fosters and advances the careers of emerging artists, is in its 22nd year and has seen over one hundred individuals pass through its ranks. This year’s residents, Lynn Batchelder, H.P. Bloomer, Rachel K. Garceau, Tally Locke, and Rena Wood present Five Lines, a culmination of their experiences, creativity, hard work, and dedication of their time spent here. Like explorers and cartographers of yesteryear these five are generating mappings of territories that benefit us all. Through their investigations of the mind, time, places, and memories each one is connecting us to their world and thoughts while encouraging us to be more mindful and introspective of our own. While the lines they walk have merged in their time at Arrowmont, soon they will diverge into new frontiers.

“This is an exciting time for this group of young artists,” says Arrowmont Gallery Manager Stefanie Gerber Darr. “There has been a palpable shared energy among them since they arrived last summer. It’s wonderful to see this work come together as a result of that energy. It represents closure, along with the great promise of what we can expect from these very creative people in the years to come.” The Arrowmont residents will also be involved in this year’s Dogwood Arts Festival.

Meet the residents and visit their Gatlinburg studios during the Dogwood Arts Festival Art DeTour, Saturday and Sunday, April 12 & 13, 10:00am to 5:00pm daily. And you can meet the residents and other arts and crafts demonstrators at Arrowmont’s booth at the Dogwood Arts Festival’s Market Square Art Fair in downtown Knoxville, April 25-27 Friday: 11 am – 9 pm, Saturday: 10 am – 9 pm, and Sunday: 11 am – 5 pm.

For more information about Arrowmont’s gallery schedule and upcoming exhibitions, visit arrowmontgalleries.org. To view or learn about workshops and other arts and crafts programming at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, visit arrowmont.org.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860.

The Ewing Gallery will be hosting the following MFA Thesis Exhibitions during March and April.

MFA Exhibition Group 1: April Bachtel (Painting and Drawing) and Jonathan Lisenby (Painting and Drawing)
Dates: March 24 - March 30, 2014
Reception: Friday March 28, 6-9PM

MFA Exhibition Group 2: Andrew Merriss ( Painting and Drawing) , Daniel Ogletree (Printmaking), and Hannah Skoonberg (Printmaking)
Dates: April 2 - April 8, 2014
Reception: Friday April 4, 5-8PM

MFA Exhibition Group 3: Victoria Buck (Ceramics), Cierra Reppert (Graphic Design), Jennifer Scheuer (Printmaking)
Dates: April 11 - April 17, 2014
Reception: April 11, 6PM - 9PM

Ewing Gallery of Art & Architecture, 1715 Volunteer Boulevard, Knoxville, TN 37996
865.974.3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

East Tennessee Baskets, 1880-1940

Imagine doing away with plastic shopping bags, buckets, and storage tubs and depending instead upon wood baskets. The essential role these hand-woven containers played in bygone days would soon be realized. During the past year, ETHS has worked to document the traditional baskets of our region, including family stories and photographs when the maker's identity is known. Woven of Wood highlights selected examples from this survey and illustrates how East TN baskets were some of the most functional and creative possessions in everyday life.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: Monday-Friday: 9AM-4PM; Saturday: 10AM-4PM; Sunday: 1-5PM. Information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

The Athens Area Council for the Arts announces the annual High School Art Show showcasing art from McMinn county high school students. The work can be viewed at The Arts Center, 320 North White Street, Athens, Tennessee. The goal of this show is to promote art by local high school students and to provide them with an opportunity to participate in an open art exhibit. The Visual Arts Committee of AACA will sponsor a gift certificate for art supplies as a “Best in Show” prize. The show features over forty pieces in a variety of media from pencil to printmaking and papier mâché. The opening reception is Friday, March 14 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. The reception will include light refreshments and is free and open to the public. Evening with the Stars, AACA’s annual event featuring local performing talent, starts immediately after at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students.

For more information, go to www.athensartscouncil.org, call 423-745-8781, or stop by The Arts Center at 320 North White Street in Athens, TN.

Blount Mansion is proud to host the works of East Tennessee’s own Richard LeFevre. He focuses on the history of the American Civil War (1861 – 1865) through 32 of its most significant battles. LeFevre combined his love of history and his skill as an illustrator, using inventive mixed-media techniques to create powerful images inspired by his personal investigation into that most terrible and definitive era. As part of the First Friday’s the opening reception will be from 5:00 to 7:30 on Friday March 7th here at the Blount Mansion Visitors Center at 200 West Hill Avenue in Knoxville. There will be drinks and light refreshments available. It is a free event and all are welcome. The exhibition is on loan from Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, University of Tennessee, and is supported through the Tennessee Arts Commission & Knox County Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. www.knoxcivilwar.org and will run through the end of May 2014. More information is available at our Facebook page, facebook.com/blountmansion

Blount Mansion Visitors Center, 200 West Hill Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902; 865-525-2375 or www.blountmansion.org

Free and open to the public. Opening reception March 7 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists’ talks at 6:30 p.m. Exhibit runs March through April 2014.

Terri Swaggerty: Where Soul Meets Body (from the song “Soul Meets Body” by Death Cab for Cutie)
Where soul meets body . . . the first time I heard those words on the radio they resonated deep within my being. I realized those four words were the perfect articulation of where I exist when I am discovering or creating art. I can dwell there for hours, or just for a moment. The journey begins with looking and seeing. Sometimes I am actively looking for art but more often, not. I find art, or maybe it finds me, at any moment any day. Traversing a sidewalk in Apalachicola, or strolling through our city, I discover it. Driving down a country road I find it. Walking through the woods, looking at the beauty, the contrast, the compositions, textures and patterns around me, I am living there . . . where soul meets body. Often during my creative processes the tangible becomes abstract. Sometimes the colors begin to blaze and complement and breathe new life into old structures. And sometimes the magic is already there and the image is perfect for the beholding. Terri Swaggerty is a native of Knoxville, TN. She studied Fine Art at the University of Tennessee and has worked as a professional photographer for the past 16 years.

Christine Beard: The Nature of Graphite
I am a pencil artist. I have been drawing my whole life. During my school years and growing up I took every art class that was offered. As an adult I took several drawing courses at the local community colleges, but for the most part I would have to say I am a self-taught artist, always learning new and different things every time I create a new drawing. Graphite pencil is my medium of choice. It’s all about the detail for me; I create each piece with as much detail as possible. Graphite is such a versatile medium and can also be very forgiving. Various techniques can be executed with graphite, such as layering, shading, blending with blending stumps and lifting out areas with an eraser. In the art world I feel there can and should be more recognition for works done with graphite pencil. Hopefully I can change that with each and every graphite drawing I create.

Where: Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Gallery
2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918

Paulk + Co. presents a unique First Friday Event this March 7th, 6-10pm, featuring artisan food in addition to the Fine Art of Denise Stewart-Sanabria. The show Eat Me Two will be on exhibit in the newly renovated Paulk + Co Alternative Art Space. Sushi Academy of TN will be demonstrating the art of sushi making. Organic produce and artisan baked goods will be available from local vendors. Free, covered parking is available adjacent to Paulk + Co. in the City lot under the bridge.

Eat Me Two
An exhibit of Paintings of Culinary Drama, by Denise Stewart-Sanabria
Humans do things that amaze, entertain, and occasionally horrify Stewart-Sanabria. If she documented them literally, she would probably have constant censorship issues. As a solution to this dilemma, she uses food as a stand in for humans, figuring that not only would it be amusing, it could even be delicious! Over the years, she hasimpaled maraschino cherries on nails, had pears enact Inquisition scenes, and encouraged donuts to enact the seven deadly sins and various fertility rites. Still Lifes, or Vanitas, which is the genre these works most closely fit in with, were originally domestic images containing items symbolic of life and death. The items in Stewart-Sanabria’s act out dramatic narratives.She is also known for her life size charcoal figurative drawings on plywood, which are cut out, mounted on wood bases, and staged in installations. Several of these will also be on exhibit. Denise Stewart-Sanabria was born in Massachusetts and received her BFA in Painting from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst. She has lived in Knoxville, TN since 1986. Recent exhibits include: Continuāre: The Figurative Tradition in Contemporary Art at Ewing Gallery at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the 55th Mid-States Art Exhibition, Evansville Museum of Art, Evansville, IN,In the Flesh, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA, The 26th Tallahassee International, at theFlorida State Museum of Fine Arts, 2012 Red Clay Survey at the Huntsville Museum of Art, 2012: Contemporary RealismBiennial at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, American Art Today:Figures, at The Bascom, Highlands, NC, and "From These Hills: Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands", at the William King Museum, Abingdon, VA, 2013. Denise Stewart-Sanabria: www.stewart-sanabria.com, www.denisestewart-sanabria.blogspot.com

After March 7, call for a viewing appointment: 865-414-8641.
510 Williams Street, Knoxville, TN 37917, events@paulkandco.com.

"Atomic Energy: A Life Magazine exhibition prepared in consultation with the United States Atomic Energy Commission" is a 1948 panel exhibition prepared by Life magazine for distribution, and was announced in National Committee on Atomic Energy newsletter 66 years ago. The vintage photographic panel exhibit portrays the constructive uses of atomic energy, and the need for international control. Artifacts included are the panel display shipping crate, an exhibition pamphlet stamped American Museum of Atomic Energy, and at least one book mentioned in the pamphlet will be displayed. This exhibit was donated to AMSE in 2013 by the Samuel P. Hayes Research Library at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA. 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

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