Calendar of Events

SoMo has music in his blood - with a father who played in a jazz rock band nearly his entire life. Although his talent loomed in the background, he never took serious interest until one serendipitous Christmas when his mother gifted him a piano. He taught himself to play by ear and recorded a cover of Chris Brown’s ‘Crawl’. He uploaded the video to YouTube and he quickly found himself an internet sensation. He continued to record and upload covers, but his medley of Drake’s Take Care album in 2011 solidified the SoMo phenomenon.

Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-522-0832, www.knoxbijou.com. For tickets: 865-684-1200, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a professional development seminar for local and regional artists on Tuesday, April 22, from 6:00-7:00 PM at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville. Join us as we welcome Denise Stewart-Sanabria who will discuss tips on photographing artwork, how to find and decide which exhibitions are worth one’s time, how to increase one’s chances of selection, why certain media is accepted and others denied, and more. The presentation is free for members of the Arts & Culture Alliance and $5 for non-members. Please register in advance via PayPal at http://www.knoxalliance.com/development.html.

Denise Stewart-Sanabria received her BFA in Painting from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and has lived in Knoxville since 1986. Sanabria paints both hyper-realist “portraits” of everything from produce to subversive jelly donuts, and full-scale, cut-out charcoal on plywood portraits of contemporary people that she uses to create conceptual installations. Recent exhibits include: “Continuare: 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; “American Art Today:Figure”, The Bascom, Highlands, NC; "From These Hills: Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands", William King Museum, Abingdon, VA; “LaGrange National XXVIII”, LaGrange Art Museum, LaGrange, GA; and Pallette”, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD. She is represented by The Arts Company in Nashville, TN, Minerva Gallery (Gallery Asheville) in Asheville, NC, and Atelier Gallery in Charleston, SC. Stewart-Sanabria also writes exhibit reviews for Number, an independent arts journal from Memphis, Art Papers, and Art Now Nashville. She also chaired the Dogwood Regional Fine Art Exhibit from 2009- 2013 and has curated and juried many regional exhibitions. For more information on Denise Stewart-Sanabria, visit www.stewart-sanabria.com.

Upcoming Professional Development workshops:
Friday, May 2, 4:00 PM – Gallery talk with Joe Longobardi, juror of Knoxville Photo 2014
Wednesday, June 11, 12:00-1:00 PM – Funding Your Art: Finding Cash with R.L. Gibson
Wednesday, July 16, 12:00-1:00 PM – Facebook for Artists with Lisa Gifford Mueller
Wednesday, August 20, 12:00-1:00 PM – All About Etsy for Artists with Jane Costello

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

Unique Percussion Ensemble will Perform Outdoors in Mead’s Quarry

Ijams Nature Center is partnering with the University of Tennessee’s Percussion Studies and contemporary music organization neif-norf to bring a unique musical experience to Knoxville. INUKSUIT, a composition by Pulitzer Prize winner John Luther Adams, will be performed at Ijams’ Mead’s Quarry on Tuesday, April 22 at 6 p.m. INUKSUIT is an immersive outdoor percussion ensemble written for anywhere between nine and 99 artists. This piece has been performed in outdoor venues around the world. Ijams provides the perfect sonic landscape for this singular composition. Adams has been hailed as, “…one of the most original musical thinkers of the new century,” by The New Yorker and was recently awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Music.

Cost is $10 for individuals or $20 per car. Parking is available at Ijams. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.
To learn more about this event, please call Mary Thom Adams at (865) 577-4717, ext. 117.
To learn more about Ijams Nature Center, visit Ijams.org
To learn more about John Luther Adams and INUKSUIT, visit johnlutheradams.com
To learn more about the University of Tennessee percussion, visit www.music.utk.edu/percussion/index.html

Ijams Nature Center is a 300-acre wildlife sanctuary and environmental learning center, providing community-wide connections and experiences through education, conservation, recreation and responsible environmental stewardship for all people.

April 17-May 3, 2015
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestly

Theatre Knoxville Downtown
319 North Gay Street, KNoxville
865 544 1999 or email: info@theatreknoxville.com
www.theatreknoxville.com

The Shakespeare classic “The Tempest” is being produced in partnership with Duck Ear Productions. The play is April 17-19 and 24-26. Attendees should prepare to be transported to a faraway island for a tale filled with spirits, monsters, vengeance, young love and sorcery.

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

Join Bill Landry of "The Heartland Series" for a guided trip around Cades Cove. Bill will share stories, tales and adventures during each tour.

$50 per person, advance reservations required, with a limit of 18 guests per tour.
Call 865 448 8838 for reservations Mon.-Fri., 10:00AM - 5:00PM.
Bill Landry Cades Cove tour dates:
Saturdays, April 12, May 24, May 31, June 7, June 21, July 5, July 12, July 19, July 26,
August 2, August 16, August 23, September 6.

Tours depart at 9:30 am from the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend.
Tour is approximately 4 hours.
Light snacks and a cold beverage is included in the ticket price.
Bill Landry Cades Cove tours will run rain or shine.

Poets for Preservation is a forthcoming spring poetry series presented by Knox Heritage and eight local poets in April and May of 2014. Native Knoxville poets, most residing in the area for 30 years, will perform engaging works about history, home, and new beginnings in celebration of the opening of Historic Westwood at 3425 Kingston Pike. Poets will read in pairs on Saturdays at 3 p.m. in April and May as listed below. Refreshments will be served, and guests are welcome to look around the newly restored mansion after the readings.

April 12, 3 p.m.
Linda Parsons Marion and Laura Still

April 19, 3 p.m.
Marilyn Kallet and Keith Norris

May 10, 3pm
Donna Doyle and Rose Raney

May 24, 3 p.m.
Darren Jackson and Arthur Smith

Historic Westwood at 3425 Kingston Pike, Knoxville
865-523-8008, www.knoxheritage.org

Recipient of the 2014 Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Artist of the Year Award, Andrea Wilson will have a solo exhibition in the Loggia Gallery at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts. The Opening Reception will be on Wednesday, April 16th from 5:30 to 7:00pm at Arrowmont in Gatlinburg. Everyone is invited to attend!

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

We are delighted to announce the return of the Foothills Craft Guild for our next full length exhibit. Everyone is invited to attend the opening reception from 6:30 – 8:00 PM on Friday, April 11. The Foothills Exhibit will display a wide variety of skills by about 25 participating artists. Most of the works on display will be for sale. Expect to see pottery, handmade books, jewelry, block prints, weaving, needle felting, spinning, works in wood, photography, and much more! From 10 AM to 4 PM on most Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during the exhibit, at least one artist per day will be on hand to demonstrate his or her craft and to talk to visitors about the show. The Fountain city Art Center is located at 213 Hotel Avenue, 37918, located next to Fountain City Park in the old library building. Our hours are Tuesday – Thursday 9 AM - 5 PM and Friday 9 AM - 5 PM. We are also open on Saturdays from 9 AM - 1 PM when volunteers are available. Call first. Contact information: (865)357-ARTS; fcartcenter@knology.net; www.fountaincityartctr.com.

Artist Reception – Friday, April 11, 5:30-9 p.m.
We are pleased to present this show as a Dogwood Arts Featured Art Exhibit. Kathie Odom leaves the anatomy of her paintings exposed and allows light to diffuse translucently from the first wash to the thicker oils, showing different textures, birthing life. Subtle detailing coupled with loose brush strokes invite the viewer beneath into an aliveness not so apparent on the surface. Almost exclusively Kathie’s compositions are places where the possibility of life exists: barn, nest, field, dwelling, bud, shed…the vision of Home.

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

April 09, 2014 THE URBAN WILDERNESS: Explore Ijams
April 10, 2014 CHILDREN’S PROGRAM: Stroller Stroll
April 10, 2014 SCIENCE CAFÉ: The Lunar Eclipse
April 11, 2014 THE URBAN WILDERNESS: Bouldering Hike
April 12, 2014 PUBLIC PROGRAM: Wagging Walk
April 12, 2014 PEG'S KITCHEN: Breakfast is Served
April 12, 2014 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 12, 2014 THE URBAN WILDERNESS: South Loop Piece-by-Piece
April 12, 2014 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 12, 2014 IJAMS GARDENING SERIES: Urban Gardening
April 12, 2014 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 15, 2014 IJAMS SOCIAL SERIES: Pink Moon Happy Hour
April 16, 2014 THE URBAN WILDERNESS: Explore Ijams
April 17, 2014 SPECIAL EVENT: Ijams @ The Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage
April 19, 2014 PEG'S KITCHEN: Breakfast is Served
April 19, 2014 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 19, 2014 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 19, 2014 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 19, 2014 SPECIAL EVENT: Family Drum Circle
April 23, 2014 THE URBAN WILDERNESS: Explore Ijams
April 24, 2014 CHILDREN’S PROGRAM: Stroller Stroll
April 26, 2014 SPECIAL EVENT: Spring Native Plant Sale
April 26, 2014 PEG'S KITCHEN: Breakfast is Served
April 26, 2014 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 26, 2014 SPECIAL EVENT: Ijams @ EarthFest
April 26, 2014 SPECIAL EVENT: Outdoor KnoxFest @ Ijams
April 26, 2014 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 27, 2014 SPECIAL EVENT: Outdoor KnoxFest @ Ijams
April 30, 2014 THE URBAN WILDERNESS: Explore Ijams

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Grounds and trails open during daylight hours. Call for Visitor Center hours. Information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

Explore more than 60 miles of trails, open gardens, and historic homes as you enjoy a walk, bike ride, or drive.

Most of the Festival’s wide range of arts events, performances, and exhibitions are offered to the public free of charge. Dogwood Arts Festival: 865-637-4561 www.dogwoodarts.com