Calendar of Events

May First Friday at Bliss Home
Bliss Home 29 Market Square Knoxville, TN 37902
Friday, May 2, 2014 through the end of the month.

Bliss Home is pleased to present Knoxville artist, Ocean Starr Cline, for May's First Friday. Bliss Home, located at 29 Market Square, will host an opening reception on Friday, May 2nd from 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary Steamboat Sandwiches will be provided and Starr's art will be featured for the month of May.

Part of the International Biscuit Festival, the Biscuit Art Exhibition runs May 2-31 at Bliss Home, Coffee & Chocolate, and Rala.

Purchase Biscuit Art online at Biscuitfest.com/art.

Jonathan Howe Fine Art now showing at The Tomato Head restaurant in Market Square through May. See a collection of masterful portraits in various mediums from oil on canvas to pen and ink on paper. This selection of fine art displays the diverse ways of revealing the light given to the human countenance.

Jonathan Howe Fine Art, 4513 Lee Rd, Knoxville, TN 37921.
The Tomato Head: 12 Market Square, Knoxville, TN 37902, Phone (865) 637-4067.

Elaine Barnes of Harriman and Suzanne Jack of Knoxville are the Art Market Gallery’s featured artists for May. Their recent works will be on exhibit at The Art Market Gallery through May 25, with an opening reception to be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m., Friday, May 2 during the monthly First Friday Art Walk in downtown Knoxville. At the opening reception visitors may enjoy complimentary refreshments and live music performed by Nostalgia --Electric Mix.

Owned and operated by about 60 professional artists, the Art Market Gallery, at 422 S. Gay St., is a few doors from Mast General Store and next to Downtown Grill & Brewery. Hours are 11 a.mm. 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.

An exhibition of works by Knox County Art Educators in partnership with Downtown Gallery.

Opening reception Fri, May 2, 5-9 PM
Awards ceremony to be held at 6:30 PM

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

Knoxville Children’s Theatre will present a live stage adaptation of Eleanor Porter’s beloved novel Pollyanna. The play will be performed May 2 through 18, Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM; Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM; Sundays at 3 PM. The show is KCT’s 57th production and 20th original production and Knoxville premiere.

Pollyanna became one of the most popular books for children upon its publication in 1913 and has spawned over a dozen sequels. The book has been filmed several times, and the story’s popularity grew so great that the word “Pollyanna” has made its way into dictionaries, defined as “an eternal optimist.”

Something is wrong in Beldingsville, Vermont. Neighbors are arguing, lovers are quarreling, and the rest of the town’s residents are just plain cantankerous! But when happy little Pollyanna Whittier moves to town to live with her crabby spinster aunt, the town’s secrets are about to be uncovered. And life in Beldingsville will never be the same again!

The play is performed by 13 talented young actors, from ages 9 to 15. Jada Kaufman plays the title role of Pollyanna. Jada was last seen in Sarah, Plain And Tall and Sleeping Beauty at KCT. Natalia Adams plays Pollyanna’s aunt Polly, and Kayla June Nobbe plays Polly’s maid Nancy. Six actors are making their KCT debuts: Draven Copeland, Presley Ford, Audrey Jones, Emma Lorenz, Christopher Dean Sagliano, and Taylor Williams. The rest of the cast includes KCT veteran performers Brock Mullins, Isabelle Hannah, Kena Holmes, and Averi Richardson. The play is adapted and directed by Zack Allen. Liel Kirk is the Production Manager. Kiernan Bensey and Brooke Cunningham will provide the scenic design, and Rose Bolton will design and build the costumes. The play’s stage manager is Marianne Dodson.

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

Come see a new fine art exhibit - Impressions of Color from Paris, Italy, and the Loire Valley - premiering original oil paintings by Aleex Conner, local Impressionist. Friday, May 2, 5 pm - 9 pm, Plum Gallery, 5609 Kingston Pike, 584.6097. Aleex's work is in private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe, and her original oils have also been exhibited in Giverny, France (home of Monet's Gardens), Northern Italy, and Tuscany. One of her limited edition prints, "Suffrage on Market Square," is part of the historical exhibit of art and artifacts at the General Federation of Women's Clubs History and Resource Center in Washington, DC.

Photography exhibit: Gary Johnson and Karen Krogh
Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church

Free and open to the public
Opening reception May 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists’ talks at 6:30 p.m.
Exhibit runs May through June 2014

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

The featured exhibits at the library! The exhibits will be coordinated by his children, Allison Gallup and George Gallup, III. George Gallup, Jr., had a home in Blount County, TN. His father founded the Gallup Poll, and George, Jr., continued the business until he sold the company.

"George Gallup: Political Posters, History and Americana Collections” Political Pollster Exhibit, coordinated by his children, Allison Gallup and George Gallup, III, on the Art Wall across from the Bookmark Café and Art Panels at the Reading Rotunda area of the Main Gallery.
“George Gallup: Political Campaign Buttons” in two display cases in the Mid-Gallery area of the library across from the Bookmark Café.
“George Gallup: Political Campaign Bottles, a Ballot Box, Framed Autograph and pictures of George Gallup, Sr.” in one vertical case in the Entry Rotunda.
“Gallup Family Americana Collections” in three square pedestal cases in the Entry Rotunda.
“Gallup Family” in the Genealogy display case near the Reference Genealogy Desk.

Blount County Public Library, 508 N. Cusick Street, Maryville, TN. Information: 865-982-0981, www.blountlibrary.org

In conjunction with the new feature exhibition, Woven of Wood: East Tennessee Baskets, 1880-1940, the East Tennessee Historical Society will be holding a series of “Casual Basket Sundays” and special demonstrations by members of the Foothills Craft Guild. Guests are invited to bring their baskets, share stories, and meet with basket experts. Programs include:
April 25-27, Friday and Saturday - 10:00 am-4:00 pm, Sunday - 1:00-5:00 pm
Basket Making Demonstrations
There will be basket making demonstrations from members of the Foothills Crafts Guild on the porch and front lobby of the East Tennessee History Center. Featured artists include Karen Kenst, Sue Mowen, Judy and Virgil Davis, Bill Alexander, and Jim Gentry.

April 27, 2:00-4:00, A United States show and tell gathering
Collectors will show their favorite or unusual baskets made roughly from 1880-1940, regardless of where in the United States they were made. Examples are likely to be seen from Pennsylvania, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri, and Middle Tennessee, as well as Native American. Each collector will tell something about his basket, either why it is a favorite or something of its history. There will also be basket demonstrations by featured basket maker Billy Sims and Sue Mowen and Bill Alexander from the Foothills Craft Guild.

May 11, beginning at 2:00, Mother’s Day Gallery Tours
Interactive gallery tours of the East Tennessee Historical Society’s feature exhibit Woven of Wood lead by guest curator Carole Carpenter Wahler. Museum visitors will learn about baskets and their features and are welcome to join in at any time.

May 18, 2:00-4:00, Casual Basket Sunday- A world wide show and tell gathering
Collectors will show baskets made anywhere in the world, at any time, and of any materials. Examples are likely to be seen from Australia, Africa, Philippines, England, and China, as well as baskets made in Tennessee from the middle of the 20th century to the present. Each collector will tell something about his basket, either why it is a favorite or something of its history. A gallery tour of Woven of Wood will take place immediately following the show and tell gathering.

“Casual Basket Sundays” are free and open to the public and will take place at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street. For more information please call Michele MacDonald, (865)215-8829 or visit www.eastTNhistory.org.

he Farragut Business Alliance has once again partnered with the Town of Farragut and Dogwood Arts Festival to host the 4th Annual Farragut Art in the Park, presented by TDS. It is a plein air event, with two days of painting or photography on location, followed by a gallery reception and sale. Art for Kids! will be back again this year as well and new youth competition categories have been added.

The paint-out/shooting dates are Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27, 2014. The Gallery Reception and Sale is Friday, May 9th. The events will occur rain or shine.

Farragut Art in the Park culminates with a Gallery Reception & Art Sale at 7pm on Friday, May 9. Due to a generous partnership with The Pinnacle at Turkey Creek, it will be held in a new location this year, at 11483 Parkside Drive (in the space next to Men’s Warehouse). Hors d'oeuvres and desserts are complimentary and wine will be available for $3 per glass. The Knoxville Bella Corda, an Allied Music Instructors youth acoustic guitar ensemble, will provide entertainment. Finally, Best of Show, First Place and Second Place paintings and photographs (judged separately) will be awarded cash prizes. Presenting Sponsor’s Choice will also be named.

All events are free and open to the public.

Farragut Business Alliance, P.O. Box 23583, Farragut, TN 37933

This Tony Award winner evokes the delightful humor and infectious energy of honky tonk dives, rent parties and stride piano players in 1930's Harlem. The rollicking, winging music of the inimitable "Fats" Waller gets the joint a-jumpin as the cast struts, strums and sings songs made famous in a career that ranged from uptown clubs to downtown Tin Pan Alley to Hollywood and concert stages in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
April 25-May 11, 2014, Mainstage.

Purchase tickets online 24 hours a day: www.orplayhouse.com.
Purchase by phone or at box office: 865 482 9999, 12:00-5:30PM Mon.-Sat. during performance weeks.