Calendar of Events

Based out of Henderson, near Nashville, Blue Mother Tupelo (BMT) is the husband and wife duo of Ricky Davis (acoustic & electric guitars, dobro, vocals) and Micol Davis (piano, tambourine, vocals). With the sweet and soaring vocals of Micol, the gritty vocals and greasy slide guitar of Ricky, and their passionate harmonies, the music of BMT is a genre-defying, earthy blend of Delta blues and Appalachian mountain music. BMT has performed at festivals, clubs and special events all over the Southeast and Midwest. They have also performed in New York City at the Museum of Modern Art and the famed nightclub The Bitter End.

The Fall Sunset Music Series is sponsored by First Tennessee Foundation. Admission to each concert is $5.00 per person at the door, with Heritage Center members admitted free.

Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, 3/4 mile east of traffic light at the Highway 321 and 73 intersection towards the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Townsend, TN. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM. Information: 865-448-0044, www.gsmheritagecenter.org

Since 1993, and years before the resurgence of downtown, Alive After Five has been attracting people to Knoxville from the Knox County periphery and surrounding counties to enjoy live music, food, spirits, and art in the casually elegant atmosphere of the Knoxville Museum of Art. The early Friday evening program has been a great way to wind down from the work week or to start the weekend or both. Mostly showcasing the rich treasure trove of local and regional musical talent, Alive After Five has also presented acts from New Orleans, Boston, Dallas, Canada, Peru, France, Japan, Australia, and more. Food is available from a variety of area restaurants or caterers, and there are two cash bars.

Alive After Five will celebrate its 21st anniversary with a performance by Soulfinger, a seven-member band from Knoxville. Led by vocalist and keyboard/harmonica player, Tim Spencer, Soulfinger is groovin' in the 21st century with 20th century old school R&B, soul, funk, and blues, playing songs made famous by Otis Redding, James Brown, Sam Cooke, B. B. King, and many more.

Free for KMA members • $10 General Admission • $5 with valid student ID • Free for ages 17 and under. All tickets are sold at the door. No reservations required. Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM; Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

Athens Area Council for the Arts is pleased to welcome back local favorites, Andrew and Lindsey Kimball, and Norris-based duo, Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy, for It Takes Two: Singer Songwriters in Concert. The show is in the Sue E. Trotter Black Box Theater at The Arts Center. These couples will sing a mix of original songs and covers. Light hors d’oeuvres and cash bar will be available.

Before the concert, AACA will host an opening reception for “Roots of Our Art: Collected Works by Athens’ Own,” an exhibition featuring original work by prolific local artists Ethel Carroll, Rhodelle Cunningham Miller, Betty Grater, Frances Graves, and Martha B. Hale.

Gaelic Storm kicks off AACA’s Big Time/Small Town Performance Season on September 16, 2014 at 7:30 pm at Athens City Middle School. Tickets are on sale now: $18/adults ($20 at the door) and $10/students and are available online, by phone, and in person at The Arts Center.

To learn more about these events and AACA’s other programs visit www.athensartscouncil.org, call 745-8781, or drop by The Arts Center at 320 North White Street, Athens, Tennessee.

The Knoxville Film Festival is the result of the combination of the Secret City Film Festival with the new collaboration of Dogwood Arts. Housed in Knoxville’s arthouse cinema, the new incarnation of the festival is back for its second year after a highly successful premiere run. The 2013 festival screened over 80 independent films and hosted panel discussions to over 2,000 festival goers. Now the largest film festival in the region, the Knoxville Film Festival promises to be an exciting event to watch for the future.

Knoxville Film Festival, Regal Cinemas Downtown West Cinema 8 Movie Theater, 1640 Downtown West Boulevard, Knoxville, TN, (865) 742-8783, http://www.knoxvillefilmfestival.com

In the tradition of comedians who have made the transition from the stage to the screen, such as Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby, multi-talented Guy Torry has made the leap to comedic actor with great success. Guy has been seen on BET’s Comic View, Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, Showtime at the Apollo and Russell Simmons: Def Comedy Jam where he made his stand up debut to a national audience. Guy also hosted the enormously successful 52 city comedy tour The Kings of Comedy, which grossed over $37M. He created a unique concept called Phat Comedy Tuesdays which was a weekly showcase for up and coming comedians. This evolved into a weekly spotlight at the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip entitled The Guy Torry Show where Guy hosts and produces a comedy showcase featuring an improv comedy troupe. This event was regularly attended by the comedy A-List including Eddie Murphy, Chris Tucker and Chris Rock.

TICKET PRICES: $8 FOR GENERAL ADMISSION, $10 FOR PREFERRED SEATING ONLINE!
All tickets via phone or at the door are $2 more per ticket!
All tickets go up $2 on the day of the show.

Side Splitters Comedy Club - West Knoxville, 9246 Parkwest Boulevard, Knoxville, TN 37923. 865.934.LAFF (5233), www.SideSplittersComedy.com

September 10-13, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts will present the Figurative Association: The Human Form symposium on the Arrowmont campus in Gatlinburg. The symposium begins on September 10th with an exhibition opening and keynote address. The keynote speaker is Dr. Nancy Etcoff, evolutionary psychologist at Harvard University. In her talk, Neuroaesthetics and the Human Figure, Dr. Etcoff will discuss the new field of neuroaesthetics and the insights it offers into figurative art. Dr. Etcoff is the founder of the Program in Aesthetics and Well-Being at Massachusetts General Hospital and the author of Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty.

James W. Sullivan, professor of sculpture and design will moderate several panels. Guest writer Edith Garcia will write and blog during the symposium. There will be numerous presentations and demonstrations by the eight renowned national and international artists and nine invited artists plus two figurative sculpture exhibitions. Presenting artists: Robert Brady, Christina Cordova, Susan Hagen, Doug Jeck, Kris Kuksi, Elizabeth Higgins O’Connor, Bob Trotman, Christina West, Thaddeus Erdahl, Dustin Farnsworth.

Glenn Harper, editor of Sculpture magazine is the closing speaker. Titled Transfiguration: The Sense of an Ending, Mr. Harper’s talk explores the ending of figural art and what figurative sculpture says about being human today.

The Exhibition in the main gallery, August 30-November 8, 2014, is free and open to the public and includes 38 figurative sculptural works from Presenting and Invited Artists. Along with the two exhibitions, the Symposium includes a total of 20 different rotating studio demonstrations and two evening panel discussions. For more information or to register, call 865.436.5860 or go online to www.arrowmontfigure.org.
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738

Some very important lessons in life aren't covered in school. Knox County Public Library is pleased to offer programs for teens this fall. Life 101 is a short series focusing on sharing knowledge on important issues for teens and their families. The free workshops will be held on Saturdays at 2:00 at Lawson McGhee Library, 500 W. Church Ave.
September 20 and again on October 4 - Circuit Training for Teens. Andrew Freeman, from the Lindsay Young YMCA, will be teaching easy circuit training exercises.
In a future workshop Shannon Reynolds from the University of Tennessee Medical Center's "Healthy Living Kitchen" program will be talking about the importance of establishing healthy eating habits and showing teens how to make a quick and healthy snack.
For additional information, please call 215-8700.
All classes are held at Lawson McGhee Library, 500 W. Church Ave. at 2:00.

Alan Moore will be on view at the downtown Knoxville Tomato Head Restaurant from September 8th thru October 4th. He will then exhibit at the West Knoxville Gallery Tomato Head from October 7th thru November 3rd.

The Moores have recently embarked on their most ambitious exhibit schedule to date. Over 100 pieces of the Moore’s southern-fried folk art will be on display in three states over the next five months. Alan and his daughters Isabella (age 13) and Emma (age 11) have been creating their iconic bottle cap fish for their junk art tour they call “Catch!” – inspired by their two home states of Florida and Colorado. Recently the Moore’s went “paintless” in their folk art bringing all the color to their work through the medium of vintage soda/beer cans and bottle caps. The Moore’s new palette includes over 4000 soda and beer cans to choose from, all dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. Their studio also boasts of having over 60,000 neatly organized bottle caps-vintage and modern, domestic and international. It is not rare for Alan or one of the girls to make a fish with caps and cans from Germany, Russia, Canada, Thailand, S. Korea, the US and several other countries.

Tomato Head: 12 Market Square, Knoxville, 865-637-4067, www.thetomatohead.com

Saturday, September 6 & 13 - Registration: 10:30 a.m.
Kerr Building / Chilhowee Park

Participate in the Tennessee Valley Fair's fourth annual Lego Extravaganza. Individuals and teams of all ages are welcome to enter this live Lego build event. No preregistration required. Hundreds of individuals and families competed in this event in 2013.

Prefer to take your time building your Lego masterpiece at home? Entries are also being accepted for the Lego Build Exhibit. Entries are submitted prior to the Fair and remain on display all 10 days, September 5-14. Categories include: Original Free Build, Children's Toy and Patriotic. The registration deadline for the Lego Build competition is August 22.

It is our immense pleasure to invite the community to the next First Friday Art Opening at the Blount Mansion Visitors Center. We are privileged to have acquired many wonderful pieces over the years, and now we are going to display them for our visitors. This exhibit will showcase some of the best art that the Blount Mansion Association has collected since 1926. These prints and portraits help to make the house truly an amazing experience and help to tell the story of Knoxville, Tennessee, and the United States. The show will include portraits of some of our most famous Tennesseans, such as Territorial Governor William Blount and his half-brother, Tennessee Governor Willie Blount, as well as Charles McClung and John Sevier. Visitors will also see great historical figures such as George Washington, Henry Knox, and Louis Philippe, King of France. Knoxville’s prominent citizens are featured here as well, with portraits of Charles McClung and Mary Boyce Temple. There is also a set of three John Catesby prints and other decorative pieces that will showcase the breadth of the collection here at the Governor’s House.

As part of the First Friday, the opening reception will be from 5:00 to 7:00 on Friday September 5th here at the Blount Mansion Visitors Center at 200 West Hill Avenue in Knoxville. There will be beverages and light refreshments available. This is a free event and all are welcome. Please come and enjoy the event and have fun!

info@blountmansion.org (865) 525-2375

Recent works by painter Victoria Simmons of Knoxville and jeweler Sissy Caldwell of Maryville will be on display at the Art Market Gallery for the month of September. An opening reception for this featured exhibition will be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Sept. 5, during Downtown Knoxville’s monthly First Friday Art Walk. There will be complimentary refreshments and live music by the Accidentals.

Victoria Simmons is an award-winning artist whose works are in private collections throughout the United States and abroad. Besides two solo exhibitions, her paintings have been juried into many regional and national shows. A long-time hiker and birdwatcher, Victoria has spent most of her life creating images from nature. Although dogs and horses remain her favorite subjects, she loves painting animals of all kinds, and wildlife and birds of the Smokies will be featured for this show.

Soon after retiring as an executive from TVA, Sissy Caldwell discovered a bead shop with exquisite seed beads and crystals that could be stitched into jewelry. Always having sewn and done embroidery, quilting, crocheting, and knitting, she took classes in off-loom bead weaving, andFeatherbells jewelry was born. Sissy’s artistic signature is a blend of various jewelry-making techniques, such as off-loom bead weaving with precious metal clay or glass, in order to create distinctive jewelry and gifts.

Owned and operated by about 60 professional regional artists, the Art Market Gallery, at 422 South Gay St., is a few doors 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.

Bliss Home is pleased to present Secret Life of Plants by Knoxville photographer, Dennis Sabo, for September's First Friday. Bliss Home, located at 29 Market Square, will host an opening reception on Friday, September 5th from 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary Steamboat Sandwiches will be provided and Dennis' art will be featured for the month of September.

Dennis Sabo, a Loudon resident, is an internationally honored photographer specializing in contemporary abstract, and landscape photography. His award-winning work has appeared in various publications, television, the Internet and institutions, among them NOVA, PBS, National Geographic, and Blue Planet. A frequent lecturer and workshop instructor, Sabo is mostly known for his fine art abstracts of the natural world. He has refined the fine-art photograph into an interpretive collage of color and texture. The title for this exhibition is Secret Life of Plants an impressionistic and expressionistic art view of this very special component of nature. www.dsabophoto.com

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