Calendar of Events

Many people consider Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy​ to be one of the world's greatest novels. Published in 1877 against the backdrop of Russian high society and its frequent hypocrisy, Tolstoy explores themes of love, selfishness, family, and how to lead the best possible life.

Often masterpieces such as Anna Karenina can be intimidating. Knox County Public Library is pleased to partner with the University of Tennessee's Department of Modern Languages to present Tuesdays with Tolstoy throughout April to encourage readers to try Tolstoy's classic story of passion. Everyone is invited to read along and join the discussion.

UTK Russian literature student, Erika Knowles, under the guidance of her major professor, Dr. Stephen Blackwell, will facilitate a four-part study of Anna Karenina at Lawson McGhee Library from 6:00-7:30 p.m. starting on Tuesday, April 7 and continuing on April 14, 21, and 28. Each week, participants will read a section of the book, which they will discuss at the Library. Registration is encouraged at http://www.knoxlib.org/Tolstoy.

Tuesdays with Tolstoy is held in conjunction with the UTK's Leo Tolstoy Festival, which takes place April 23-25 . More information is available at http://mfll.utk.edu/tolstoy/. Dr. Blackwell began the Leo Tolstoy Festival as part of a bigger series called the Great Author Festival.

Many copies of Anna Karenina are available for check out at the Knox County Public Library.
Knox County Public Library: 500 West Church Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-215-8750, www.knoxlib.org

April 04, 2015 IJAMS BIRDING SERIES: Birding & Breakfast
April 04, 2015 PEG'S KITCHEN: Breakfast is Served
April 04, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 04, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Nature Center
April 04, 2015 URBAN WILDERNESS: Hike the South Loop
April 04, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 05, 2015 VISITOR CENTER CLOSED
April 11, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 11, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Nature Center
April 11, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 11, 2015 SPECIAL EVENT: 26th annual River Rescue
April 18, 2015 PUBLIC PROGRAM: Wagging Walk
April 18, 2015 SPECIAL EVENT: Spring Plant Festival
April 18, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 18, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Nature Center
April 18, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 25, 2015 PEG'S KITCHEN: Breakfast is Served
April 25, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature
April 25, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Nature Center
April 25, 2015 ANIMAL PROGRAM: Ijams Creature Feature

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

Where: Downtown Knoxville and McGhee Tyson Airport
When: April 4, 2014-March 20, 2015
How Much: Free

Art comes in all shapes and sizes. We invite you to experience some of the larger variety with Art in Public Places, an annual event featuring large-scale outdoor sculptures in Knoxville’s downtown public spaces and also at McGhee Tyson Airport. These larger scale pieces are thought provoking and awe-inspiring.

By displaying these works outdoors, we celebrate not only the art of sculpture but Knoxville’s natural beauty during this year-round outdoor exhibition.

The exhibition presently on view, an interesting and inspirational collection of works by sculptors from across the nation, was selected and awarded by noted sculptor Kenneth M. Thompson. Kenneth holds a Master of Liberal Studies in Sculpture from the University of Toledo and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Siena Heights College, in Adrian, MI. While many of his sculptures are in Ohio and Michigan, Thompson’s work can be seen in other states. He has done 41 pieces of public sculpture across the country. Ken has been making sculpture for over thirty years out of his car-dealership-turned-studio in Blissfield, Michigan. From this facility he operates Flatlanders Sculpture Supply and Art Galleries as well as Midwest Sculpture Initiative, which provides exhibitions that feature outdoor sculpture. Fourteen shows are planned for next year, he says. He also serves or has served on numerous arts-oriented boards.

The Art in Public Places Knoxville program, the 2015-2016 year being its 9th is a featured presentation of Dogwood Arts in partnership with the City of Knoxville Public Art Committee. The 2014-2015 Art in Public Places Knoxville Co-Chairs are Bart Watkins and Jason Brown.

To purchase a sculpture, please call [865] 637.4561.

Dogwood Arts: 865-637-4561 www.dogwoodarts.com

Tracey Crocker, co-owner and artist extraordinaire of Wine and Canvas Knoxville is proud to announce her first "1st Friday" show in Knoxville. Her pieces will be on exhibit at Uncorked on Market Square starting Friday April 3rd throughout the end of the month! Uncorked in Market Square, 18 Market Square, Knoxville. Info: (865) 521-0600

Recent works by Marilyn Avery Turner and Gray Bearden, both of Knoxville, will be on display during the month of April at the Art Market Gallery. An opening reception for the featured artists will be held during Downtown Knoxville’s monthly First Friday Art Walk beginning at 5:30 p.m. April 3, with complimentary refreshments and live music performed by Living Room Roots. In addition, works for the gallery’s annual Silent Auction, the cooperative’s only fundraiser, will be on exhibit through March 29 and ready to bid on.

Marilyn Avery Turner received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her mediums at the time were painting and collage, but since then she has concentrated on printmaking, specifically monoprinting and screen printing, and taught art for more than 20 years in a variety of settings. The New York City native has been associated with the Art Market Gallery since its inception in 1982 but has also exhibited her work in solo and group shows and in juried exhibitions throughout the United States. Her works have received awards in many of those exhibitions and are in numerous private collections. This show features the monoprint and chine-colle, a special printmaking technique using images she prints as collage elements.

Gray Bearden is a ceramic artist who creates two distinct bodies of work: functional tabletop ware and sculptural wall pieces. Though they serve different purposes, the two bodies of work share the same distinct features of pattern texture and detail. all of her work is hand-built by manipulating flat slabs of white stoneware clay into various forms, texturing where appropriate with found and created objects. Color is achieved through use of multiple glaze and underglaze techniques. Gray turned to ceramics after a lengthy corporate career, honing her skills at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and college-level art classes. A member of Foothills Craft Guild and Terra Madre, she has exhibited widely during the last 13 years.

Owned and operated by 62 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., on Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday; and 1 to 5 p.m., on 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.

Where: Bliss Home 29 Market Square Knoxville, TN 37902

When: Friday, April 3rd, 2015 through the end of the month.

Opening Reception: Friday, April 3rd, 2015 6pm to 9pm

Admission: Free

Artist's Website: www.staceyfletcher.com

Due to the overwhelmingly positive response to Stacey Fletcher's March First Friday, Bliss Home is pleased to extend Stacey's March exhibit to April for First Friday!

Bliss Home, located at 29 Market Square, will host an opening reception on Friday, April 3rd from 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary baked goodies from Old City Java will be provided and Stacey's art will be featured for the month of April.

Stacey Fletcher received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing from The University of Tennessee in 2003, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Valdosta State University in 2000. She has exhibited nationally and internationally in many individual, group, and juried exhibitions. This includes being awarded the honor of participating in the 2005 Pienkow International Artist Workshop in Poland. Stacey has taught for The University of Tennessee since 2000 as a graduate assistant, an assistant professor, as well as through the personal and professional extended education program. She lives, paints, and teaches in Knoxville, TN.

As a cathartic painter, Stacey’s work expresses emotions and frustrations that would otherwise be hard to express verbally. They seem abstract at first glace to the viewer, but have some sense of childhood imagery disguised among the colorful layers. Her work is fresh with vibrant lively colors, with layered metaphors of herself and others contrasted with the chaotic approach of the energetic marks.

Opening: Friday, April 3 from 5:00-9:00pm
Awards Presentation: 8:00pm

The Dogwood Arts Regional Fine Art Exhibition returns to showcase work from leading progressive and emerging artists in our region. The exhibition will encompass fine art of all styles and genres from artists, with selections made by renowned juror, Mark Scala, the founding chief curator at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, TN.

Mark Scala oversees the curatorial and registrarial management of exhibitions from all time periods, both nationally and internationally. Scala’s most renowned exhibitions have focused on the representation of the body through contemporary art. These have included Fairy Tales, Monsters, and the Genetic Imagination (2012), an international survey that dives into the symbolism of the hybrid body as proposed by sources ranging from folklore and science fiction to recent advancements in genetic engineering, prosthetics, and other aspects of anatomical and psychological adaptation.

Where: Emporium Center for Arts and Culture [100 South Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902]
Times: Monday- Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Saturday, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Dogwood Arts: 865-637-4561 www.dogwoodarts.com

The Hispanic organization HoLa Hora Latina will present a special art exhibit during the month of April by local Hispanic artist Angel Blanco. The title of the exhibit is “I Wish I Could Fly” and features works inspired by recycling and taking care of Mother Earth. In addition to paintings that show where one’s mind can fly, there will be a new collection of painted dresses representing fashion, glamour, and style worn by live models.

The exhibit will open with a gala reception, open to the public, on Friday, April 3rd from 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM in suite 112 of the Emporium Center. Light refreshments will be served and guests will be able to meet the artist and discuss his works.

The artist, Angel Blanco, was born in Venezuela where he studied business administration. After a time in Hong Kong, Blanco decided to pursue a future as an artist and create paintings that are emotional and subjective. He works primarily with acrylics, glass bottles, and painted dresses but his creativity has no limits and his goal is to create unique pieces of art that inspire dialogue about our environment and social commitment.

Following the reception on April 3rd, the exhibit will remain open to the public without charge from 9:30 AM through 5:00 PM Tuesday through Friday. For additional information about the exhibit or about the Hispanic organization, call 865 335-3358.

HoLa Hora Latina, 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 112, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-335-3358, www.holaknoxville.org, www.holafestival.org

Dennis Sabo, a Loudon, TN resident, is an internationally honored photographer specializing in contemporary abstract, landscape, and seascape photography. His award-winning work has appeared in various publications, television, the Internet and institutions. among them National Geographic, NOVA, PBS, and Blue Planet.

His exhibit, titled “Meadows and Mountains,” will be on display from April 1 to June 30th at Rarity Bay Community Center, Vonore, TN. The main exhibit hall is accessible Monday through Friday, 9AM to 4 PM which displays 12 of his pieces. Visitors should call ahead if they want to see the entire exhibit to assure that the conference room is not occupied with an event.

For more information, directions, or to check exhibit availability contact the Community Center at 423-884-3800
Viewing on weekends by special arrangements can be made by contacting Becky Kosalac at 423-884-3614 or Jean Porter at 423-744-4166.

East Tennessee Art Educator Exhibition curated by John Ashworth. Student Art Exhibition curated by Flowerree McDonough.

A Program Of Knoxville's Dogwood Arts, at Clayton Center for the Arts, 502E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy, Maryville, TN 37804

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 2, 5:00-9:00 with awards at 7:00 PM
Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 10:00am-6:00pm. Also: Saturday, April 11, 12:00-5:00pm
Free to the public!
Dogwood Arts: 865-637-4561 www.dogwoodarts.com

4/2: Shoreline, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Hurricane Grill & Wings - 319 Lovell Rd, Knoxville, TN 37934

4/9: Starry Night in Knoxville **Give from the Heart with Art** - The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Club LeConte - 800 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37929

4/13: Blossom Sunrise, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Chuy's - 9235 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37922

4/14: Birch Trees, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Mimi's Cafe - 10945 Parkside Drive, Knoxville, TN 37922

4/21: Love Anchor, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Dead End BBQ - Maryville - 527 West Broadway Ave., Maryville, TN 37801

4/22: Spring Blooms, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Calhoun's - Turkey Creek - 625 Turkey Cove Ln, Knoxville, TN 37934

4/23: Dogwoods, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Original Copper Cellar - 1807 Cumberland Ave, Knoxville, TN 37916

4/26: Wine and Fruit, 5:00 - 8:00 PM
Mind Yer P's & Q's - Farragut - 12744 Kingston Pike Suite 104, Knoxville, TN 37934

4/27: Old World Wine, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Uncorked - 18-20 Market Square, Knoxville, TN 37902

Wine & Canvas: Knoxville, TN, 865-356-9179, http://www.wineandcanvas.com/knoxville-tn.html

Arrowmont invites the public to view A Naturally Picked Stacked Attraction of Glitz, the final exhibition from current Arrowmont Artists-in-Residence. The Exhibition is on display in the Sandra J. Blain Gallery from March 30th – May 9th 2015.

The opening reception is Friday, April 10th from 7-9pm, and is free and open to the public. The community is encouraged to attend with their friends and family.

The exhibit showcases sculpture, video art, installations, and interactive work made by Artist-in-Residence F.E. Toan, Amy Masters, Hunter Creel, Matthew Dercole and Nicholas Stawinski.

This cumulative exhibition features the work made during the artists’ eleven- month residency at Arrowmont, and will include wall-scaling squirrels, 200 candleholders creating an illuminated labyrinth, some bulbous funk, and the world’s largest rag rug. The Arrowmont Artists-in-Residence Program was established in 1991. The program provides early career, self-directed artists time, space and support to experiment and develop a new body of work in a creative supportive community environment.

Matthew Dercole received his MFA in ceramics with minors in metalsmithing and drawing from the University of Iowa. Dercole has participated in previous artist residencies at the Lux Center for the Arts and at Lillstreet Art Center. Dercole’s emotional and sometimes disturbing sculptures incorporate illustrational and narrative qualities, reflecting the viewers’ own psychological complexities.

Amy Master’s tactile work utilizes fiber-based sculpture, installation, and performance to investigate memory and storytelling. Her “rugs” at once become zoomorphic, biological, and nostalgic. Masters received her MFA in Fibers from Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University, and has also completed residencies at the Wassaic Art Project and at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center.

Hunter Creel received his BFA in metalsmithing from Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville in 2012, and has also completed at residency at Craft Alliance in St. Louis, MO. Creel creates futuristic hollow-ware forms which become individual characters, suggesting personality and disposition through subtle gestures.

Nicholas Stawinski is an artist, furniture designer, and fourth-generation upholsterer. He earned his MFA from the University of Wisconson-Madison in 2014, and was featured in the July, 2012 issue of American Craft magazine. His totemic, upholstered forms pay homage to his families trade, as well as contort in unfamiliar and playful ways, subverting their traditional function.

F.E. Toan works with fiber and traditional metalsmithing techniques to create seductive structures and systems that both restrict and facilitate touch. Toan received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012, and helped found and manage the Mule Barn Craft Studio in Richmond, VA.

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