Calendar of Events

presented by the East Tennessee Historical Society & the Knox County Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission in conjunction with the Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event
Downtown Knoxville & Nearby Sites

Knoxville will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. A series of programs and activities will highlight Union, Confederate, and African American perspectives, with a focus on Reconstruction, remembrance, and reconciliation. Visitors are invited to explore Civil War forts, cemeteries, historic homes, museums, special exhibits, and a Civil War Exposition, as well as enjoy living history portrayals, a Blue & Gray Reunion Dinner, a play, music, and vintage base ball games as played during the 1890 reunion.

A Blue & Gray Reunion Dinner will be held on Friday, May 1, with Ron Maxwell, director of the popularly acclaimed films Gettysburg and Gods and General, as the featured speaker. Music and a short history of Knoxville’s 1890 Blue and Gray Reunion will add to the evening’s theme. Tickets are $60 each and must be purchased in advance. To purchase tickets call 865-215-8883 or visit www.eastTNhistory.org/BlueGray.

A "Peace Jubilee" on the evening of May 2 will feature events much like those that took place at the original 1890 reunion. There will be music and excerpts of speeches from the original reunion. A candlelight ceremony will give visitors an opportunity to remember an ancestor who fought in the conflict. Those without an ancestor who fought in the war may adopt an ancestor from a list available at the event. A fireworks finale will commemorate the war’s end.

On Sunday, May 3, cemeteries, historic homes, and fort tours will continue in the afternoon. At 8:45 and 11:00 a.m., First Presbyterian Church will host a "Service of Remembrance, Reunion, and Reconciliation for a Nation Divided." At 2:00 p.m., a "Rededication of the Sultana Monument" will commemorate those who died in the Mississippi River explosion of the steamboat Sultana, on April 27, shortly after the war's end. Many East Tennesseans, just released and on the way home from Cahaba Prison, were among the dead and the survivors from the largest maritime accident in the nation's history.

About the Freedom Jubilee:
Events on May 2 will focus on the 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, with an opening ceremony and color guard, the presentation of records transcriptions to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, a traveling exhibit, A Glorious March to Freedom, and a lecture by Dr. Frank Smith, executive director of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum. The day will also include activities in Haley Heritage Square, a visit by Roots actor Ben Vereen, music, and children's activities. Haley Heritage Square is named for Alex Haley, who spent the latter years of his life in Knoxville and nearby Norris.

All events are open to the public, most are free of charge. There is a small suggested donation to cover transportation for the Civil War Knoxville bus tours.

About the Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission Signature Events:
A series of special programs, focusing on the subject of Reconstruction Tennessee," will be presented by the Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, April 30-May 1. A keynote address at the Historic Bijou Theatre, April 30, features the Fisk Jubilee Singers and a lecture by Carolyn E. Janney, Ph.D. A panel discussion on May 1, will include Drs. Todd Groce, Luke Harlow, Bobby L. Lovett, and Tracy McKenzie, with book signings to follow.

"Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee," presented by the Tennessee State Library and Archives, invites those with family artifacts and documents from the Civil War to bring them in for documentation and identification and advice on preservation care. To register to bring in your Civil War artifacts please call 615-253-3470 or email civilwar.tsla@tn.gov. The Commission will also present a teachers workshop and a day of student programs.

All Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event programs are free and open to the public. Registration, however, is required by emailing tn.civilwar150@tn.gov or calling (615) 532-7520.

The Civil War Signature Event is jointly sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Tennessee Historical Society, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Knox County Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, East Tennessee Historical Society, and Visit Knoxville. For the full list of Blue & Gray Reunion and Peace Jubilee events and details, please visit www.easttnhistory.org/BlueGray.

Pellissippi State Community College’s Spring Choral Concert on Thursday, April 30, honors the late Bill Brewer. Brewer, for many years the college’s Music program coordinator and choral director, passed away in March after a battle with cancer.

The event features the student vocal ensembles Concert Chorale and Variations, led by guest conductor David Stutzenberger. Several students will perform solos. A slideshow of choir performances, including highlights from the annual Variations study abroad trips, will be shown, accompanied by recordings of choir presentations under Brewer’s direction.

In honor of Brewer, all of the college’s choirs will join together for performances at the end of the concert. For the final piece, “Climb Every Mountain,” anyone in the audience who has been a part of a Pellissippi State choir is invited to join the combined choirs on stage. Following the concert, the public is invited to a reception that will include performances by alumni who were members of Pellissippi State choirs and who wanted to memorialize Brewer in song.

The event is free and the community is invited. Donations will be accepted at the door for the Pellissippi State Foundation on behalf of the Music Scholarship Fund and the new Bill and Sharon Brewer Music Scholarship.

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

Central High School National Art Honor Society exhibition
Reception date TBA.

Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 9AM-5PM; Wednesday & Friday, 10AM-5PM; 2nd and 3rd Saturdays, 9AM-1PM. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartctr.com

The Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865 may have legally ended the Civil War, but it did not end East Tennessee’s bitter internal war. As Union and Confederate veterans returned home, fierce partisanship and settling of old scores often continued. Some Confederates, feeling unwelcome in their own homeland, left the region, many never to return. Yet, as the months and years passed, the vast majority on each side began to work together to mend their differences and to rebuild their war-ravaged lives and communities. The new exhibit Memories of the Blue and Gray: The Civil War in East Tennessee at 150 will explore early attempts at reconciliation and how we as East Tennesseans continue to remember the Civil War 150 years later.

The exhibition will feature more than 125 artifacts from the collections of ETHS, Gerald and Sandra Augustus, Drs. Anthony and Jill Hodges, and others, highlighting reconstruction, reunions, the Sultana disaster, cemeteries and monuments, commemorative art, educational institutions, collecting of artifacts and memorabilia, and state and local preservation efforts. Clothing varying from period gowns to a Ku Klux Klan uniform to a Confederate reunion frock coat will be on display, alongside a brush believed carried by a soldier who survived the explosion and sinking of the Sultana, a piece of furniture made by the former slave Lewis Buckner, and the diaries of Ellen Renshaw House. Featured Civil War Reunion memorabilia will range from 1881 to 2013 with the 150th anniversary of the battle of Fort Sanders. The “Looking Back” Civil War artifact documentation program of the Tennessee State Library and Archives will be represented with an odd-shaped shoe, fashioned by the Union for a Confederate soldier from Grainger County who lost half his foot in the Battle of Franklin. In addition to artifacts, the exhibition will include a video of Civil War collectors Gerald and Sandra Augustus and a slide show highlighting East Tennessee’s Civil War cemeteries and monuments.

The exhibition is presented in conjunction with the Blue & Gray Reunion and Freedom Jubilee to be held in Knoxville, April 30-May 3, 2015. Four days of special programming highlighting Knoxville and the region’s Civil War history begins with the state's Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event with lectures by nationally recognized speakers, a performance by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Civil War artifact documentation by the Tennessee State Library and Archives, student and teacher programs, a Blue & Gray Dinner, and more. Weekend activities include music, vintage baseball games, bus tours to historic homes, forts, and cemeteries, living history, heritage groups, exhibits, a service of remembrance, a Peace Jubilee, fireworks, and more. For more information on the programs of the Blue & Gray Reunion and Freedom Jubilee, please visit www.eastTNhistory.org/BlueGray.

The Museum of East Tennessee History is open 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday; 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Saturday; and 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, Sunday. Museum Admission is $5.00 for adults, $4.00 for seniors, and FREE for children under 16. Each Sunday admission is FREE to all and ETHS members always receive FREE admission. The Museum is located in the East Tennessee History Center, 601 South Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37901. For more information about booking the exhibition, scheduling a school tour, or visiting the museum, call (865) 215-8824, email eths@eastTNhistory.org, or visit www.easttnhistory.org.

The Town of Farragut and Farragut Arts Council will sponsor the 2015 Farragut Intermediate School Art Show beginning in April at the Farragut Town Hall. Don't miss this opportunity to marvel at the work of some of Farragut's most talented young artists. Awards will be given for best in show and first, second and third places during the reception.

View during regular Town Hall hours: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Reception: Tuesday, May 5 - 4:30 - 6 p.m.

Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Dr, Farragut, TN 37934. Information: 865-966-7057, www.townoffarragut.org

The District Gallery & Framery is pleased to present Automata: Art Cars by Clark Stewart, opening April 24. Stewart, a retired professor, taught drawing and painting at the University of Tennessee for 42 years. His work, which is largely figurative, has been shown in over 200 exhibitions worldwide and is included in many private, corporate and museum collections.

Opening Reception: Friday, April 24, 5-9 p.m. - Meet the artist, and, if you own a classic car, we invite you to drive it to the opening reception for a fun evening with fellow gear heads!

As a teenager in Orange County, California, Stewart restored an MG-TC to concours level and progressed through an Alpha Romeo, Porsche, MG, Jaguar and more. An avowed motoring enthusiast, he is now involved in various vintage motorcycles—Nortons, a Benelli, and a classic BMW. Stewart’s “Automata” project is an attempt to bring his passions of art-making, modeling and machinery together. “Automata” are sculptures of imaginary, somewhat fantastic cars that are loosely based on exotic cars of the ’30s deco period. Most are around 15 inches long and made of wood, metal, and materials not associated with cars, such as velvet. They have no provision for passengers and are conceived as pure machines, their qualities uncompromised by human occupancy. The series concept is that they are imaginary maquettes for full-scale vehicles that would cruise urban areas controlled by sensors and computer programs—like drones for the viewing pleasure of passing onlookers.

The exhibit features over 20 of Stewart’s art cars and motorcycles. Also included in the show are displays that were custom-built by The Framery for these sculptures.

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

Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964
Also: Gente Not Numbers and Border Monster sculptures by Angel Luna

Opening reception Sunday April 19, 1:30pm

This exhibit, created by the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit Service and presented by Humanities Tennessee, highlights the historical program which imported Latin American agricultural workers to the United States. For a full list of events and exhibits for this celebration, visit www.rosecenter.org. Rose Center has received a generous grant from Humanities Tennessee to support these events.

The Rose Center, 442 West Second North St., Morristown, TN, 37814. Information: 423-581-4330

By J. B. Priestley / Directed by Patrick McCray

Was it a supernatural mystery about guilt, money, power, sex, and Social Responsibility? Yes, it was. Is it a madcap, absurdist slice of lunacy where the Marx Brothers, WC Fields, and the Addams Family collide on the set of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT? Only you can be the judge. Just remember ... until you call on the inspector, the inspector will call on you. And until you inspect the caller, the caller will inspect you. What does that mean? Come by and find out! An Inspector Calls is one of J. B. Priestley's best known works for the stage and a classic of mid-20th-century English theatre.

Tickets: Thu, Fri, Sat: $15, Sun matinee: $13

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

Celebrating its 40th Anniversary Season!

Book and Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht; Music by Kurt Weill; Directed by Calvin MacLean
Clarence Brown Theatre

“The greatest musical of all time.” Newsweek

With a haunting jazz score and biting lyrics, the “haves” clash with the “have-nots” in Brecht’s sharp critique of Capitalism.

This brilliant masterpiece of epic theatre originated the popular songs “The Ballad of Mack the Knife,” “Solomon Song,” and “Pirate Jenny.”

To enhance the audience experience, the CBT will continue, and in some cases expand, several popular programs in 2014-2015. Open captioned productions also will continue in the new season, taking place on the first Sunday matinee of each show. Talk backs, which are informative discussions with the director and cast, will continue to take place following the second Sunday matinee of each show.

Clarence Brown Theatre / Carousel Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com. For tickets: 865-974-5161, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

The New Harvest Park Farmers Market is open every Thursday during season - April to November - from 3 to 6 p.m. at New Harvest Park located at 2447 New Harvest Boulevard (just past the Target shopping center on Washington Pike). In addition to the weekly market, the park features a splash pad, playground and quarter mile walking trail.

The market features locally grown produce, meats, artisan food products, plants, herbs, flowers, crafts and much more! http://knoxcounty.org/farmersmarket/

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