Calendar of Events

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present the International Biscuit Festival Art Exhibition, a new exhibition “about the biscuit” and featuring works in a variety of 2-D and 3-D media, completed within the past two years, by artists 18 years and older from across the United States. All works are for sale. A public reception will take place on Friday, May 1, from 5:00-9:00 PM with a brief awards ceremony at 6:00 PM in which $1,000 in cash awards will be announced. The First Friday reception also features a flamenco dance performance by Pasión Flamenco from 6:00-6:30 PM in the Black Box Theatre and a Jazz Jam Session from 7:00-8:45 PM in the Black Box Theatre. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be available and chocolate fondue will be provided by the Melting Pot of Knoxville.

The International Biscuit Festival Art Exhibition occurs in celebration with the Festival itself, which celebrates that most perfect of foods – the Biscuit – and takes place May 14-16 in Knoxville. The Festival draws over 20,000 biscuit lovers to downtown Knoxville each year and was selected the #1 Food Festival in the U.S by Livability.com. The event has been featured in Southern Living, Garden and Gun, the New Yorker, the New York Post, as well as on CNN. For more information about the International Biscuit Festival, go to www.biscuitfest.com.

Jurors for the 2015 exhibition included Preston Farabow of Aespyre Metal Design at Ironwood Studios in Knoxville and Claire Stigliani, associate professor of Drawing & Painting at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The International Biscuit Festival Art Exhibition is on display May 1-30, 2015 at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturday, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Additional special hours are posted at www.theemporiumcenter.com/visit.html. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit the Web site at www.knoxalliance.com.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition by the Artists Association of Monroe County and the Community Artists League of Athens, two similar groups existing for the purpose of artistic education in Southern Tennessee. Each group has around 50 members and strives to support the arts in our communities. The exhibition features original art by 22 artists including oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, photography, colored pencil, silk painting, and mixed media and will be displayed at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from May 1-30, 2015. An opening reception will take place on Friday, May 1, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features a flamenco dance performance by Pasión Flamenco from 6:00-6:30 PM in the Black Box Theatre and a Jazz Jam Session hosted by Vance Thompson and Friends from 7:00-8:45 PM in the Black Box Theatre. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be available and chocolate fondue will be provided by the Melting Pot of Knoxville.

“This is AAMC’s second show at the Emporium Center, and we are very excited about the opportunity to present the breadth and quality of Monroe County artists’ works as represented by our members and the members of the Community Artist League of Athens,” said Claudia Walker, exhibition chair.

The Artists Association of Monroe County exists to promote artistic development and growth of visual fine artists in Monroe County and surrounding areas and to further support and encourage creativity in appreciation of and patronage of the visual arts through educational programs such as lectures, tours, workshops, classes and exhibits. AAMC hosts annual art shows, classes, and workshops and provides support for local artists, galleries, festivals, and its members’ creative endeavors. They have an ongoing show at Monroe County Courthouse in Madisonville. AAMC currently has almost 60 members, including professional artists, retired artists, art teachers, hobbyists, and students. They meet each month at the First United Methodist Church in Madisonville, and guests are welcome to attend. Meetings include a program or invited speaker, artwork critiques, and time for fellowship and refreshments. Yearly dues are $20 for individuals, $30 for couples and $10 for students. For more information, find Artists Association of Monroe County on Facebook or call 423-337-2866.

The Community Artist League of Athens serves the artists of the greater McMinn County/Athens area and promotes the arts, supports and encourages student, amateur, and professional artists with monthly meetings, and offers opportunities to exhibit artwork. They meet each month at the E.G. Fisher Library in Athens, and guests are welcome to attend. Additionally, CAL programs artwork at the library each month. Yearly dues are $15. For more information, find Community Artist League of Athens on Facebook.

The joint exhibition will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturday 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Additional special hours are posted at www.theemporiumcenter.com/visit.html. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit the Web site at www.knoxalliance.com.

A group show of Latin American artists' work.

Friday, May 1, 7 PM: Opening reception

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

Opening Friday, May 1st, from 5pm - 9pm

Chris McAdoo - New Paintings: My most recent series focuses on memory (or the lack thereof) and the significance that we attach to objects and places, particularly when we take them out of their original context. My work is an extension of my own experiences growing up in the south and a comment on my connections that give me a visceral reaction to the past rather than simple nostalgia. While the paintings speak to me in a very particular way, I would much rather suggest a narrative to the viewer than to lay it all on the table. www.chrismcadoo.com

Andrew Saftel - Works on Paper & Selected Works on Panel

Bennett Galleries, 5308 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. (865) 584-6791 or http://www.bennettgalleries.com/
Hours: Mon.-Thur. 10-6 Fri. & Sat. 10-5:30

Reception: Friday, May 1, 2015 3-5PM in the Ewing Gallery

Initiated by the Ewing’s Director Sam Yates 25 years ago, this exhibition recognizes outstanding students graduating from The University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Art, College of Arts and Sciences; a Bachelor of Architecture or Bachelor of Science, Interior Design, a Master of Architecture, and a Master of Landscape Design from the College of Architecture and Design.

Selected by a School of Art Faculty Scholarship committee, chaired by graphic design professor Cary Staples, seven art students from various art disciplines were chosen from the qualifying applicants for this year’s exhibition. These students are Samuel Bendriem, Rachel Byrd, Aimee Claire Chico, Alizebeth Patterson, Ericka Ryba, Lauren Sanders, and Brayan Zavala.

The College of Architecture and Design participants were selected by the faculty-at-large, and by outside review teams. The seven projects representing the disciplines of Interior Design, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture were created independently and collaboratively by eleven students. These exhibitors are Kristin Bowman, Emanuel Huber-Feely, Coleen O’ Leary, William Harvell, Emily Johnson, Caroline Sneed, Clay Lezon, Lewis Williams, Zach Mulitauaopele, Clint Wayman, and Jared Wilkins.

Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

With hilariously witty and heartbreakingly moving moments of adoration, regret and desire, this sweeping musical explores the tangled web of affairs centered around actress Desirée Armfeldt, the men who love her, and their jealous wives - all invited for a weekend in the country. With everyone in one place, infinite possibilities of new romances and second chances bring endless surprises in Stephen Sondheim’s masterful musical take on Ingmar Bergman's comedy of manners, “Smiles of a Summer Night.”

Oak Ridge Playhouse, 227 Broadway, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Information and tickets: 865-482-9999, www.orplayhouse.com

Harriet The Spy has been recognized as a literary classic with a modern sensibility. In 2002, the School Library Association ranked the book 17th in a list of “Top 100 Children’s Novels.” The novel won the Sequoyah Book Award for 1964.

Harriet loves writing and wants to be a spy when she grows up. So what could be more natural for Harriet than keeping a journal? A journal that contains everything she thinks about or observes in all of her friends and family. A journal that is the complete, uncensored truth.

But Harriet will need all her super-spy techniques when the notebook goes missing. What if everything she wrote about her friends is made public? The comic fallout that ensues will delight audiences and teach some valuable lessons.

14 regular performances: May 1 through 17, Thursdays through Sundays.

Knoxville Children's Theatre: 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917, (865) 208-3677, knoxvillechildrenstheatre.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 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

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

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.