Calendar of Events

Sing traditional shape note music from East Tennessee's own songbook, The New Harp of Columbia. All are welcome to participate or listen. Loaner books are available.

Sunday, June 28. Traditional potluck Dinner on the Grounds at noon; singing begins at 1:00PM.
Beech Grove Primitive Baptist Church, Sevier County.
www.oldharp.org or 865 654-3557.

THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN BLUES SOCIETY proudly presents its line-up for its ever popular “BLUES CRUISE” for the summer of 2015. For five consecutive years, the SMBS has presented monthly warm-weather Sunday afternoon/early evening concerts on the Star of Knoxville Riverboat. These 3 hour musical journeys on the Tennessee River are featuring some of the best local and regional Blues Musicians. The schedule for this year brings a wonderful cross section of Blues stylings and danceable favorites.
The bands and dates for 2015 cruises:

June 28, 5-8 PM: Uptown Stomp with Devan Jones - https://www.facebook.com/DevanJonesandTheUptownStomp, WWW.DEVANJONES.COM
July 19, 5-8 PM: Slow Blind Hill - https://www.facebook.com/events/207158045981849, www.slowblindhill.com
Aug 16, 5-8 PM: Al Coffee and da Grind, https://www.facebook.com/AlCoffeeDaGrind/
Sept. 20, 3-6 PM: Jenna and Her Cool Friends, https://www.facebook.com/coolfriendsblues/, www.jennaandhercoolfriends.com
Oct. 18, 3-6 PM: The Romeo Kings, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Roger-Hay-The-Romeo-Kings/149845911796328/, http://www.reverbnation.com/theromeokings

Cruises depart at 300 Neyland Drive, next to Calhouns downtown Knoxville. Tickets are available at the Tennessee Riverboat Company where you will also board the authentic paddle-wheeler, or by calling 865-525-7827 and online at http://tnriverboat.com/event/blues-cruise/. Advance purchase and Smoky Mountain Blues Society membership tickets receive a discount. SMBS advance purchase $13 - Public advance: $16. SMBS day of: $16 - Public day of : $19. Info: 865-288-0672, sfkrempasky@gmail.com, www.smokymountainblues.org

Join Knoxville Moms Blog for an afternoon of fun at the Town of Farragut's McFee Park Splash Pad and Playground! It's a fun family event with snacks, treats, and great information from Farragut and other businesses.

Krispy Kreme Farragut is providing donuts for the event and Goddard School of Farragut will be handing out kids' drinks, snacks, and information about their school. Home Depot will be handing out water, snacks, and information about their ladies' night workshops. Ingles Markets will be providing yummy watermelon, and The Juice Bar will be giving out their delicious smoothies and juices!

We will also have treats from Angela Floyd Schools, The Little Gym of Farragut, Admiral Veterinary Hospital, Zaxby's of Turkey Creek, Marco's Pizza of Farragut, and popsicles from Turner Orthodontics!

Beat the heat at the splashpad and fun on the playground while meeting other local families! Get tickets at http://knoxville.citymomsblog.com/2nd-annual-beat-the-heat-with-splash-pad-fun/

The Knoxville Watercolor Society will exhibit recent works from its members. Opening reception Saturday June 27, 2015 7:00 – 9:00 and features Gallery Talk at 6:30. For more information about the Knoxville Watercolor Society, membership requirements and to view members' art works go to www.knxvillewatercolorsociety.com.

Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tu-F 9-5, Sa-M 1-4. Information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org

The 6th Annual Judged and Juried Fine Arts Show begins with an Awards Reception on Friday, June 26th from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. The show’s winning entries will receive cash prizes, which will be presented at the reception. The exhibition was juried by Andrea D. Rudloff. She recently served as the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center education and visual art director, successfully designing and launching all education, engagement and visual art programming. Rudloff has more than 20 years of experience as an art administrator, curator and professional artist including murals and exhibitions in Bowling Green, Nashville, New York City; Taipei, Taiwan and other national and international exchanges.

In addition to wall art including pieces in photography, watercolor, oil, acrylic, pastel, pen, ink, and pencil, artists proficient in clay, sculpture, jewelry and multi-media will show work.

Art Guild at Fairfield Glade at the Plateau Creative Arts Center, 451 Lakeview Drive, Fairfield Glade, TN 38558. Hours: M-Sa 9AM-4PM. Information: 931-707-7249, www.artguildfairfieldglade.net

From Hitchcock to Spielberg there's something for everyone in the 17th Annual Summer Movie Magic lineup. Movie-goers will travel back in time and see these American classics as they should be: in a historical theater, with a bag of popcorn in their lap, and a cold drink in their hand. This season is the first season all films will be shown with a digital projector! Come experience some of your favorite classics in a completely unique way.

THE BIRDS
Friday, June 26 • 8 PM and Sunday, June 28 • 2 PM

Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information/tickets: 865-684-1200, www.tennesseetheatre.com

The Kuumba Festival serves as the largest African American Cultural Arts Festival in East Tennessee. Every year the festival is a Four day and four night multi-event celebration with hundreds of entertainers performing throughout the festival. There will be live Entertainment with a world class African Marketplace that will host Many crafts and food vendors for your cultural shopping experience.

June 25: KUUMBA Festival kickoff Luncheon and seeding of the minds Awards for KUUMBA Kamp participants, at the East Tennessee History Center on Gay Street - free admission.

June 26: Junkanu Parade and Concert on Market Square - African dance and Drum and Live music - free admission

June 27-28: Morningside Park and Haley Heritage Square will host "African Marketplace"; West African Dance Workshop; a live concert in Haley Heritage Square (admission TBA); children's activities; Gospel music and more! Free admission

www.kuumbafestival.com or kuumbafest@gmail.com

The American Museum of Science & Energy will open Nikon Small World, a traveling exhibit showcasing 20 award winning photomicrographs from the 40th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. This year’s winner is Rogelio Moreno of Panama for capturing a rarely seen image of a rotifer’s open mouth interior and heart-shaped corona. A computer system programmer by occupation, Moreno is a self-taught microscopist whose photomicrograph serves to show just how close the beauty and wonder of the micro-world truly is - not just for scientists, but anyone willing to open their eyes and look for it. Moreno is recognized along with over 80 other winners from around the world for excellence in photomicrography. Winners from Italy, the United States, Austria, Spain and Australia also ranked in the top ten, for exceptional images selected based on both artistic quality and masterful scientific technique.

“Since the competition began 40 years ago, the caliber in quality and range of subject matter of the images, is matched only by the scientists and photographers who submit them,” said Eric Flem, Communications Manager, Nikon Instruments. “So much has changed in science and technology in the past forty years, opening the door for more and more scientists and artists alike to capture and share their stunning images with the world. A look at our gallery is like a time capsule of the advancements made in the last four decades and truly shows the legacy a Nikon Small World continues to build.”

Rogelio Moreno is a first-time first-place winner of the Small World competition, though he has placed each time he has entered the contest starting three years ago. That success is a testament to his incredible skill, as he only began taking photomicrographs in 2009.

Judges awarded Moreno’s shot of a rotifer caught open-mouthed and facing the camera – for its exemplary technique. Capturing the perfect moment when the rotifer opened its mouth for the camera required extreme patience from Moreno, who watched for hours waiting for his opportunity. With the rotifer in constant motion, he utilized the flash to freeze the movement as soon as the mouth opened – still leaving him with only a one- or two-second window to take the photo, and possibly only one shot to get it right. He also used differential interference contrast (DIC) to enhance the coloration in unstained, transparent samples, and to provide a more detailed image of the rotifer.

“When you see that movement, you fall in love. I thought - wow, that is amazing. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. This is something very, very beautiful,” said Moreno of his winning image. “I hope now it can inspire others as much as it has inspired me – to learn about science, to look closely and notice something truly amazing.”

As the 2014 winner, Moreno joins the ranks of 36 other photomicrographers, artists and scientists from all over the world who have taken the top prize. This year’s competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. Top images from the 2014 Nikon Small World Competition will be exhibited in a full-color calendar and through a national museum tour. For additional information, please visit www.nikonsmallworld.com, or follow the conversation on Facebook and Twitter @NikonSmallWorld.

American Museum of Science & Energy, 300 S. Tulane Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Monday-Saturday 9AM-5PM, Sunday 1-5PM. Information: 865-576-3200, www.amse.org

Showcasing a variety of 3-D and 2-D works. Opening reception for the exhibit will be Friday, June 12, 6:30 - 8:00 PM.

Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Hours: Tu-Th 9-5, F 10-5, Sa 9-1. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartctr.com

A new exhibition featuring botanical photographs by retired University of Tennessee, Knoxville, botany professor Alan S. Heilman, opens at UT's McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture. "Through the Lens: Botanical Photography of Alan S. Heilman" explores the art and science of 60-plus years of Heilman’s award-winning botanical photography of leaves, buds, flowers, fruits, seeds, mosses, lichens, cones, and bark of plants native to or grown in the East Tennessee region. The 55 photographs on view include images of plants from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the UT Gardens on the Agriculture Campus, and highlight Heilman's fascination with color, texture and plant structure.

"Images in the exhibit are products of a lifelong scientist who became an artist painting through a lens," said exhibition curator Gary Crites, McClung Museum curator of paleoethnobotany. "The exhibit offers an exciting blend of plant structure, which has been at the core of Heilman's decades as a student, educator and advocate for habitat appreciation and protection, and the artist's eye for color, form and function in nature." Highlights of "Through the Lens" include the diversity of plant species, types and parts photographed. There are veterans of various photograph competitions, including regional and national award winners. A sunflower image in the exhibit was awarded first place in the Natural World Photographic Competition held at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 1996.

Heilman began his career as a science photographer in the 1940s, when he used his Kodak Recomar 33 and a darkroom in his family's basement to experiment with making microscopic enlargements of dissected plants. He continued to take thousands of photographs of plants in the field and under the microscope over the next decades, amassing an archive of images, many of which are available today as digitized color-film photographs housed at the UT Libraries. They can be viewed at http://kiva.lib.utk.edu/heilman.

The exhibition includes prints produced from digital files held by UT Libraries, as well as prints gifted by Heilman to the UT Gardens.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9AM-5PM, Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-974-2144, http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu

Bliss Home is pleased to present the latest works by Knoxville artist, Brian Murray, for June's First Friday. Bliss Home, located at 29 Market Square, will host an opening reception on Friday, June 5th from 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary snacks from Old City Java's Bakery, Wild Love, will be provided and Brian's art will be featured for the month of June. Second reception on July 3, 6-9 PM.

Brian Murray is a local photographer who has been taking pictures for the past twenty years. His concentration is on local landmarks and historical buildings. He has had prints in several exhibits including the Arts in the Airport, Dogwood Arts Festival, National Art Exhibit at the Emporium, Knox Heritage Architecture Tour, and Art Alliance Exhibit at the Mayors' offices. He is a resident artist at Bliss Home and sells his prints there and at the Market Square Farmers' Market.

Brian's June exhibit will reflect his fascination with all of the different architectural styles that Knoxville has to offer. Brian's focal point for this show will highlight historic churches, which capture the diversity in architectural features.

Bliss Home 29 Market Square Knoxville, TN 37902. shopinbliss.com

It's Summertime and our scruffy little city is alive and kicking! We're honored to present local artist Lindsey Teague as our June First Friday artist. She photographs beloved places in Knoxville and then prints the images on wood.

Come see us from 6-10pm this upcoming Friday (June 5th, 2015) to check out the new work and meet the artist. Also, if it was ever your dream to own the Bijou Theatre, now is your chance...
323 Union Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902
Phone:(865) 525-7888