Calendar of Events

Members of the Knoxville Writers’ Guild will have an opportunity to read their work at the Guild’s annual open mic night on Thursday, July 2. The event, which will be open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. at the Laurel Theater, at the corner of Laurel Avenue and 16th Street in Fort Sanders. A $2 donation is requested at the door. The building is handicapped accessible. Additional parking is available at Redeemer Church of Knoxville, 1642 Highland Ave.

"The annual Knoxville Writers’ Guild’s Open Mic program is one of my favorite of the year," Erin Rowland, KWG board member, said. "It’s a time when members come together to share what they have been working on, and the night is always filled with a wonderful mix of writing that will bring tears to your eyes, leave you in stitches, or inspire you to go back home and finish that piece you’ve been vowing to complete. If you only make it to one program a year or have been wanting to see what the KWG is all about, don’t miss this event!"

To ensure as many people as possible have the chance to read, there are a few simple guidelines to follow:
1) You must be a current member of the Knoxville Writers’ Guild to read your work. You can join or renew your membership before the readings begin. There will be a sign-up sheet at the door for those taking part. Writers sign up on a first come, first serve basis.
2) You only should read your own work or that of another KWG member. If you read the work of another KWG member, you are required to have permission.
3) Your reading time will be two to three minutes maximum, depending on the number of people who sign up. It’s not necessary that you read the full amount of time allotted.
4) The content of what you read should be suitable for a general audience. In other words, please show courtesy to those attending.

Open mic night is one of the most popular KWG meetings of the year. Arrive early to sign up and ensure a great seat. Additional information about KWG can be found at www.KnoxvilleWritersGuild.org.

This is a group show by local artists who are members of the Tennessee Artists Association featuring a variety of works in pastels, watercolors, oils, acrylics and mixed media.

Hours: Monday thru Friday, 9 AM to 4PM
Westminster Presbyterian Church's Schilling Gallery, 6500 S Northshore Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919. Info: (865) 584-3957

Tennessee Artists Association: www.tnartists.org

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

We organized this exhibition back in 2012. It's been on the road since then, and now we are showing it one more time before we have to send these beautiful works of art back to Japan. If you missed it the first time, now is your chance to see it. If you loved seeing the original show, come back and see it again!

Curated by Sam Yates and Hideki Kimura, professor of art at Kyoto City University of Arts, Redefining the Multiple unites 13 printmakers from Japan who bring the techniques and concepts of printmaking to a wide range of contemporary and traditional media. Of the selected participants, four make three-dimensional objects and installations, two paint with printmaking tools and techniques, three use digital photography and technology, while others utilize traditional and recognizable printmaking methods.

This exhibition is a diverse selection of objects and images from the hands of an equally diverse group of artists, including men and women of various ages from their mid-twenties to mid-sixties. The artists reside and work in different regions throughout Japan, and the visual content of their work ranges anywhere from formal abstraction, to iterations of traditional Japanese cultural images. The featured artists are: Hideki Kimura, Junji Amano, Kouseki Ono, Koichi Kiyono, Shuji Chiaki, Toshinao Yoshioka, Shunsuke Kano, Naruki Oshima, Marie Yoshiki, Nobauki Onishi, Shoji Miyamoto, Arata Nojima, and Saori Miyake.

The Ewing Gallery is currently operating with abbreviated, summer hours. We are open Tuesday - Friday from 12-5pm. The Gallery is closed Saturday - Monday.
Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

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

Pellissippi State Community College displays the correspondence and artwork of young people with autism during its summer exhibit, “Letters from Vietnam: International Art Exchange Exhibition.” The community is invited to the free exhibit — the first the college has ever hosted during the summer. “Letters from Vietnam” is an exchange between youth with autism spectrum disorders in East Tennessee and Vietnam. It includes letters and photographs of their local mountains in two seasons. The exhibit, which previously was shown at the Knoxville Museum of Art, is facilitated by VSA Tennessee and the Artistic Spectrum. VSA Tennessee provides opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in the arts and education, and the Artistic Spectrum promotes fine arts opportunities for people with autism. “We’re very excited to have this very special exhibition in the Bagwell Gallery this summer,” said Jennifer Brickey, assistant professor of studio art. “Not only does it give local young photographers a chance to exhibit their work, but it also showcases work of young photographers in Vietnam.”

“Letters from Vietnam” is one of the events that make up Pellissippi State’s arts series, The Arts at Pellissippi State. The series brings to the community cultural activities ranging from music and theatre to international celebrations, lectures, and the fine arts.

The art exhibit takes place in the Bagwell Center for Media and Art on the Hardin Valley Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road. Hours are 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. For more information about The Arts at Pellissippi State, visit www.pstcc.edu/arts or call (865) 694-6400. To request accommodations for a disability, contact the executive director of Equity and Compliance at (865) 539-7401 or accommodations@pstcc.edu.

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

For the fifth year, the East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS) is pleased to announce its participation in Blue Star Museums to offer free museum admission to the nation’s active duty military personnel and their immediate families, as well as National Guard and Reserves, from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2015. Blue Star Museums is a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and 2,000 other museums across America. Leadership support has been provided by MetLife Foundation through Blue Star Families. The program provides families an opportunity to enjoy the nation's cultural heritage and learn more about their new communities after completing a military move. The complete list of participating museums is available at www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

“As the Volunteer State, Tennesseans are always among the first to respond to our country’s call,” says Cherel Henderson, ETHS executive director. “The Blue Star Museums is a wonderful way for us to give back and to say thank you for your service and sacrifice.”

This year, more than 2,000 (and counting) museums in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa are taking part in the initiative. Museums are welcome to join Blue Star Museums throughout the summer. This year’s Blue Star Museums represent not just fine arts museums, but also science, history, and children’s museums, and nature centers.

About Blue Star Museums
Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums across America. The program runs from Memorial Day, May 25, 2015 through Labor Day, September 7, 2015.

The free admission program is available to any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID card, or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card, which includes active duty U.S. military - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, as well as members of the National Guard and Reserve, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps - and up to five family members. Please see the chart of the acceptable IDs (PDF). Some special or limited-time museum exhibits may not be included in this free admission program. For questions on particular exhibits or museums, please contact the museum directly. To find out which museums are participating, visit www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. The site includes a list of participating museums and a map to help with visit planning.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: Monday-Friday: 9AM-4PM, Saturday: 10AM-4PM, Sunday: 1-5PM. Library: Monday-Tuesday: 9AM-8:30PM, Wednesday-Friday: 9AM-5:30PM, Saturday: 9AM-5PM, Sunday 1-5PM. Information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

Opening Reception on Friday, May 22, 2015, 5:30 - 7:30pm in the Geoffrey A. Wolpert Gallery.

The exhibit features expressive woodworking by artist and professor, Kim Winkle. The opening reception and exhibition are free. Community members are encouraged to attend with their family and friends.

Kimberly Winkle uses hardwood to create unique forms based on traditional wooden utilitarian objects, and then activates the surfaces with paint and graphite with varying arrangements of lines and dots. “My interest lies in the pursuit and potential of the medium as an expressive device,” states Winkle about her work. This results in playful objects, characterized by a sense of spontaneity and calculated gesture.

Kimberly Winkle is an Associate Professor of Art at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN. She has a BFA in Ceramics from the University of Oklahoma and an MFA in furniture design from San Diego State University. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, and her work has been included in a number of publications, including Fine Woodworking and Woodworker magazines, and books—500 Tables, and 500 Chairs. She was awarded artist residencies including the Windgate Artist Residency at SUNY Purchase, and the International Turning Exchange at the Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia. She was also awarded a State of Tennessee Individual Artist Award in 2011, and the Society of Arts and Crafts (Boston) John D. Mineck Furniture Fellowship in 2014. To see more of Winkle’s work, please visit her website: www.kimberlywinkle.com.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Gallery hours: M-F 9AM-5PM, Sa-Su 10AM-4PM. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org