Calendar of Events

Native genius. Boy artist. These and other descriptors were often applied to Lloyd Branson, who grew from a precocious sketcher on his family’s East Tennessee farm to an accomplished artist best known for portraits of Southern politicians and depictions of early Tennessee history. For the first time, Branson is the subject of a major retrospective, which chronicles his life, works of art, and legacy as one of the most influential figures in Knoxville’s early art circles. Please join us in celebrating Branson’s life and art!

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

Arrowmont is showcasing selected works of the last 60 years from its permanent collection in the Sandra J. Blain Gallery. dmission is free and the community is encouraged to attend with their friends and family.

Arrowmont’s permanent collection includes nearly 1,000 works in fiber, ceramics, wood, metal and mixed media. The exhibit features 45 artists from the collection including Dennis Sipiorski, Christian Burchard and Sandra J. Blain.

Sipiorski is a former Arrowmont photography instructor and currently teaches ceramics at Southeastern Louisiana University. Burchard resides in southern Oregon as a working sculptural artist. His work is exhibited in public and private collections nationally and internationally. Blain is professor emerita of University of Tennessee in Knoxville and former Arrowmont executive director.

Pieces of the Whole was curated by Kelly Hider, Arrowmont gallery manager and working mixed-media artist. Hider selected works that represent “multiple components – working together as a whole” either by function, concept or aesthetic. These works symbolize Arrowmont’s past, present and future in the arts and crafts community.

Gallery hours are Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm and Saturday 10am - 4pm. Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

We'll offer glassware painting classes! You'll paint on stemmed or stemless wine glasses, mason jar mugs, beer glasses and more to come so be on the lookout! We've booked some new venues too and have some wonderful new paintings along with some old favorites!

Cookies and Canvas - Starry Christmas - Date/Time: Sat, 11/7/2015, 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Location: KaTom Restaurant Supply - 305 KaTom Drive, Kodak, TN 37764

London Police Box - Date/Time: Mon, 11/9/2015, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Chuy's - 9235 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37922

Harvest Super Moon - Date/Time: Tue, 11/10/2015, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Casual Pint Hardin Valley - 10677 Hardin Valley Rd, Knoxville, TN 37932

Woodland Cardinals - Date/Time: Wed, 11/11/2015, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Buffalo Mountain Grille - 205 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Winter Street Sign - Inward Grace Ministries Fundraiser - Date/Time: Thu, 11/12/2015, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Dead End BBQ Maryville - 527 West Broadway Ave., Maryville, TN 37801

Snowy Red Tree - Date/Time: Thu, 11/12/2015, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Casual Pint Farragut - 143 Brooklawn St, Farragut, TN 37934

Cookies and Canvas - Frosty - Date/Time: Fri, 11/13/2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Location: Imagination Forest - 7613 Blueberry Rd., Powell, TN 37849

Good Evening Y'Owl - Date/Time: Mon, 11/16/2015, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Roland's Bistro - 1805 E. Lamar Alexander Pkway, Maryville, TN 37804

Cornucopia - Date/Time: Wed, 11/18/2015, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Carolina Ale House - 9045 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37923

Rainy Day - Date/Time: Thu, 11/19/2015, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Original Copper Cellar - 1807 Cumberland Ave, Knoxville, TN 37916

Be Good For Goodness Sake - Date/Time: Mon, 11/23/2015, 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Classico Italian Pizza and Pasta - 318 Lakeside Plaza, Loudon, TN 37774

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

The Art Gallery at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church (ORUUC) is pleased to announce the opening exhibition of Knoxville artist Gary Dagnan on Sunday November 6. The Reception and Gallery Walk with the artist will take place beginning at 12:15 pm. Refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public. ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Gary Dagnan has been drawing and painting since childhood. He was born and grew up in the East Tennessee area. His inspiration comes from the rural landscapes of this area. “Most of my paintings are of the mountains, hills, lakes and buildings of this area. I enjoy the changing light and colors that come from the distinctly different seasons of Tennessee.” Dagnan began painting watercolors in 1968 as an art student at the University of Tennessee. Although he has painted almost exclusively in watercolor since then, Gary also enjoys painting in oils and acrylics. “I like the spontaneity and versatility of watercolor, but I am also excited about the unique qualities and the look of oil and acrylics.”

The exhibit will be on display at ORUUC through November. Hours are Monday – Thursday, 9 am to 3 pm and Sunday 9:30 am to 1 pm. For more information on the event call ORUUC at (865) 483-6761. To learn more about the artist go on line to www.garydagnanart.net.

Bliss Home is pleased to present Local Nostalgia, by Knoxville artist Christi Shields, for November's First Friday. Bliss Home, located at 29 Market Square, will host an opening reception on Friday, November 6th from 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary treats from Wild Love Bakehouse will be provided and Christi's art will be featured for the month of November.

Local Nostalgia is a collection of work that highlights a few nostalgic moments reflecting Christi's own experiences. It is intended to evoke a sense of nostalgia or feeling in the viewer through the use of local themes, bold complimentary colors and expressive brush strokes. Christi uses a very action oriented process with mixed media on wood support to create interest, depth, texture, movement and vintage flair.

Friday, November 6th, 2015 through the end of the month, Opening Reception: Friday November 6th, 2015, 6pm to 9pm
Admission: Free
Bliss Home 29 Market Square Knoxville, TN 37902
Facebook: Bliss Home Event • Christi Facebook Page

Rala is proud to present Brian Pittman, aka The Cathedral Guy, as our November First Friday artist. Brian works as an architect, however, his long time passion for drawing imaginary cathedrals has made him an established part of the arts community. With no preconceived notion of the finished product, Brian illustrates his cathedrals using only a basic grid and a fountain pen. Even his frames have an interesting relationship with the image: "I start by finding old, used frames in rummage sales and flea markets. I like using old frames as the format that guides my drawing. I cut the paper to fit the frame instead of the other way around."

We invite you to stop by this Friday, November 6th, from 6-10 pm, to meet Brian and view his latest work. Come show your support for one of Knoxville's favorite local artists! You can also check out his brand new Knoxville Skyline T Shirt carried exclusively at Rala and available in our online store.

RALA, 323 Union Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-525-7888, http://shoprala.blogspot.com

ARTIST LECTURE: John Messinger, Thursday, November 5th, 7:30PM in room 109 of the Art + Architecture Building on UT's campus
EXHIBITION OPENING: November First Friday, November 6th, 5-9pm at the UT Downtown Gallery
EXHIBITION DATES: November 6 - 28. (The UT Downtown Gallery will be closed on the 25th and the 26th for the Thanksgiving holiday)

John Messinger combines elements of photography and tapestry to create large-scale, 3-dimension mixed media artworks. His body of work consists of thousands of individual 3.25” x 4.25” instant photographs assembled together to create photographic tapestries that examine the proliferation and ubiquity of the photograph in the digital age. Inspired by the notions of singularity and time, Messinger combines hundreds of varying images and transforms them into a single experience. His work fuses indexical and abstract imagery to question the notion of photography, photographer, and subject. On melding constructed histories into a documentary format to question the perception of truth, Messinger states, “I believe that all documentary work is on some level a self-portrait of the documentarian.”

Free admission! UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: W-F 12-5, Sat 10-3. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

Brad Robertson has painted all his life. Born and raised in the coastal town of Mobile, Alabama, his earliest inspiration was the landscape—the indigenous pines and oak trees, and the waters of Mobile Bay. The coastal landscape is still a major source of inspiration for Robertson.

Robertson earned his B.F.A. in Graphic Arts at Auburn University. During his time in college an art professor nurtured the foundation for what would eventually become Robertson’s career as a professional painter, encouraging his unique ability to work with color and texture to create depth, complexity and expressiveness. Robertson has become an award-winning artist with collectors throughout the United States.

Please join us for an opening reception Friday, November 6 from 5-8 p.m.

The District Gallery, 5113 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-F 10-5:30, Sa 10-4. Information: 865-200-4452, www.TheDistrictGallery.com

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition of traditional woodenware from Slovenia presented by the Ribnica Handicraft Centre with support from the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Washington, DC and the Slovene Consulate in Knoxville. The exhibition of bowls, buckets, spoons, sieves, and other objects will be displayed in the Balcony gallery of the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from November 6-25, 2015. The opening reception on Friday, November 6, is free and open to the public from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d’oeuvres.

The Ribnica Valley lies in the southeast of the middle-European country of Slovenia. Wooden utensils and pottery have been the major products of Ribnica for perhaps 1,000 years thanks to the area’s abundant forest and clay resources. Until recently, nearly all people in the valley were engaged in agriculture, but many earned a major part of their living by means of their skills in making and trading useful household items of wood and clay. Sieves are products that can't be finished at home and then carried to the market; they simply take too much space. A much simpler solution was found by Ribnica crafts-people perhaps as early as five centuries ago: they packed side rims and bottoms separately and carried everything on their backs. When they sold a sieve, they finished it on the spot. Peddlers travelled from one fair, farm, or village to another, looking for buyers. Realizing that other wooden products would sell well too, they started exchanging goods with other local craftsmen. Soon they were able to complete their packs with all kinds of objects, trading those as well. The name 'kroönjar' came from the packs they carried ('kroönje' in the Slovenian language means “tree-top”). The peddlers carried these packs, as tall as two men, on their shoulders; the packs functioned as a portable display of everything that was for sale. Visible from a distance, the packs advertised the peddlers' purpose without a need for words. Sieve-making, in combination with the privilege to move freely across wide territories trading in woodenware and clay vessels, had an enormous economic and spiritual impact on average inhabitants of the Ribnica Valley. The traders brought back innovative ideas to the villages. Ribnica also gained notoriety as a center of humor, because to gain and retain customers, the peddlers were accomplished jokesters and raconteurs. To this day, Ribnica villagers are thought to be natural comedians.

The exhibition of traditional woodenware from Slovenia will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street for the month of November. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM and special hours November 6-8. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit www.theemporiumcenter.com.

The exhibit of photographs are entitled "Ground Cherries and Farm Images" (East Tennessee). Sharon Popek lives in Knoxville.

Opening reception will be held FIRST FRIDAY Nov. 6th from 5-9pm. Convenient parking provided.

Regular hours: Thurs-Sat, 11-7 and Sun, 11-3.
Broadway Studios and Gallery, 1127 Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: www.BroadwayStudiosAndGallery.com or BroadwayStudiosAndGallery@gmail.com

The Birdhouse Bird-Feeder Gallery/Cafe announces their November exhibition "Community Gardening." The exhibition opening will be on First Friday, November 6th from 6-9, in conjunction with and followed by the Labor Day Sunflower Project Winnowing party 6 - midnight.

On the second Sunday in November, November 15th, Angelia Rateike will be presenting her work on Community Gardens in Knoxville: Insight into Challenges Facing Community Garden Initiatives. So... don't put away your tools just yet!

The Birdhouse Bird-Feeder Gallery/Cafe, 800 N 4th Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: http://birdhouseknoxville.com, birdhouseknoxvillegallery@gmail.com

A series of three concerts on Thursdays at 7:30 PM. The shows will predominantly feature his cello playing, but may also include some African Dance. Admission will be by donation.

In the Black Box Theatre in the Emporium, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902.
http://insideofknoxville.com/2015/09/jeremiah-welch-shares-his-art-needs-your-help/