Calendar of Events

December 17th, 18th and 19th at the Laurel Theater

An anticipated solstice celebration of movement and creativity in Knoxville. This unique performance brings together local choreographers, dancers, and musicians for an unforgettable community arts experience. Audiences will enjoy exciting new contemporary dance works accompanied by live music set amidst the warm ambiance of the Historic Laurel Theater.

At the Historic Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave., Knoxville, TN 37916. Information: 865-309-5309, http://www.circlemoderndance.com

Union Avenue Books announces:
Thursday, December 17th at 6 pm The Southern Writers Book Group discusses The Robber Bridegroom by Eudora Welty

Union Ave Books, 517 Union Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-951-2180, www.unionavebooks.com

A new WDVX live show! The WDVX Six O’clock Swerve with host Wayne Bledsoe, live from Scruffy City Hall in Market Square on Thursdays from 6-7PM. Tickets available at the door for $5.

With The French.

Info: 865-544-1029, http://www.wdvx.com/live-shows-schedule/the-wdvx-six-oclock-swerve/

The Ultimate Ugly Sweater Party with Paint Nite Knoxville
Thursday, December 17, 2015, 6:00pm 9:00pm
Armada Bar - 116 South Central Street, Knoxville, TN, 37915

Paint Nite Knoxville is joining forces with Goodwill to bring you the greatest party since, well... EVER! Meet us at Armada in Old City to create your own awesome ugly sweater using materials provided by Goodwill. As soon as that gorgeous little sweater is done, show it off while you get your holiday spirits rocked with the ladies of Paint Nite! We will have nothing but good cheer, delicious spirits from the bar, and as many laughs as you can handle!

Get all the details and reserve your spot (and your sweater and canvas) at www.goodwillknoxville.org/sweater.

It’s been an exciting year and it’s time to celebrate startup life in Knoxville, TN with the first ever Black-Tie Hacker Holiday Party and Codeworks Demo Day. Entrepreneurs, Coders, Investors, and more are invited to get dressed up, eat, drink and be merry, while hearing the story of Knoxville’s 6 newest startup companies graduating from the first-ever CodeWorks program. If that’s not enough, we’ve just added Knoxville’s premier comedy troupe, Einstein Simplified, to the bill to give an appropriate ”roast” of Startup and Hacker Culture with an epic presentation of “Shark Tank, Simplified.” So, "Silicon Valley" lovers, you are in for a treat.

Don’t have a tuxedo or fancy dress? No worries - Prestige Cleaners has generously offered to provide FREE tuxedos to the first 50 takers, and will deliver your tux directly to the event. There will be a “mass fitting” at KEC on Saturday Dec. 12th from 10am-2pm, so sign up here: http://bit.ly/1Nm4lTo. If that doesn’t work, tuxedo t-shirts and/or Star Wars costumes are welcome (really). Need something for the ladies? Say yes to the dress! Rentique mobile boutique will be onsite with the newest winter styles for a Happy Hacker Holiday. Oh yeah, and we are raffling off 4 tickets to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which premieres later that night. So, sign up before it’s too late!

6:00 pm: Welcome & Wardrobe Changes
6:30 - 7:15 pm: Hear the pitch from Knoxville’s 6 newest software startups
7:15 - 8:00 pm: “Shark Tank Simplified” performed by Einstein Simplified.

At Southern Railway Station - Upstairs Ballroom, 306 West Depot Avenue Knoxville, TN 37917. Admission is free, but registration is required.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-black-tie-hacker-holiday-party-and-codeworks-demo-day-tickets-19621246677

Folk art paintings of Tennessee Volunteer football legends by WILL JOHNSON are on display at Pioneer House. ALL VOL: KNOX COUNTY WARRIORS of the GRIDIRON paintings will be on view & for sale!

Pioneer House of Letterpress, 413 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Info: julie@pioneer-house.com

Part of the 2015-2016 Broadway at the Tennessee Theatre season!

A brand new production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, directed by three-time Tony Award® winner Jack O’Brien, will tour North America beginning September 2015. This lavish new production will launch at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, under the auspices of the Center Theatre Group, and will then tour North America for multiple seasons, playing multi-week and week-long engagements.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC features music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, suggested by The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp. This new production is directed by Jack O’Brien (credits include: Hairspray, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Coast of Utopia), and choreographed by Danny Mefford (Broadway’s Fun Home, The Bridges of Madison County and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson). The design and production team is comprised of Douglas Schmidt, Set Design (Tony Award® nominee: 42nd Street, Into the Woods); Jane Greenwood, Costume Design (2014 recipient of Special Tony Award ® for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre), Natasha Katz, Lighting Design (Four-time Tony Award® winner: Once, Aida, The Coast of Utopia, The Glass Menagerie) and Ken Travis, Sound Design (Aladdin, Newsies, Memphis).

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

Popcorn balls and paper chains… fruits and nuts in their stockings … carols by the fire... a cedar tree cut in the nearby woods- that’s the Christmas most rural Appalachian children knew. And it's the Christmas we recreate each year throughout the Museum village at our special.... Join us as we recreate a meaningful holiday of simpler times. Traditional trees and hand-made decorations, typical of austere pioneer days, transform the Museum’s authentic log buildings.

Wander through the village and marvel at the simple treasures of their settlement days. In the one-room, dirt-floored “Dan'l Boone” cabin, strings of popcorn and cotton bolls circle a dormant tree; Paper chains and other ornaments trim the tree in the Little Tater Valley Schoolhouse. Sweet gum and sycamore balls are strung throughout the Mark Twain Family Cabin, and a traditional silver star tops a native red cedar Christmas tree in the turn-of-the-century Peters Homestead House. Apples, nuts, homemade toys, and oranges fill stockings hung in the cabins. Pick up some stocking stuffers in the Museum Gift and Antique Shop, which features everything from hand-crafted ornaments, locally made muscadine and moonshine jellies, and beautiful pottery, along with baskets, quilts, and plenty of Appalachian specialties. Or just come and enjoy a homemade southern country lunch in front of the warm fireplace. You'll want to make Christmas in Old Appalachia part of your family's annual holiday tradition!

Museum of Appalachia, 2819 Andersonville Hwy., Clinton, TN 37716 (16 miles north of Knoxville at I-75, exit 122, then one mile east). Open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Information: 865-494-7680, www.museumofappalachia.org

The Arts & Culture Alliance proudly presents its 2015 Members Show, the largest annual exhibition of local artists in the Greater Knoxville area. The fresh mix of two- and three-dimensional works created within the last two years encompasses a wide variety of media such as oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, mixed media, photography, fine craft, sculpture, ceramics, fiber, and more from regional artists who are all individual members of the Arts & Culture Alliance, which serves and supports a diverse community of artists, arts organizations, and cultural institutions. Membership is open to all, and information may be found at www.knoxalliance.com/join.html. Most of the works in the 2015 Members Show are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition as holiday gifts.

The exhibition will be on display throughout the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville from December 4, 2015 – January 29, 2016. An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on December 4 from 5:00-9:00 PM.

Gallery hours for the 2015 Members Show are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Sundays, December 6 & 20 and January 3 & 17, 3:30-6:30 PM. Additional special hours are posted at www.theemporiumcenter.com/visit.html. Please note, the Emporium will be closed December 24 – January 1 for the holidays. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

Artist reception: Fri Dec 4, 5-9 PM
Closing reception Friday, January 29, 5-7pm

The UT Downtown Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of editorial cartoons by Knoxville News Sentinel cartoonist Charlie Daniel. The exhibition will feature a large selection of “Rosy’s Diner” cartoons as well as a variety of subjects and themes from the past two decades. Charlie Daniel came to Knoxville in 1958 as the editorial cartoonist for The Knoxville Journal. He moved to the Knoxville News Sentinel in January 1992 and has been the editorial cartoonist here ever since.

Free admission! UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: W-F 11-6, Sat 10-3. The gallery will be closed from December 24 - January 2 for the holidays. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

Opening reception Friday, December 4, 6:30-8:30pm

Works by Jessie Van der Laan in conjunction with Rose Center's Holiday Open House. Food, fun, and music!

Hours are 9-5, M-F through December 18. Please call ahead for holiday schedule after Dec. 18.

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

Feast Your Eyes. An ART exhibit ALL about FOOD! Artists reflect on food as it pervades our lives, from the profound to the mundane.

Opening Reception and Awards Night will be held on "FIRST" Friday December 4, 5-9pm. It is suggested that all guests for the reception bring one can of food for donation to a local food bank.

To view the show afterward the regular gallery hours are be 11-7pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday and 11-3pm Sunday. Please note: we will be open Christmas Eve until 3 PM and closed Christmas Day.

Broadway Studios and Gallery, 1127 Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: www.BroadwayStudiosAndGallery.com