Calendar of Events

These works radiate warmth by their energy and vivid color. One thing that is noteworthy about the show is the lack of conventional landscapes, still lifes and florals. Most of the pieces are about people. They range from polished, formal oil portraits of comfortable well-to-do subjects by John Simms to spare sketchy oil pastel drawings by Gwen Johnson of people in African settings.

The Oak Ridge Art Center is open to the public seven days a week. Admission is free, but donations are very welcome.

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

Tennessee Stage Company kicks off its 26th annual New Play Festival with Staci Swedeen’s House Rules, directed by Tom Parkhill. The Knoxville-based writer’s play will premiere at the Historic Southern Railway Station. Swedeen’s play is the first of seven new plays appearing in this year’s festival. House Rules was selected from dozens of submissions for its outstanding writing. Swedeen’s play is about two brothers who confront the intertwined nature of hatred and love and learn that all truths kept silent become poisonous.

The New Play Festival presents un-published, un-produced plays for their worldwide premiere. Tennessee Stage Company accepts new play submissions throughout the year from all over the United States. In October, the company selects which plays it will produce from the submitted works.

Performances: Thu, Fri, Sat at 8 PM and Sun at 3 PM

Historic Southern Railway Station, 306 West Depot Street, Knoxville. Info: 865-546-4280 or www.tennesseestage.com

Part of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s 2015-2016 Moxley Carmichael Masterworks Series, which marks the KSO’s 80th season.

January’s concerts will be conducted by Aram Demirjian with special guest artist Philippe Quint, violin. This concert opens with Adams’ Lollapalooza, followed by Ligeti’s Romanian Concerto. The Orchestra will be joined by Philippe Quint for Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and the program will conclude with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

Award-winning violinist Philippe Quint is a multifaceted artist who has achieved several Grammy nominations for his albums, and performed with major orchestras throughout the world. Quint studied at Moscow's Special Music School for the Gifted with the famed Russian violinist Andrei Korsakov, and made his orchestral debut at the age of nine, performing Wieniawski's Concerto No. 2. After moving to the United States, he earned both Bachelor's and Master's degrees from The Juilliard School.

Aram Demirjian is currently the Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony. The Armenian-born conductor holds the distinction of being one of only two conductors selected for the inaugural class of the Orchestral Conducting program at New England Conservatory, where he studied with Hugh Wolff and earned his Master of Music. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in music and government from Harvard University, where his conducting career began with a two-year appointment as music director of the Harvard Bach Society Orchestra. In addition to programming and conducting the Kansas City education concerts and working with the Youth Symphony, Demirjian established two new concert series with the KCS: Classics Uncorked (intimate concert setting with wine and a new take on classics) and Screenland at the Symphony (cinematic works presented with the score performed live).

Thursday and Friday evenings at 7:30 PM at the Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Tickets and information: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

RESCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 28 due to inclement weather

The Athens Area Council for the Arts introduces an all-star lineup for its 36th performance season.

The Annie Moses Band, an ensemble of six instrumentalists and vocalists, will perform on Thursday, January 21, 2016. Their cutting edge sound fuses American roots, folk rock, and jazz in stunning performances that feature strings, keyboards, guitar, and rhythm. The family that makes up the Annie Moses Band is musically diverse, and their converging artistry on stage creates a unique and beloved style. Written and arranged by the Annie Moses Band, American Rhapsody is a panoramic exploration of America and its music. The music from the show traces a musical trail West, rediscovering timeless songs that defined American music like “Summertime,” “Shenandoah,” and forging new ground in originals like the epic Copland–esque number, “Go West, Pioneer!” Before the performance, the Annie Moses Band will conduct a master class for area students.

The Annie Moses Band, Thursday, January 21, at 7:30PM.
The five concerts in the 2015-2016 Big Time/Small Town Performance Season are at Athens City Middle School Auditorium, 200 Keith Lane, Athens, Tennessee. All show times are 7:30 pm.
Season and individual tickets are on sale for the Big Time/Small Town Performance Season online at www.athensartscouncil.org, by phone at 423-745-8781, and at The Arts Center, 320 North White Street, Athens, Tennessee 37303.

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 Brandon Fulson.

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

Thursday, January 21st at 6 pm Book signing with University of Tennessee Professor James Williams reading from his book From Thug to Scholar: An Odyssey to Unmask My True Potential

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

Pellissippi State Community College hosts local and regional artists Soon Ee Ngoh, Denise Stewart-Sanabria, and David Underwood in an upcoming exhibit in January and February. "Represent: Explorations in Realism, Image and Illusion" is on display in the Bagwell Center for Media and Art, 10915 Hardin Valley Road.

A reception to meet the artists takes place 3-5 p.m., Jan. 19.

The exhibit takes a look at the meaning and use of realism and representation in two-dimensional art. The participating artists' different approaches include photography, observation, and realism as a springboard for conveying different moods, meanings, and concepts. "Represent" studies mimesis, or the imitation of nature, as a doorway into thoughts on the modern condition, the nature of representation, the fallibility of perception and human nature, among other themes.

The exhibit is free. Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Bagwell Center Gallery hours: M-F 10-6:30. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

Beginning Jan. 18, the Farragut Museum will feature a new special exhibit - "The Farragut Farmers." This exhibit will be on display through May 27, 2016.

As late as the early seventies, the Farragut area was a sprawling rural community dotted with beautiful farmlands. This exhibit will feature artifacts related to farming in the area, photographs of barns and landmarks, and information about the Farragut Schools and their agricultural background. Specific artifacts on display include a barn door from the former Spencer Smith Farm off Smith Road (current site of Smithfield subdivision), a corn sheller with a large rotary handle, and a milk crate from the former Russell Dairy.

The Farragut Museum is committed to preserving the heritage of its East Tennessee community and features a remarkable collection of artifacts from the area, including an extensive collection of the personal belongings of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, first Admiral of the U.S Navy and hero of the Civil War. Housed in the Farragut Town Hall located at 11408 Municipal Center Drive, the museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and offers free admission. For more information, visit www.townoffarragut.org/museum, like Farragut Museum on Facebook, or contact Museum Coordinator Julia Barham at jbarham@townoffarragut.org or 966-7057.

Mixed media in the voices of Fictional Characters Anna Grace Tollett and Pearlie Bean, by Ghost Artist - Anne Powers, author of "Smoke from Small Fires".

Anne Powers is a multimedia artist who resides on the Rockwood side of Watt's Bar Lake . In past adventures she was the head of Roane State's Computer Art and Design program and the RSCC Art Department, the recipient of national awards in watercolor and digital media, taught digital media for five summers at Stanford University, and authored a book on 3D animation which is used worldwide. Examples of her work in traditional and digital media can be seen on her website at www.ANNIEMEDIA.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

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is exhibiting interactive art in Touch, Arrowmont’s biannual National Juried Exhibition, on view in the Sandra J. Blain Gallery.

The opening reception scheduled for Friday, January 22, has been cancelled due the forecast of inclement weather. Community Classes will run as scheduled, however, Saturday Children's Classes are cancelled.

The first rule of museum etiquette is: Do Not Touch The Art! The artists showcased in Touch push the boundaries of a distance-based artistic environment. Touch acknowledges that traditional craft forms are rooted in the idea of functionality and are created to be handled. Jewelry structures respond to the bodies on which they are worn. Domestic vessels are produced for use in the daily ritual of preparing and sharing a meal and textiles are designed to provide comfort and warmth when they are worn. The works selected for this exhibition reflect high levels of craftsmanship and incorporate touch in innovative ways.

The exhibit showcases 52 works by 35 artists in a range of disciplines. The artists include: Fumi Amano, Missy Graff Ballone, Josh Bass, Sarah Rachel Brown, Heather Buechler, Marcelyn Bennett Carpenter, Sunyoung Cheong, Yu-Chi Chien, Erika Diamond, Alicia Dietz, Annie Evelyn, Yael Friedman, Reagan Furqueron, Jeni Hansen Gard, Magda Gluszek, Holly Hanessian, Karen Hardy, Lucy Holtsnider, Katie Hudnall, Lauren Kalman and Kipp Bradford, Joshua Kosker, Kirk Lang, Kathleen Little, Meg Mitchell, Lyndsay Rice, Jina Seo, Suzanna Scott, Linda Tien, Kurt Treeby, Tonya Vance, Kimberly Winkle and Dukno Yoon.

Touch: Interactive Craft’s juror is Emily Zilber, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s first Ronald L. and Anita C. Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts.

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

A theme show open to all area artists. Also showing: Knox Co. Student Show TBA.

Opening reception on Fri, Jan 15, 6:30-8:00 PM. Free and open to the public.

Exhibit viewing hours: Tu, Th 9-5; W, F 10-5; Sat 9-1. Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartctr.com

The Athens Area Council for the Arts announces Gospel Quilts: A Quilt Concert by Karen Malone showing a variety of handmade art quilts by Karen Malone, local artist and musician, at The Arts Center. The exhibit is available for viewing January 5 – February 12, 2015 at The Arts Center, 320 North White Street, Athens, Tennessee.

Karen Malone is a former music instructor who teaches piano and is the Music Director for St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Athens, TN. She earned a Bachelor of Art in Music Education from St. Leo University in Florida; a Master of Music in Education from Florida State University, and completed doctorate coursework at the University of Southern California.

Her "Stitched Collage" style of stitching leaves abundant room for experimentation and expression. Inspiration is welcomed through prayer, scripture, family, friends, music and other art forms. Other inspiration includes The Gees' Bend quilt artists and various art quilters. A native of Florida, Karen now resides along the Tennessee River.

Malone will give an exhibit tour for 2016’s first Arts on the Side Tuesday January 5 at noon for another of AACA’s monthly outreach program that invites the public to enjoy the arts during the lunch hour. Arts on the Side is free and open to the public.

The exhibit opening reception is Friday, January 15, 2016 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. Malone will be on hand to informally discuss her work. The reception includes light refreshments and is free and open to the public. After the reception, the Black Box Concert Series continues with Daddy Mack Blues Band at 7:30 pm in the Sue E. Trotter Theater. Tickets are $15 adult and $8 student. The Black Box Concert Series is sponsored by Tennessee Wesleyan College and Financial Guidance Partners.

Athens Area Council for the Arts: 320 North White Street, Athens, TN, 37303. Info: 423-745-8781, www.athensartscouncil.org