Calendar of Events

Maya: Lords of Time explores the time-ordered universe through the Maya’s intricate calendar systems and investigates how their history and culture followed a rhythm set by the motion of heavenly bodies. Learn the story of how divine kings used their control over the calendar and its grand public rituals to assert their power.

With award-winning interactives, numerous full-sized monumental replicas, and many Central American artifacts, visitors can trace the rise and fall of the Maya kingdoms and follow how ideas of time and the calendar changed before and after the Spanish conquest.

This exhibition also explores how those long-standing beliefs can still be found in Mayan regions today.

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

OUTspoken is a third-year program from the Sundress Academy of the Arts (SAFTA) that will take place in June 2016. Our goal is to create a platform for the LGBTQ community of Knoxville, Tennessee, and its surrounding areas to record and perform the experiences of sex- and gender-diverse individuals in the South.

OUTspoken begins with a series of writing workshops taking place on January 23rd, February 20th, and March 26th. During these workshops, on-site participants will create, edit, and produce a piece of art to be performed during the summer OUTspoken events. These workshops will give attendees the opportunity to work with professionals in performance, prose, and poetry in order to create art that expresses their story in their own way.

The workshops run from 1 – 3 p.m. at the Sundress Academy of the Arts. Prices of workshops are as follows: $25 for one workshop, $45 for two, or $60 for all three workshops offered. Participants must attend at least two workshops to be eligible to perform at OUTspoken events. Scholarships are available; the brief application may be found at our website. Additionally, you can sponsor a participant by donating to SAFTA through the online store.

Info: 865-560-6106, www.sundresspublications.com/outspoken

With special guests The Lonely Biscuits

Bonnaroo regulars Moon Taxi are bringing their Nashville bred indie rock'n'roll to the Tennessee!

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

Get your hands dirty at our January Volunteer Workday! The Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum hosts one Volunteer Workday each month. Bring your water bottle and gardening gloves if you prefer to use your own, and dress comfortably and warm for working outside in the gardens. In addition to our monthly Volunteer Workdays, KBGA has numerous volunteering opportunities in the office, the gardens and at our special events. Group Volunteer Workdays are a great way to get outdoors as a team and make a big difference at KBGA. If you are part of an organization interested in arranging a Group Volunteer Workday, please let us know. For more information or to RSVP, please click here: http://knoxgarden.org/calendar/january-volunteer-workday/

Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum, 2743 Wimpole Ave, Knoxville, TN 37914. Hours: Gardens open daily from dawn to dusk. Information: 865-862-8717, www.knoxgarden.org

The ICCA - the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella - was founded in a college dorm room in 1996 and has since grown to include 450 groups competing in nine regions in the U.S. and Europe. The competition is held annually and takes place from January through April. The bracket system, which features Quarterfinals and Semifinals, concludes with Finals at the historic Beacon Theatre in New York City. The UT School of Music will once again host the South Quarterfinal competition. The competition lineup will feature nine groups from the southern region, including two of our very own; men's a cappella group VOLume, and the recently established coed group VOLT. Tickets are required for this event and can only be purchased at freshtix.com. Prices are $18 for students and $20 for general admission.

At Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall, Natalie L. Haslam Music Center

The Natalie Haslam Music Center is located at 1741 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus. *For individual or small group performances, please check the web site or call the day of the event for updates or cancellations: 865-974-5678, www.music.utk.edu/events

POTLUCK POSTPONED - The weather moving in has moved the meeting to the following day, Sunday the 24th at 5pm. We hope that roads will be clear enough by then. If they are not, we will send out another announcement for an additional date. We do not want to take any chances of anyone driving in bad conditions in that we all come from all over the place. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and we hope to see everyone soon!

Saturday, January 23 at 5:00PM please join us for our annual potluck meeting and Emily's Auction where we catch up, find out what's coming up for the year, fill our bellies and have some fun.
IF YOU ARE NOT A CURRENT MEMBER YOU ARE ALSO INVITED!
Center for Creative Minds, 23 Emory Place, Knoxville TN 37917

Bring a dish to share and please label it as to meat/no meat, dairy/no dairy, nuts/no nuts.
A1LabArts Board will provide beverages

Bring some extra moolah for Emily's Auction.... it will be full of good things you will want!
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL COSTS:
Single : $50
Family: $75 (includes 3, 12 and older)
Corporate: $150 (designate 4 members)
Student: $25 (high school or college)
* we can accept cash, check and card (card will include a $3 service fee)

*Membership includes access to 2 shows per year FOR FREE as well as access to use the Center for Creative Minds for Exhibitions & Workshops at EXTREMELY low prices and if you bring a NEW member with you to the meeting both you and they will receive $5 off membership.
Saturday, January 23, 5:00PM at the Center for Creative Minds, 23 Emory Place, Knoxville TN 37917
www.A1LabArts.org

Knoxville Children’s Theatre will present Sara Crewe: A Little Princess, based on the heartwarming, rags-to-riches children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The play will be performed Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM; Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM; Sundays at 3 PM.

Captain Crewe leaves his young daughter Sara at a school for girls, while he goes abroad to claim his fortune in jewels. The school is run by a strict head-mistress named Miss Minchin, who takes special care of her wealthy new student, until a stunning twist of fate changes the Fate of everyone in the school and throughout the neighborhood. Frances Hodgson Burnett’s story remains one of the world’s most popular books for children, despite being written over 100 years ago. It is a timeless tale of rags-to-riches, and Sara Crewe has become a role model for grace-under-pressure and undefeatable hope.

The play is performed by 11 talented young actors, from ages 8 to 14. KCT is East Tennessee’s leading producer of stage plays for children. Sara Crewe: A Little Princess is the 73rd play to be produced by Knoxville Children’s Theatre. The play is directed by Zack Allen from a script by R. N. Sandberg, licensed by Dramatic Publishing Company.

Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-208-3677, www.childrenstheatreknoxville.com.

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

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