Calendar of Events

Let's raise a glass and cheers to the New Year at this unique FUNdraiser benefiting the Knoxville Symphony! We will gather at Boyd's Jig & Reel on Sunday, January 31 at 5:00 p.m. for delicious scotch tastings and heavy hors d'oeuvres with a performance by the KSO Principal Quartet.

Tickets are $35 in advance or $40 at the door. To reserve a ticket, please contact Mary Sue Greiner at msgreiner@knoxvillesymph… or 865-521-2304.

Boyd’s Jig and Reel, 101 S Central St, Knoxville, TN 37902
Phone number (865) 247-7066

Generations of Knoxville’s Jews have used the Arnstein Jewish Community Center (AJCC) as a social and cultural gathering place. Since 1929, its mission has remained: To serve the spiritual, social, and educational needs of all Knoxville Jews. Recently, the Knoxville Jewish Alliance (KJA) launched a campaign to update and improve the AJCC facility, making it more accessible to those with mobility limitations, in addition to completing some long overdue cosmetic updates. The Schwarzbart Gallery – a permanent tribute to Judaic artisan Arnold’s Schwarzbart’s works – represents the anchor of the first phase of these updates, to be enjoyed by the entire community. “I can think of no better way to begin our AJCC renewal and improvement process than with the installation of the Schwarzbart Gallery,” said Adam Brown, KJA President. Given how much Arnold cared about our community, combined with the fact that he was so highly regarded in his field as a Judaic artist, I feel this gallery is a perfect opportunity to recognize an outstanding individual who truly enriched our lives through his generosity, his art, and his love for our Jewish community.”

The Schwarzbart Gallery opening will be held at 6800 Deane Hill Drive, Knoxville, TN:
3:00 PM-5:00 PM at the AJCC
3:30 PM: Dedication by Adam Brown, KJA President

This is a free event, open to the community and members of all faiths. Hors d’oeuvres and a celebratory champagne toast will be served.

Arnold Schwarzbart passed away in March 2015 and is survived by his beloved wife, Mary Linda Schwarzbart. He preferred to be called an artisan whose work was both functional and artful. His art, which can now be found in Jewish homes and institutions throughout the world, are current and modern (reflecting his architectural training) while they also invoke feelings of an ancient history and shared past. His works can be viewed and appreciated in homes and venues, community buildings, and Jewish houses of worship throughout the country and world. But it is Knoxville, Tennessee that was Arnold’s home, the site of his studio, and the place where he honed his craft. Knoxville welcomed Arnold and his family, and gave them refuge when they left Vienna, Austria during World War II. He was a member of the first graduating class of the University of Tennessee School of Architecture and a partner in the firm GSW, and later, Wilcox and Schwarzbart. Two of his favorite projects include the Knoxville Zoo and the LT Ross Building (home of the Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee). He left his architecture work in the early 1980s, moving to the creation of artwork based on Jewish ritual items and texts. Many local organizations benefited from Arnold’s leadership and skills. He was a past president of the Arnstein Jewish Community Center and Knoxville Jewish Alliance. He served as president and board chair for Heska Amuna Synagogue. Additional memberships and involvements included the Arts & Culture Alliance, Southern Highlands Craft Guild, and the American Guild of Judaic Art.

Information: Judith Rosenberg: 865-414-3925, judith.rosenberg@gmail.com OR Joyce York: 865-690-6343, jyork@jewishknoxville.org

The Oak Ridge Symphony's Free Family Concert has been rescheduled for Sunday, January 31 at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center. The concert will begin at 2:00 PM and will feature music from Jurassic Park, Star Wars, and a narrated exploration of the orchestra instruments called “The Thrill of the Orchestra!” Students from Oak Ridge High School will also perform. Immediately after the concert, families are invited to take part in an instrument petting zoo.

The entire event is free and all ages are welcome.

Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center, 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge. Info: (865) 483-5569 or www.ORCMA.org

THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN BLUES SOCIETY, an Official Affiliate of the Blues Foundation, proudly presents Texas Blues Trio, JASON ELMORE AND HOO DOO WITCH at a special afternoon show on Sunday January 31st beginning at 4pm at the Historic Grove Theater in Oak Ridge. This performance helps kick-off the Society's 2016 Membership Drive.

Although the organization has just over 200 current members from over 12 Tennessee counties and 3 neighboring states, the majority reside in Knox and Blount counties. They look forward to expanding their reach into Anderson County with this performance and then to future sites all throughout East Tennessee. All tickets will be available at the show, doors open at 3pm. General Admission is $8.00 and just $5.00 for current SMBS Members.

Sunday January 31st at 4:00PM.
The Historic Grove Theater is located at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge between the Municipal Pool, Krogers and the High School.
www.smokymountainblues.org

In this classic comedy, vulgar, egotistical “junkman” Harry Brock, along with his “dumb" but charming girlfriend, Billie Dawn, arrives in Washington to make a few “deals” with powerful political big-wigs. Increasingly embarrassed by Billie’s lack of knowledge and social graces, Harry hires an idealistic young magazine reporter to educate the former showgirl. Billie not only learns to appreciate history and politics, but along the way, discovers the depths of Harry’s crooked activities. Armed with a natural honesty and frank attitude, Billie must decide how to utilize her newfound knowledge to extricate herself from being a tool in Harry’s illegal schemes.

Oak Ridge Playhouse, 227 Broadway, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Information and tickets: 865-482-9999, www.orplayhouse.com

The Knoxville Museum of Art is proud to present the first-ever exhibition dedicated to the history and legacy of the groundbreaking artists who worked and exhibited together in the fifties and sixties and eventually became known as The Knoxville 7. The KMA-organized exhibition features more than 60 works culled from the museum’s extensive holdings, augmented by loans from collectors around the region.

The brash, ambitious artists who exhibited together as The Knoxville 7 shared the common visual language of Abstract Expressionism, producing what are likely the first abstract art works in East Tennessee and establishing a foothold for modern art in the region. In the early 1950s, C. Kermit “Buck” Ewing, first head of the University of Tennessee’s art department, recruited a group of young artists—initially Carl Sublett, Walter Stevens, Robert Birdwell—who exhibited actively in Knoxville and throughout the Southeast. While Sublett and Stevens shared an exclusive interest in the landscape as a point of reference for their abstractions, Birdwell and Ewing often found inspiration in urban settings and the human figure. Sometimes they exhibited as a foursome and other times as The Knoxville 7 with fellow artists Joanna Higgs Ross, Richard Clarke, and Philip Nichols. This important exhibition brings into focus a richly productive period in the art history of the region and also attests to the depth of the museum’s growing holdings of works by Knoxville 7 artists.

The opening for the exhibition is Thursday, January 28, 2016 from 6 to 8pm with a short program at 6:45pm.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM, Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

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

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

Cost - $10

Mondays & Wednesdays - Drum Classes (5:45-6:30 PM) and Dance Classes (6:45-7:45 PM)
Saturdays - Drum Classes (1:30-2:15 PM) and Dance Classes (2:30-3:45 PM)

At 748 N. 4th Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Info: indigenousvibes15@gmail.com or ifaa2012@gmail.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.