Calendar of Events

The Central Collective will host a First Friday Art Opening and Reception on March 4 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. featuring new work by local artist Beth Meadows. Refreshments will be served and the event is free and open to the public.

Closing Reception on Wednesday, March 30, 6:30-8:30pm, Artist Talk at 7:30. Light refreshments will be served and the event is free and open to the public.

The exhibition will feature fashion-themed drawings and paintings. Meadows has been creating artwork along these lines for several years but has only recently explored the subject using traditional materials such as paint, paper, and canvas. This is her first solo exhibition in Knoxville since 2014. Original artwork as well as fine art prints will be for sale during the entirety of the exhibition. For purchasing information, contact Dale Mackey of The Central Collective at (865) 236-1590 or info@thecentralcollective.com.

Meadows lives and makes artwork in Knoxville, Tennessee where she graduated with a BFA in Studio Art in 2007. She grew up in Memphis but decided to settle in East Tennessee mainly because of her love for the Smoky Mountains. She co-founded and manages 17th Street Studios near downtown Knoxville, serves on the Biscuit Art Committee for the International Biscuit Festival, and shows artwork frequently around Knoxville. You may view and purchase her work at withbearhands.com.

The Central Collective, 923 N. Central Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Hours: by appointment or during other scheduled events. Information: 865-236-1590, info@thecentralcollective.com, www.thecentralcollective.com

Opening reception March 4, 5:00 to 9:00 PM

Works by Melanie Reid.

The study of law can be very “left brained” - logical, analytical, and objective. … art allows me to explore my “right-brained” self – the intuitive, introspective, and subjective forms of being… my feelings as a first-time mother, a never-ending student of law and criminal procedure, and a great admirer of Latin American culture and traditions. These expressions came out in the form of mixed media, superimposing graphics from the codices and using multiple layers and dimensions found in Photoshop.

The Aztec and Mayan codices are books written by pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs and Mayans describing everyday life during their empires. One of these, the Codex Mendoza, a pictorial document with Spanish annotations and commentary created in 1541, provides a general description of daily Aztec life. Throughout the years it has been a source of inspiration for artists all over.

Most of the photographs from this exhibit were taken in Tikal, an ancient city found in a rainforest in Guatemala.

HoLa Hora Latina, 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 109, Knoxville, TN 37902. Gallery hours: MWF 1-5 PM and Tues-Thur 12-5 PM, or by appointment. Information: 865-335-3358, www.holafestival.org

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present “Three Views of Reality”, a new exhibition showcasing nearly 50 paintings by Brandon Douglas, Catherine Haverkamp, and Seth Haverkamp. Husband and wife, Seth and Catherine Haverkamp, are both international competition finalists; in addition to painting, Brandon Douglas has worked as a firefighter in Knox County for thirteen years. The exhibition highlights these artists’ shared love of family, creation, and realism and will be displayed in the Emporium Center. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition. A public reception will take place on Friday, March 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view their paintings.

In addition to working as a firefighter and paramedic in Knox County, Brandon Douglas has spent the last nine years honing his craft as a realist painter. For the past two years, he has furthered his techniques and skills under Seth Haverkamp’s guidance. Painting portraits is Douglas’ passion because the process allows him to identify with someone else, which enables him to analyze himself on a deeper level. His wife and young daughter inspire much of his work, and he hopes his paintings impart the beauty he witnesses every day. Douglas’ artwork has been featured in various art competitions and exhibits: Arts & Culture Alliance National Juried Exhibition in 2016 and 2015, where his “Self Portrait 2014” received Second Place; Dogwood Arts Regional Fine Art Exhibition; and Arts in the Airport. Several publications have showcased his work, including Professional Artist Magazine and E-Volved Magazine. For more information on Brandon Douglas, visit www.brandondouglas.net.

Like her husband Seth, Catherine Haverkamp’s four children inspire much of her artwork. While she took an eleven-year hiatus from professional painting to raise her children, she resumed her career as an artist three years ago. A self-taught artist, she honed her skills at Cleveland Institute of Art and Memphis College of Art. A gifted portrait and landscape painter, Haverkamp has received several notable awards, including Best of Show in the Arts & Culture Alliance National Juried Exhibition in 2015, an Award of Excellence in the Portrait Society of America’s International Portrait Competition in 2015, and finalist in the 2013 and 2014 Art Renewal Center International Art Competition.

Seth Haverkamp has received commissions from several notable clients, including actor Zach Galifianakis, Katharine Weymouth (former publisher of The Washington Post and CEO of Washington Post Media), and Carnegie Institute of Science. Before moving to Knoxville, he spent a year studying at Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia under renowned painter Nelson Shanks and then moved to Washington D.C. where he worked under celebrated artist Robert Liberace. Much of Haverkamp’s artwork reflects the complexity of childhood, highlighting both the innocence and profound introspection of a child’s mind. His wife and their four children are the inspiration behind many of his paintings. The Portrait Society of America’s International Portrait Competition awarded Haverkamp Best in Show in 2008, People’s Choice Award in 2013, and Exceptional Merit in 2015. He was also a finalist and received honors in the Artists Renewal Center International Painting Competition for 2011, 2013, and 2014. Several publications have showcased his artwork, including American Artist, International Art Magazine, Artists on Art, and Southwest Artists. For more information on Seth Haverkamp, visit www.sethhaverkamp.com.

100 S. Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Sundays, March 6 & 20, 3:30-6:30 PM. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition by the Knoxville Watercolor Society at the Emporium Center. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition. A public reception will take place on Friday, March 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view their paintings.

In 1963, the Knoxville Watercolor Society began when the head of the University of Tennessee's art department, Kermit (Buck) Ewing, invited watercolor artists exhibiting at the university's McClung Museum to form the nucleus for the organization. The purpose of the organization is to educate the members as well as the community to the understanding of watercolor as a significant art form. Active membership is juried by the members and consists of Knoxville area artists who are currently active in the serious pursuit of aqueous painting. At present, there are 35 active members. Associate membership was added to provide other painters opportunity to benefit from the monthly programs and workshops.

Members exhibit with the Tennessee Watercolor Society, Watercolor USA and American Watercolor Society and consistently win regional, state and national awards. Annually, the organization provides a scholarship for a UT student who is majoring in watercolor painting, donates to the UT Ewing Gallery and maintains membership in the Arts and Culture Alliance of greater Knoxville. Additionally, grants have been made to the Arts Council of greater Knoxville, the Knoxville Museum of Art, the Tennessee Resource Center, and the Tennessee Art Association High School Scholarship Program. Through the years, the area's increasing interest in watercolor painting is a result in part due to the growth and development of the Knoxville Watercolor Society. For more information, please visit www.knxvillewatercolorsociety.com.

100 S. Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Sundays, March 6 & 20, 3:30-6:30 PM. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition entitled “A Stitch in Time” by local artists Bobbie Crews and Judi Gaston, March 4-24, 2016. “A Stitch in Time” combines fiber arts and mixed media to create a fascinating look into the resilient lives of women through the recycling of reality and relationships as well as materials. The works of Crews and Gaston overlap in their concern for women: the layers of who women are and how they exist and subsist in the larger political and material world. A public reception will take place on Friday, March 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view their works.

Bobbie Crews will display part of a series of collage works dealing with women’s issues. She is focused on the ideas and theories that evolve around women’s perceptions of self, how women are perceived by society, and the undercurrent of emotional intelligence as it plays out in relationships. These are complex issues that are often judged by society’s standards of the moment or through whoever speaks the loudest. Women’s issues are constantly evolving even though behavioral patterns exist in relationships with the opposite sex, partners, and/or children that cycle over again, generation by generation. Bobbie Crews has been creating art for women’s issues since 2000. Many of her works are displayed in the Knoxville Family Justice Center where they do double duty as art and as a teaching tool. For more information on Bobbie Crews, please visit www.bobbiecrews.com. The ancient utilitarian craft of weaving evolves into the practical and artistic as Judi Gaston brings the past into the present with her handwoven recycled pieces. The past objects of women’s daily lives transform into present day art and fashion. In her hands the old common objects become visual and structural designs, one stitch at a time. For more information on Judi Gaston, please visit www.judigastonhandwoven.com.

100 S. Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Sundays, March 6 & 20, 3:30-6:30 PM. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

Start Your Spring Cleaning! Changing a life has never been easier! Dry cleaners in Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Clinton, Farragut, Maryville, Sevierville, and Morristown are lending a hand by collecting donations during Project Wear and Share, an annual donation drive for Goodwill throughout the month of March. Donations are sold in local Goodwill stores to generate funds for Goodwill's job training programs and employment services. In 2015, Goodwill served over 4,100 individuals with barriers to employment in East Tennessee. Find a list of participating dry cleaners at http://www.gwiktn.org/projectwearandshare. There, you can also learn about Goodwill's vocational training programs, which are supported through donations from community members year-round.

Information: Goodwill Industries: 865-588-8567, www.gwiktn.org

Recent works by painter Lynda Best and pipe maker Ron Smith will be on display March 1, 2016 through March 27 at the Art Market Gallery. An opening reception for the featured artists will begin at 5:30 p.m., March 4; with complimentary refreshments and music performed by Em Chitty Turner and Brian Sward (easy swing jazz, vocal and guitar).

Lynda Best of Tellico Plains has taught in public schools and has also been instrumental in starting many art organizations in the places she has lived including Monroe County. Her works are displayed and sold nationally. She specializes in original impressionistic, contemporary paintings of nature.

Ron Smith's introduction to the burl of the white heath tree, aka briar, began at the Iwan Ries shop, just around the corner from Chicago's Art Institute. Last year he attended the International Pipe Makers Seminar at Chicago. He is inspired by the Danish school of pipe making; modern, natural and organic in forms which highlight the grain and the outer plateau of the briar.

The Art Market Gallery is a unique gallery because it is owned and operated by more than 60 of the best professional artists in our regional area. It is located at 422 South Gay St. and is conveniently located just a few doors away from Mast General Store and next to Downtown Grill & Brewery. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday; and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday. The gallery is wheelchair accessible. Parking is in the abutting garage and on the street and is free on weekends and after 6 p.m. weekdays. For more information call 865-525-5265 or visit artmarketgallery.net or Facebook.com/Art.Market.Gallery.

Peace is Patriotic by Mark Joseph Runge

“Peace is Patriotic: A Soldier’s (mis)Remembrances” is a collection of drawings and sculptures by Mark Runge, who expresses his memories, or mis-remembrances, through his artwork. This body of work that encompasses pieces from the last 8 years is an ongoing exploration and will be on exhibit in the Denso Gallery March 1 – 25. There will be a spoken-word performance at the Artist Reception on March 25 (6-8 PM) at 7pm.

Runge’s art training wound its way through community college, the Maryland Institute, College of Art, and the University of South Florida’s MFA program. Runge currently makes art in Maryville, TN, where he continues to experiment with a variety of media to express his ideas, including making hollow body, stringed instruments.

Artist Statement: About the same time every year–I begin to have nightmares. By the time Val wakes me up, I am aware that I have been dreaming, but I can’t do anything to stop myself. Val saves me. The echo of my screams remain in my head, and I must live the day after my nightmares with the memory, or maybe residue, of the desert life that haunts my senses still. Yet memories of childhood wargames commingle with memories of adulthood wartime. Like the nightmares, memories and realities fade slowly, if at all. I cannot always verbalize this struggle, but it shows up in my work. Toys stand in for those who live in my memories–myself included. The burning of images on paper is my attempt to share with the viewer my recollection of burned flesh, and there is nothing like the smell of burning flesh. The smell enters your nose, but it lives on in your mouth as a gritty and acrid taste. I brushed my teeth a lot while I served in the Iraq. I was there for only six months and one day, but I still feel as if I was there for a lifetime. I lived and died there, but not like the burning bodies. They would never go home, or, maybe they already were home, where they became the residue of my war in the desert.

DENSO Gallery, Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Information: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

This exhibit includes photography on a myriad of topics by second-year photography students.

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

History, Food, & Fun! Enhance your time in Historic Downtown with Knoxville’s Award Winning, Original Tour! Enjoy a complete Knoxville experience in just a few hours – enjoy tastings of specially selected dishes from some of Knoxville’s best new and iconic restaurants featuring local, regional, Southern & Appalachian cuisine; add pairings of beer from local and craft breweries, wine flights, craft cocktails, Tennessee whiskey, or even moonshine; hear the history of the city and notable buildings. A must for locals and visitors!

Reservations Required. Purchase Tickets at www.knoxvillefoodtours.com or call 865-201-7270.

Opening reception Feb. 12 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists’ talks at 6:30 p.m.

Heather Hartman is interested in the constant flux of the visual world, and our temporary space within it. Through common distortions of light, shadow and atmosphere the familiar can become abstracted and unfamiliar. Thus -- for a fleeting moment -- the mundane is transformed into the sublime. Using a material-driven painting process, her work explores how these phenomena affect her sense of perception and physical location. She uses reductive abstraction to synthesize memories, found images and photographs of her surroundings into multilayered compositions. She has developed a process that involves painting on layers of paper and translucent polyester mesh, allowing her to explore illusionism both in paint and in actual space. The resulting images are a combination of blurry, atmospheric forms and distorted shadows that lie beneath washes of color, and intense passages of light. http://heatherhartmanart.com

Jessica Payne - This series of paintings developed after Payne took three years off from painting to focus on art journaling. After enrolling in a number of online technique courses, she found that she most enjoyed learning about and playing with layering. In her current work, Jessica uses bold color and extensive layering to create depth and mystery. She builds up many layers of paint by constantly painting over her work while leaving some of the previous layers exposed, creating windows or portals to other worlds. She uses glitter, mica flakes and iridescent paint to catch the light and allow the painting to dramatically change, depending upon the light source. Her approach to her art is very spontaneous and playful and draws inspiration from color and imagery found in the garden and forest surrounding her house. www.JessicaPayneArt.com

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Gallery hours: 10 AM – 5 PM, Monday through Thursday and 10 AM – 1 PM, Sunday. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org

Blount County Public Library has been selected to be one of nine sites in the nation to host Discover Earth: Our Changing Planet, a national traveling exhibition exploring the fascinating world of earth science.
Discover Earth: Our Changing Planet explores Earth’s ever-changing physical and biological systems using stunning media and interactive experiences. Earth science topics in the exhibit include topics such as short and long-term time changes, the differences between weather and climate, and what it means to be a steward of our amazing planet.

The exhibition will be displayed at the library from February 3 through April 29. Blount County Public Library will also offer a related series of public events to bring STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programming to children, teens and adults.

The Grand Opening and kick-off event will be on Saturday, February 6, at 2 p.m. Mike Maslona, Great Smoky Mountains National Park Ranger, will give a presentation “National Park Service – 100 Years Old” describing the mission of the National Park Service, in its 100th anniversary year, to conserve over 400 diverse park units throughout the United States and their rich natural and cultural history while also providing for their enjoyment unimpaired for future generations.
Among other presentations during the exhibit will include “Reporting the Weather” by WATE-TV meteorologist, Matt Hinkin, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 20. “The Natural History of Southern Appalachia” will be presented by Dr. Paul Threadgill, Biology Professor at Maryville College, on Monday, February 29, at 7 p.m. Other programs will be announced soon and will be available on the library website at www.blountlibrary.org or on calendars or call 865-982-0981.

When visiting the exhibition, plan to spend at least one to two hours or plan several visits. Because there are many interactive exhibits, plan sufficient time to explore the numerous topics and sciences.

The exhibition is free and open to the public during library hours, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; and 1 to 5:30 p.m. on Sundays.
Discover Earth: Our Changing Planet was developed by Space Science Institute’s National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL), the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office, the Lunar and Planetary Institute and the Afterschool Alliance. Blount County Public Library, located at 508 N. Cusick Street, Maryville, where services are an example of your tax dollars at work for you.
For further information about library programs or services, call the library at 982-0981 or visit the Web site at www.blountlibrary.org .