Calendar of Events

June 1, 2016 marks the 220th anniversary of Tennessee’s admission as the 16th state in the union. East Tennessee’s most important cultural heritage sites are partnering to celebrate Statehood Day on Saturdays, May 28, June 4, and June 11. The sites include places of historical significance in the exciting journey from the creation of our country to the founding of our state. The Historic Homes of Knoxville include: Blount Mansion, Crescent Bend, James White’s Fort, Mabry-Hazen House, Marble Springs, Ramsey House, and Historic Westwood. Each site will have individual ways of celebrating the birth of Tennessee. These are free museum days to the public. More information: www.hhknoxville.org

+ Marble Springs (Saturday, May 28, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Saturday, June 11, 11:00 - 4:00 PM)
Free site tours on Saturday, May 28th. The site and all of the historic buildings will be open from 10am until 5pm. Guided tours will also be available at scheduled times throughout the day. The last tour will start at 4pm. Marble Springs will continue the Statehood Day celebration on June 11th from 11am till 4pm. Along with scheduled guided tours, guests will get to walk through encampments, view open hearth cooking demonstrations, and enjoy some 18th century music. Information: 865-573-5508, www.marblesprings.net

+ Blount Mansion (Saturday, June 4, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM)
Hosting free admission. Information: 865-525-2375, www.blountmansion.org

+ James White’s Fort (Saturday, June 4, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM)
Free admission, and donations will be gladly accepted. Information: 865-525-6514, www.jameswhitefort.org

+ Mabry-Hazen House (Saturday, June 4, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM)
Hosting free admission with living historians. Donations are appreciated. Information: 865-522-8661, www.mabryhazen.com

+ Westwood (Saturday, June 4, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
The home will be open for free tours. Parking available at Laurel Church of Christ. Information: 865-523-8008, www.historicwestwood.org

+ Crescent Bend House & Gardens (Saturday, June 11, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM)
Hosting free admission. Information: 865-637-3163, www.crescentbend.com

+ Ramsey House (Saturday, June 11, 12:00 PM – 3:00PM)
Information: 865-546-0745, www.ramseyhouse.org

+ Crockett Tavern Museum in Morristown (Saturday, June 4, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM)
Open with free admission. Information: 423-587-9900, www.crocketttavernmuseum.org

+ Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore (Saturday, June 4, 12:00-4:00 PM)
Free admission. Demonstrators will include corn husk dolls and other activities with living historians. Information: 423-884-6246, www.sequoyahmuseum.org

It’s 1786, and the settlers of the region are struggling for recognition from the United States government for their region to become a sovereign state: Period demonstrations with Free Admission.

James White's Fort, 205 E. Hill Ave, Knoxville, TN 37915. Information: 865-525-6514, www.jameswhitefort.org

Presented by ORNL Federal Credit Union. Enjoy a 10-, 30- or 50-mile bicycle ride followed by food and drinks. Begins & ends at Zoo Knoxville. (Entry fee $32 to $50, more info coming soon)

Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open every day except Christmas. Information: 865-637-5331, www.zooknoxville.org

Instructor: Eric Head, BA, Knox Co. Archives and/or Dr. George K. Schweitzer, PhD, ScD.

Students use individual computers to access the billions of records and features of Family Search, the largest free genealogical internet site. Items to be explored include available records, family trees, catalog of library items, scanned genealogical books, research guides, forms and maps, free online genealogical classes, guide to other free online sources. Participants should bring birth dates and birth places of parents and grandparents, and should create and activate a free account at familysearch.org prior to attending this workshop.

Pre-registration is required and begins May 16. Please call (865) 215-8809 to register.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

June 1st, 2016 will be the 220th anniversary of Tennessee’s admission as the 16th state in the year 1796. In conjunction with the Historic Homes of Knoxville, Marble Springs State Historic Site will commemorate this occasion with free site tours on Saturday, May 28th. The site and all of the historic buildings will be open from 10am until 5pm. Guided tours will also be available at scheduled times throughout the day. The last tour will start at 4pm.

As part of Knoxville’s 225th anniversary celebration, Marble Springs will continue the Statehood Day celebration on June 11th from 11am till 4pm. Along with scheduled guided tours, guests will get to walk through Living History encampments, view open hearth cooking demonstrations, and enjoy some 18th century music. Details are subject to change.

Both of these are free events and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

Marble Springs: 1220 West Gov. John Sevier Highway, Knoxville, TN 37920. Information: 865-573-5508, www.marblesprings.net

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is thrilled to announce its Summer Poetry Writing
Retreat, which runs from Friday, May 27th to Sunday, May 29th, 2016. The three-day, two-night camping retreat will be held on SAFTA’s own Firefly Farms in Knoxville, Tennessee. This year’s retreat will focus on generative poetry writing and include break-out sessions on publishing, kicking writer's block, and much more!

A weekend pass includes one-on-one and group instruction, writing supplies, food, drinks, transportation to and from the airport, and all on-site amenities for $200. Tents, sleeping bags, and other camping equipment are available to rent. Payment plans are also available!

The event will be open to writers of all backgrounds and provide an opportunity to work with many talented, published fiction writers from around the country, including Gerry LaFemina and Karyna McGlynn.

Gerry LaFemina is the author of nine collections of poetry and prose poetry, numerous chapbooks, two books of fiction, and Palpable Magic: Essays on Poetry and Prosody. A new collection, The Story of Ash, will be released in 2017. Among his awards and honors are a Pushcart Prize as well as fellowships from the Irving Gilmore Emerging Artist Foundation and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. A distinguished literary arts activist, he directs the Frostburg Center for Literary Arts at Frostburg State
University, where he is an associate professor of English. He also serves as a poetry mentor in the Carlow University low residency MFA Program.

Karyna McGlynn is the author of Hothouse (Sarabande Books 2017), I Have to Go Back to 1994 and Kill a Girl (Sarabande Books 2009), and three chapbooks: Scorpionica (New Michigan Press 2007), Alabama Steve (Sundress Publications 2014), and The 9-Day Queen Gets Lost on Her Way to the Execution, forthcoming from Willow Springs Editions. Her poems have recently appeared in The Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, Black Warrior Review, AGNI, Ninth Letter, Witness, and The Academy
of American Poet’s Poem-A-Day. Karyna’s honors include the Hopwood Award, the Verlaine Prize, and the Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry. She holds an MFA from the University of Michigan, and recently earned her PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston where she served as poetry editor and managing editor for Gulf Coast. She is currently the Diane Middlebrook Fellow in Poetry at the University of Wisconsin where she serves as the senior poetry editor for Devil’s Lake.

Workshop is Friday, May 27th to Sunday, May 29th.
Space at this workshop is limited to 15 writers, so reserve your place today at:
https://squareup.com/market/sundress-publications.

Sundress Academy for the Arts: 195 Tobby Hollow Ln, Knoxville, TN 37931, (865) 560-6106, safta@sundresspublications.com, http://www.sundresspublications.com/safta

Tiger Lily Theatre is proud to present our annual production of original short pieces, A Night of Shorts. Currently in its 5th year, A Night of Shorts features a series of 10 minute plays, monologues and other performance vignettes to create an evening of unique, original theatre.

Friday, May 27th at 8pm
Saturday, May 27th at 8pm
Sunday, May 29th at 2pm

Adults - $15, Students - $12

At Broadway Academy of Performing Arts and Event Center, 706 N Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Seating is limited. For reservations contact tigerlilytheatre@yahoo.com. Tiger Lily Theatre: www.tigerlilytheatre.org

In the Sandra J. Blain Gallery. A group exhibit showcasing work from over 100 skilled and talented instructors teaching at Arrowmont in 2016.

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

The Fountain Cty Art Center is proud to host the annual "Fountain City Art Guild's Spring Show and Sale". The
Guild now juries in both 2-D and 3-D artists. In addition to the Guild show, the Art Center is exhibiting a vibrant watercolor show with works by the students of Mary Baumgartner. The student show bears the same name as Mary's watercolor classes: "The Wonderful World of Watercolor."

The reception for both exhibits will be held from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM Friday, May 20. Everyone is invited; no admission is charged. Light refreshments will be served.

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, http://www.fountaincityartcenter.com/

Darkhorse Entertainment, LLC, invites you to go back to the early Middle Ages (c. 500) and celebrate King Arthur and Camelot at the second annual Tennessee Medieval Faire, situated in Harriman just 30 miles west of Turkey Creek. This rugged outdoor festival opens on May 14 and runs the last three weekends in May, including Memorial Day.

Leading the charge is The Royal Joust performed three times a day by the Hanlon-Lees Action Theatre. There will also be sword fighting at the Warriors’ Chess Matches, performed twice daily. Between arena shows, Unicorn and Warhorse Rides will be offered. Rotating on three stages will be professional, interactive, family-friendly shows. Acts returning this year include Aaron Bonk’s “ridiculously dangerous” Fire * Whip * Sword Show; The Jackdaws, previously named Banish Misfortune; Professor DeWitt’s Punch and Judy Puppet Show; Albi Belly Dance; and Aristotle Simplified, aka Einstein Simplified. New acts this year include Topsy Turvy, an acrobatic duo; Feckless Fear Dearg, a Kentucky Celtic band; Tom Smiter--Bizarre Feats of Rhythm and Melody; and Dendarah Middle Eastern Dance with Raks el Anwar. There will be other musicians, interactive folk dancers, fairy tale shows and medieval games. The Royal Players, who roam the Faire and interact with patrons, include the characters of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and Merlin. Performance schedules will be posted on the festival website by May 11 and will be available at the Faire.

Enjoy nearly 50 medieval village merchants: Artisans will sell their handcrafted wares made of leather, wood, clay, metal, glass, cloth, etc. Hungry patrons can enjoy delicious medieval fare including turkey legs, gyros, hearty soups, scotch eggs, dragon jerky, fresh fruits and desserts. Hot and cold beverages including beer will also be available.

The Tennessee Medieval Faire will be open on May 14-15, 21-22, 28-29-30; rain or shine. Hours are 10-5 EDT. Ticket prices are $16.95 for ages 13 and up, $8.95 for ages 5 to 12, and will be free for ages 4 and under. Parking is free, and tickets will be available for purchase at the gate with cash or credit. Onsite camping for patrons is not included, but public campgrounds and hotels are nearby. The festival is located at 550 Fiske Road, Harriman, TN. For Faire rules, guidelines and more information, please visit www.TMFaire.com or like them on Facebook.

The Tennessee Watercolor Society (TnWS), founded in 1972, has represented the finest artists in the state for 44 years and hosts yearly juried exhibitions and biennial exhibitions. The biennial exhibition showcases 55 watermedia paintings chosen from nearly 200 entries. Juror John T. Salminen is a signature member of numerous art societies such as the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, and the Transparent Watercolor Society of America and recipient of more than 220 national and international awards. Prizes for the TnWS Biennial Exhibition total $10,000. A juried collection of 30 paintings from the exhibition will later travel across Tennessee into January 2017 to six locations for public and visual arts outreach, including Memphis, Humboldt, Columbia, Chattanooga, Elizabethton, and Clarksville.

The following artists’ works will be shown:
+ From Region I (Memphis, Clarksville and points far west): Bill Bailey, Angela Broyles, Sandra Carpenter, Ronda K. Coop, Judy Duke, Robert Eoff, Tim Hacker, Larry Hughes, Susan Hyback, Floyd Speck, Mary Spellings, and Tuva Stephens
+ From Region II (Nashville, Franklin, and surrounding areas): Glenna Cook, Abby Eblen, Pam Francis, Vinci Kolodziejski, Frank Lott, Pam Pate, Patricia Patrick, Noriko Register, and John Wilkison
+ From Region III (Chattanooga, Cleveland, Signal Mountain, and surrounding areas): Sandy Boone, Sandy Brown, Phyllis Burkhart-Wilson, Helen Burton, Harriet Chipley, Joan Clark, Leslie Dulin, Marie Spaeder Haas, Jennie Kirkpatrick, Mary Britten Lynch, Effton Mitchell, Denton Ridge, Ann Rutledge, Alan Shuptrine, Sandra Washburn, Lana Wilson, and Patricia Wilson
+ From Region IV (Knoxville, Maryville, Oak Ridge, Tellico Plains, Tellico Village, Rarity Bay): Kate Aubrey, Claudia Balthrop, Lil Clinard, Thomas Eckert, Loretta Lee Edge, Linda Johnson, Judy Lavoie, Kate McCullough, Susan Miller, Brenda Mills, Max Robinson, Laurie Szilvagyi ,Mary Ann Valvoda, and Ulla Veiro
+ From Region V (Johnson City, Tri-Cities, Bristol): Barbara Wilson Carter, Jim Stagner, and Thomas White
For more information on the Tennessee Watercolor Society, visit http://tnws.org/.

A public reception will take place on Friday, June 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition.

This exhibition and others are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM; Sundays, May 15, June 5 & 19, 3:30-6:30 PM; Friday, May 20, 5-7 PM; and Saturday, May 21, 11 AM - 3 PM. Info: 865-523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

Lew Bolton started performing Jack’s adventures at the Jack Tales Storytelling Theater as trickster-hero Jack, celebrating his 30th season. Adults and youth take part in these interactive tales. Jack Tales are rooted in traditional folk stories from Appalachian settlers. Richard Chase, in a 1943 folk classic, The Jack Tales, published part of our rich cultural heritage. Bolton has also published Smoky Mountain Jack Tales of Winter and Old Christmas for the family to read at home. NEW in 2016, enjoy professional storytelling from the *Smoky Mountain Storytellers Association (info: www.smokymountaintellers.org)

Most events occur on Saturdays and Sundays with occasional performances on Wednesdays and Mondays. See the website for full schedule.

At ABC (Adventure Bound Camping Resort) 4609 US 321, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Supporting Jack Tale Theater since 1987. Info: (865) 436-4434 or www.Smokymountainjacktales.com