Calendar of Events

With a variety of local holiday and winter farmers' markets there are so many opportunities to continue eating seasonally, shopping locally, and supporting your local farmers, local artisans, and local craft producers. Grow Oak Ridge will open their new Oak Ridge Winter Farmers Market at St. Mary's School in Anderson County. With a bounty of local farms and producers in attendance, folks in Anderson County and the surrounding areas will have an indoor market to shop every Saturday, 10 AM - 1 PM (closed Dec. 24th & 31st).

https://www.facebook.com/events/1550346168601296/

Zoo Knoxville is offering “Buy One, Get One Free” admission tickets during Kroger BOGO Days, December 1 through February 28, 2017.

During Kroger BOGO Days, the zoo encourages guests to discover why this is the perfect time to see animals, including red pandas, river otters, elephants, gorillas, red wolves, lions and tigers, actively enjoying the cooler weather. On days when the temperature drops below 40 degrees, some animals will be moved indoors, but visitors can still see many animals in their indoor viewing areas. The Pilot Flying J Wee Play Adventure is a popular indoor play area that’s an entertaining stop for creative play during winter visits as well.

Buy one, get one free tickets can be purchased at the zoo ticket window during regular zoo hours and online at zooknoxville.org. Discounted admission tickets must be used by Feb. 28, 2017, and cannot be combined with any other promotion, discount, or coupon.

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

Knoxville's Holidays on Ice, presented by Home Federal Bank, is an outdoor ice skating rink in the heart of downtown Knoxville on Market Square. Enjoy skating under Christmas lights and stars while listening to music every night. The ice rink will be closed during inclement weather, please check the Holidays on Ice Facebook page to stay updated, www.Facebook.com/KnoxvillesHolidaysonIce. For questions about Knoxville's Holidays on Ice please call 865-215-4423.

Admission price includes entry fee, skate rental and unlimited time on ice! RINK HOURS:

Regular Hours Nov. 25 - Dec. 18: Monday thru Thursday 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Extended Hours Dec. 19 - Jan. 8: Monday thru Thursday 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Special Holiday Hours Christmas & New Years: Christmas Eve 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Christmas Day Closed, December 26: 1 p.m. to 10:00p.m., New Years Eve 10 a.m. to 10:00p.m., New Years Day 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information, visit http://www.knoxvillesholidaysonice.com.

Folk Art Nativities from Around the World, from of a private collection of nativities, hand crafted crèche in a myriad of techniques and materials by folk artists from many countries.

Holiday Reception: Sunday, December 4, from 2 to 4 p.m. with a hands-on "make and take" for artists of all ages.

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

The public opening of the exhibition begins at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, November 18, with light refreshments and remarks. Following the exhibition opening will be a special showing of “Quarry Project—Tennessee,” an exterior projection by artists Kate Katomski and Judd Mulkerin at 7:00 p.m. at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

East Tennessee marble is prized the world over. Rock of Ages: East Tennessee’s Marble Industry, a new exhibition by the East Tennessee Historical Society, offers a first-time look into the industry that launched the rock’s fame and crowned Knoxville as the Marble City.

The marble industry was once an important sector of East Tennessee’s economy. By the mid- 1850s, East Tennessee marble from Knox County had been chosen for the interiors of the Tennessee State Capitol and marble from Hawkins County was being installed inside the new House and Senate wings of the United States Capitol. In the decades that followed, East Tennessee’s varicolored marble was sought by architects and patrons for the interiors of a variety of public buildings: state capitol buildings, courthouses, city halls. Tennessee marble would soon also be ordered for high traffic railroad terminal flooring across the United States and Canada. The exhibition includes more than two dozen artifacts and numerous photographs and illustrations representative of Tennessee’s unique marble story.

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

A special exhibit at the Museum of East Tennessee History will remember the legendary life and legacy of Waymon Earl Terrell (1950-2015). Earl was well known to the Powell community, where he was regularly seen riding his bicycle and pulling a cart along the busy thoroughfares of Clinton Highway and Emory Road, his dogs often accompanying him. At his passing in December 2015, he left the legacy of a simple life, kindness, and decency. The display features Earl’s amazingly inventive bicycle and cart, whirligig, and a memorial sculpture, and will be on view in the lobby of the East Tennessee History Center through January 2. The public is invited to bring personal care items, such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, paper towels, dish soaps, disinfectant sprays, to be donated to Knoxville Pays It Forward in Earl’s honor, and in return will receive one free museum admission per item. Knoxville Pays It Forward is a local non-profit that helps low income families, the homeless, the disadvantaged, and senior citizens in times of need.

Earl Terrell could fix anything. Although he chose to live a solitary life, he was a well-recognized and accepted member of the community. Most days he could be seen along the highways looking for trash and other items from which he could earn money to buy food and supplies. His home was crafted of tarps, sticks, and scraps of metal that he had fashioned with homemade tools and scavenged parts. He was originally from Kentucky, served in the United States Marine Corps, and by his own word, had a master’s degree in economics before coming to Knoxville.

Kristin Brown was a long-time friend of Earl and tended to him as his health began to fail. Realizing the community’s interest in Terrell, Brown launched a Facebook page to accommodate people’s well wishes, and soon there were 3,300 followers. After his death, the page helped raise money for his burial. His bicycle was on display when he was laid to rest. The bike has been donated to the permanent collection of the East Tennessee Historical Society.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Sunday is Community Day at the museum and admission is FREE to all. Information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is exhibiting over 25 quilts in Piecing Together a Changing Planet – a juried exhibition of fiber arts highlighting climate change in America’s national parks. Community members are invited to view the exhibition and attend the opening reception on Thursday, November 17, 2016, 6-8 pm.

Piecing Together a Changing Planet is a collaboration between Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) Florida and Biscayne National Park. Opening at Biscayne National Park’s gallery, the exhibit has travelled to nine other national park venues across the country. The exhibition coincides with this year’s centennial celebration of the National Park Service, marking the beginning of a second century of stewardship of America’s national parks.

Unlike utilitarian quilts used as bed coverings, these art quilts convey beauty and fragility of the environment and the urgency of climate change in ways that touch the heart and soul. All quilts were created by members of the Studio Art Quilt Associates, a 3000-member national organization dedicated to promoting art quilts through education, exhibitions, professional development, documentation and publications.

In conjunction with the exhibit, Arrowmont will be exhibiting quilts from it’s permanent collection. Arrowmont’s permanent collection includes nearly 1,000 works in a variety of arts and crafts media. Made by the hands of current and past Arrowmont instructors, individuals from the settlement school’s days and past artists-in-residence, the works represent the school’s past, present and future.

In the Sandra J. Blain Gallery. Admission is free and open to the public. 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

Paintings by The Honest Brush, Rebecca Mullen

Westminister Presbyterian Church, 6500 S Northshore Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-F 9-4. Info: (865) 584-3957 or www.wpcknox.org

Altar-nate: Contemporary Altars of Misappropriated Mythology

Tomato Head Market Square/ Nov.7-Dec.4
Tomato Head West/ Dec. 5- Jan 2

Tomato Head, 12 Market Square (865-637-4067) and 7240 Kingston Pike, Suite 172 (865-584-1075), in Knoxville.

In honor of Knoxville’s 225th anniversary, this exhibition explores the city’s heritage as seen through archaeological discoveries in the “Heart of the Valley.” Using historic artifacts unearthed in and around Knoxville, along with historical images, maps, documents, and oral histories, the exhibition tells the story of Knoxville’s development from a frontier settlement to an industrialized city.

Opening reception for members on Fri Sep 16, 5-7 PM.

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

A world-class visual arts exhibition of large-scale outdoor sculpture which enliven downtown Knoxville, the McGhee Tyson Airport and Oak Ridge. Sculpture artist Isaac Duncan III, a Brooklyn, New York native who currently resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee served as the Juror for the 2016-2017 exhibition. #AIPP

Dogwood Arts: 865-637-4561 www.dogwoodarts.com

Contra dancing to live acoustic music. No experience or partner required. Dances are held every Monday night at 8:00 PM. Call: 865-599-9621.

At the Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37916. For information: 865-522-5851, www.jubileearts.org.