Calendar of Events

New York Times bestselling author Bob Mayer will talk about changes in the publishing industry at the meeting of the Knoxville Writers’ Guild. Mayer, author of more than 70 books including the #1 bestselling series Area 51, Atlantis, and the Green Berets, will help authors navigate through the latest information on various forms of publishing options.

“Publishing is changing exponentially, and today's writer must be aware of these changes in order to succeed. This workshop is designed to help authors navigate through the latest information on various forms of publishing options,” he said. He will talk about traditional, ePublishing, Print on Demand, self-publishing, vanity, and more. “We will cover the advantages and disadvantages all these venues to help you, the writer, decide what's the best choice for you and your work,” he said. Mayer is a graduate of West Point and a former Green Beret (including commanding an A-Team). Born in the Bronx and having traveled the world (usually not the tourist spots), he now lives peacefully with his wife and two Labs. His web site is www.bobmayer.com.

The event, which will be open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. in Fellowship Hall of Knoxville’s Central United Methodist Church, 201 East Third Avenue. Enter at the back, where parking is free and plentiful. Admission is a suggested $2. The building is handicapped accessible. Info: www.KnoxvilleWritersGuild.org

Recent works by mixed-media artist Lynnda Tenpenny and fiber artist Julia Malia will be on display. An opening reception for the featured artists will begin at 5:30 p.m., January 6, during Downtown Knoxville’s monthly First Friday Art Walk, with complimentary refreshments, and music performed by Carl Gombert.

Award-winning artist Lynnda Tenpenny creates colorful mixed media pieces using painted and stamped papers, handmade papers, leaf prints, fibers and various texture mediums. Her work involves layers and textures, representative of layers of meaning and of life. Lynnda’s collectors often say that her work makes them feel joyful and that they see new things every time they look at her work.

As a fiber artist specializing in wearable art, Julia Malia uses a variety of fibers and techniques. The styles of her original designs are usually either classical or folk-style in nature, drawing inspiration from historic or ancient themes. Garment designs are often based around her family’s Irish and Scottish roots, but she also favors Japanese kimono garment shapes. Rich textures and colors are central her life and work, and she utilizes techniques that combine and enhance color variegations.

Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tu-Th & Sa 11-6, Fri 11-9, Su 1-6. Information: 865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net or www.Facebook.com/Art.Market.Gallery

This exhibition showcases the diversity of styles and approaches used today within the field of contemporary graphic illustration in Slovenia. The more than 50 artists on display are alumni of the Independent Biennial and have won multiple national and international awards and grants for their work. Slovenia, a member of the European Union, is located in Central Europe at the northern tip of the Adriatic Sea.

In recognition of the fact that modern technological trends in illustration have eclipsed more traditional ways of visual depiction for the public, the Biennial of Slovene Independent Illustrators, established in 2007, seeks to redefine long-established concepts. The Biennial supports and promotes a wide variety of media and art forms, including digital work; but in order to be assessable to the public abroad, this particular exhibit emphasizes printed forms. Our hope is to provoke an open discussion about contemporary art and culture. The project is supported by Kino Šiska Ljubljana, the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Washington, the Ministry of Culture in Ljubljana, and the Slovene Consulate in Tennessee. For more information, please visit http://www.culture.si/en/Independent_Biennial.

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

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

Students, family, friends, and the public are invited to a reception and awards ceremony Tuesday, December 6, 6-8 PM. The event is free and open to the public.

The Knoxville Museum of Art and the Tennessee Art Education Association celebrates the 11th anniversary of the East Tennessee Regional Student Art Exhibition Friday. The exhibition offers middle and high school students from around East Tennessee the opportunity to participate in a juried exhibition and to display their talents and be honored for their accomplishments in a professional art museum environment. The East Tennessee Regional Student Art Exhibition is open to students in grades 6-12, attending public, private, or home schools in 32 counties across East Tennessee. Since 2005, the East Tennessee Regional Student Art Exhibition has presented the work of nearly 3,000 students who have competed for a total of $7 million in scholarships made available to eligible juniors and seniors by colleges and universities from around the nation.

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

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

Opening reception on Fri, Nov 18, 6:30-8:00 PM with awards at 7 PM. Free and open to the public.

Also showing: Watercolor Paintings by the Students of Kate McCullough

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/

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

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