Calendar of Events

Be the first to know! Join UT Gardens Assitant Director, James Newburn as he shares the winning trial varieties for 2016 and looks forward at the hottest garden trends for the coming year. Each year we trial plants from the leading commercial plant and seed companies for heat and cold tolerance, flower production, plant uniformity, flower and plant size, pest resistance, and landscape appeal. These evaluations help determine which plants ultimately reach the commercial market.

Pre-registration is encouraged but not required for this event. Cost: Garden members FREE / non-members $5. UT Gardens, Chapman Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-7151, http://utgardens.tennessee.edu

Since 2005 Lee Benson, professor of sculpture and ceramics at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee has worked with his wife Betty, and later their four children, Zach, Aaron, Mary, and Sarah to make sculpture and public works. They work mainly in mixed media, the earth, stone, timber, wood, clay and 24k gold producing large-scale architectural forms as well as figurative, narrative monoliths. Residing across the country, they maintain five studios.

The Bensons have produced works from New York City to Australia and have had wide public recognition. They have also recently developed a relationship with Habitat for Humanity and Habitat for Humanity International to use materials used in their sculptures to be repurposed into homes throughout the community.

Also featuring ARTIST LECTURE: LEE BENSON - Thursday FEBRUARY 9th, 7:30PM, ROOM 109, A+A BUILDING - RECEPTION IMMEDIATELY TO FOLLOW IN THE EWING GALLERY

Common Lineage: The Bensons will close at 3PM on Friday, February 10.

Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Ewing Gallery Hours: M-W and Fri: 10-5, Thu 10-7, Sun 1-4. Information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

With the love of art and entertainment it's no wonder that a bottle or two of wine would get involved to create Wine and Canvas! Awesome local artists, great customer service and beautiful surroundings make for an amazing experience that you don't find anywhere else. Sipping your favorite wine or cocktail, letting your inner artist out to create a masterpiece and maybe breaking into song throughout the night is what we have planned for you! Leave your cares at the door and dive in to the paint party! Best part - you take your artwork with you and leave the clean up behind! Local artists in each city inspire and Instruct Wine and Canvas customers step-by-step to create their finished masterpiece. Each location hosts many events monthly with a different featured painting each night. With our step-by-step instruction method customers without a stroke of painting experience are at ease.

Upcoming events:

$35 per session (unless otherwise noted). Wine & Canvas: Knoxville, TN, 865-356-9179, http://www.wineandcanvas.com/knoxville-tn.html

Tori Mason Shoes is pleased to present The Alley Cat Series, by Knoxville photographer, Marianne "Ziggie" Ziegler, for January's First Friday! Tori Mason Shoes, located at 29 Market Square, will host an opening reception on Friday, January 8th from 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary treats from Wild Love Bakehouse will be provided and Ziggie's art will be featured for the month of January.

Growing up on the south fork of Long Island, NY, Ziggie spent a lot of her time star gazing on beaches before she discovered her love for backstage theater. She majored in Stage Management and Technical Direction at North Carolina School of the Arts before making the journey over the mountains to wind up in Knoxville, TN. She has been a Knoxville resident now for 14 years.
Photography has always been a passion in her life, but never considered utilizing it as an artistic release till she drifted away from the stage. She has shown works at 8 Shooters Studio before finding her current themed outlet. The Alley Cat series started over three years ago and has since been shown at Wells Fargo formerly on Gay St, Urban Bar, Big Fatty's Catering Kitchen, The Bearden Beer Market, The Red Piano Lounge, Sugar Mamas, Preservation Pub, Crafty Bastard, Ijams Nature Center, Central Flats and Taps, and Broadway Studios and Gallery. She is an avid wanderer and promoter of downtown Knoxville, and promoter of local businesses; always seeking 'the next shot'. Within the last couple years, she has been given the wonderful opportunity of now having both her loves of artistic output in her life; in photography, and finding a home again in the theater. She currently keeps very busy shooting, framing, and loading in touring performances for the Knoxville Stagehands Local Union 197. Artist's Website: www.facebook.com/knoxalleycat

Info: 865.394.6951

By Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield and directed by Keri McClain. All 37 Plays in 97 Minutes!

Three “terrible” actors decide to perform all of Shakespeare’s plays (in comically shortened or merged form) within 90+ minutes. Laden with physical comedy, fast and furious entrances and exits, popular and local references, and the actors changing costumes, characters, and plays at a hilarious pace, this is a wild and fun introduction to Shakespeare’s canon which is accessible to all!

Join these madcap men in tights as they weave their wicked way through all of Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories and Tragedies in one wild ride that will leave you breathless and helpless with laughter.

“PITHIER THAN PYTHON. IRRESISTIBLE.”
– New York Times

“STUPENDOUS, ANCHORLESS JOY!”
– The Times of London

Theatre Knoxville Downtown, 319 North Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information & tickets: 865-544-1999, www.theatreknoxville.com

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

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 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

Sundays at 8:00 PM. 17th-18th Century Social Dancing with live music. Beginners welcome, no partner is required. Also Rapper Sword dance group meets most Sundays at 7:00 PM. Free. Call 865-546-8442.

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