Calendar of Events

Shen Yun is returning to the Tennessee Theatre with a brand-new production Jan. 30-31, 2018. You won't want to miss it!

Let Shen Yun take you on a magical journey and share with you the beautiful world of China's divine civilization. It's a stunning experience you won't find anywhere else.

Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information/tickets: 865-684-1200, www.tennesseetheatre.com, www.ticketmaster.com

THE BIG MESS TOUR featuring GROUPLOVE with SWMRS

Grouplove’s upbeat music is the ideal representation of the band’s perpetual, industrious energy. Grouplove has released three complete albums and numerous EPs, & immediately garnered popularity on the West Coast and their fanbase has grown exponentially. The band is now in the midst of their second major concert tour and will perform in Knoxville this January! Don't miss it!

The Mill & Mine, 227 W. Depot Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Tickets/information: http://themillandmine.com/

Linda Parsons and Austin Kodra will read on Monday, January 30, 2017 on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus as part of the Writers in the Library reading series. The mission of Writers in the Library is to “showcase the work of novelists, poets, and other literary craftsmen.” Some of the best voices on the literary scene today are invited to read.

The reading at 7 p.m. in the Lindsay Young Auditorium of the John C. Hodges Library is free and open to the public; all are encouraged to attend.

The Knoxville News Sentinel describes the poems in Parsons’s collection This Shaky Earth as “weighted with memories both bittersweet and sad. . . . Parsons . . . is a poet firmly and unapologetically attached to her home soil.”

UT professor Marilyn Kallet calls Austin Kodra’s poetry "witty, feeling-full, observant and unaffected. He finds poetry everywhere, at the buffet table, the Dairy Queen, the Southwest thunderstorm.” She is "proud to call him a former student and a UT alum."

Both poet and playwright, Linda Parsons is an editor at UT Knoxville. She served as poetry editor of Now & Then magazine for many years and has received literary fellowships from the Tennessee Arts Commission, as well as the Associated Writing Programs’ Intro Award and the 2012 George Scarbrough Award in Poetry. Parsons’s poetry has appeared in The Georgia Review, Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, Southern Poetry Review, Asheville Poetry Review, and Shenandoah and in numerous anthologies. This Shaky Earth, published by Texas Review Press, is her fourth poetry collection. Her adaptation, Macbeth Is the New Black, co-written with Jayne Morgan, has been produced at Maryville College and at Western Carolina University. Her play Under the Esso Moon was selected for the Tennessee Stage Company’s 2016 New Play Festival and will receive a staged reading in 2017.

Austin Kodra’s debut poetry collection, Visibility at Zero, was published by Iris Press in November 2015. His poetry and fiction have appeared in The Adroit Journal, Harpur Palate, Connotations Press: An Online Artifact, Superstition Review, Valparaiso Fiction Review, and elsewhere. Austin received his MFA in poetry from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and his BA in English from UT Knoxville. Currently, he lives in Knoxville, where he works as an academic mentor for student-athletes on the UT campus.

For more information, contact Erin Elizabeth Smith, Jack E. Reese Writer-in-Residence at the UT Libraries, at esmith83@utk.edu. Visit http://library.utk.edu/writers for a complete schedule of Writers in the Library readings for the 2016-2017 academic year.

The Farragut Museum has unveiled its next special exhibit, "Fashionably Late." This exhibit features a variety of clothing and accessories that are in the Farragut Museum Collection and two items on loan from Farragut Museum committee members. All of these items are indicative of fashions that would have been worn in this area.

One of the highlights of the exhibit is an original John Pico John (Mr. John) hat on loan from Museum committee member Carolyn Sinclair. John's clients included female fashion icons like the Duchess of Windsor, Gloria Vanderbilt, Lauren Bacall and Joan Crawford. Vivien Leigh wore one of his creations in "Gone With the Wind," as did Marilyn Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

The Farragut Museum is committed to preserving the heritage of its East Tennessee community and features a remarkable collection of artifacts from the area, including an extensive collection of the personal belongings of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, first admiral of the U.S Navy and hero of the Civil War. Housed in Farragut Town Hall, located at 11408 Municipal Center Drive, the Museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and offers free admission. For more information about the museum or the exhibit, please visit www.townoffarragut.org/museum.

Laura Pierpont focuses on the storytelling of photography. The East Tennessee native creates a narrative while documenting the world both as it is seen and unseen. Her latest work, Interiors is inspired by the quietness Pierpont discovered while trotting throughout the stimulating streets of New York City.

We are thrilled to have photographs of Laura Pierpont enliven our walls at Market Square through February 5th and The Gallery from February 7th to March 6th.

We’ve always believed our local art community should be celebrated – that’s why we host a monthly rotating showcase of talented work of regional artists. Tomato Head, 12 Market Square (865-637-4067) and 7240 Kingston Pike, Suite 172 (865-584-1075), in Knoxville. http://thetomatohead.com

The 2017 Farragut Primary Schools Art Show, sponsored by the Town of Farragut, opens Monday, January 23, at Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Drive (across from the Farragut Branch Post Office). The show will feature the work of talented students from Farragut Primary School, St. John Neumann Catholic School and Concord Christian School. A reception honoring the young artists and their work is 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26.

The art show and reception are free and open to the public. Town Hall is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, contact Lauren Cox, special event and program coordinator, at lcox@townoffarragut.org or 865-966-7057.

"The Greatest" - forces influential in their field, by Ted Richards
Opening reception January 22, 2-4 PM

At Rarity Bay Community Activities Center, 150 Rarity Bay Pkwy, Vonore, TN 37885. Gallery hours: M-F 9-4.

The 18th Sevier County Biennial Juried Exhibition is a mixed media art exhibition that recognizes and fosters skills and talents of the artists and craftspeople who call the rich region of Sevier County home. Community members are invited to view the exhibition and attend the opening reception and presentation of awards on Friday, January 20, 6-8 pm.

The Biennial’s juror is Teri Alea, executive director of Tennessee Craft in Nashville, Tennessee. Teri leads a statewide craft organization which provides support, guidance and professional development for craft artists across the state. Twice a year, Tennessee Craft organizes craft fairs that showcase more than 200 artists that showcase beautifully handcrafted objects made in Tennessee and across the nation.

Participating Artists: Clifford Aldrich, Diane Aldrich, Ann Armerding, David Barnhart, Robert Batey, Dana Cohen, Debra Lovvorn Belvin, Lynn Corsi Bland, Bob Bolinger, Judy Bolinger, Vickie Bradshaw, Rebecca Buglio, Frank Bulman, Tammy Bulman, Lisa Canfield, Lisa Walk Dixon, Susan Edwards, Anne Fontaine, Frances Fox, Carol Galyon, Jill Greene, Bill Griffith, Jeff Hale, Buie Hancock, Peggy Haupt, Mary-Louise Hunt, Charlotte Iverson, Ewin Jenkins, Bev Gwinn Jones, Alice Anne Kellogg, Barbara Lauritzen, Maia Leppo, Iryna Lialko, Anita Miller, Christina M. Moore, Velma Orrick, Amber Anne Palo, Doreen Prakshot, Otto Preske, Claudette Pridemore, Austin Riddle, Patsy Rodriguez, Mary Ruden, Kathryn Rutherford, Sharon Schoenfeld, Jean Shamblin, Mike Shults, Kelly Sullivan, Tatiana Tikhonova, Debi Veranth, Victoria C. Walker, Andrea Wilson and Nelson Ziegler.

In the Arrowmont 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

You are invited to view new works by Arrowmont’s Artists-in-Residence – Grant Benoit, Richard W. James, Maia Leppo, Austin Riddle and Emily Schubert. Marking the mid-point in their 11-month residency, Okay responds to their emotions after the Gatlinburg wildfires. “We were incredibly lucky – it is going to be okay and life will roll on,” says Grant Benoit.

In the Geoffrey A. Wolpert 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

The Town of Farragut Arts Council presents painter Bonnie Anders as the featured artist for March. Located in Farragut Town Hall, the exhibit includes scenes from Anders' travels with her husband. She took up painting after retiring from teaching middle school 15 years ago. Her love for color inspired her to purchase paint and brushes, and she was "hooked" after her first project - a still life of a bowl of vegetables on her kitchen table.

Farragut Museum, 11408 Municipal Center Dr, Farragut, TN 37934. Hours: M-F 8 AM - 5 PM. Information: 865-966-7057, www.townoffarragut.org/museum

Pellissippi State Community College invites the community to "Views of the Big Nothing," a free art exhibit at the Bagwell Center for Media and Art Gallery. "Views of the Big Nothing" features painted works by Brandon Smith joined by physical ropes and metaphorical sculptural works by Travis Townsend.

A reception to meet the artists takes place 3-5 p.m., Jan. 17.

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

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