Calendar of Events

The Knoxville Square Dance is back on second Thursdays at the Laurel! No experience or partner is necessary and the atmosphere is casual. (No taps, please.) With live old-time music by The Hellgramites; calling by Stan Sharp, Ruth Simmons and Leo Collins.

Admission: $7 ($5 for students & JCA members). At the Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37916. For information: 865-522-5851, www.jubileearts.org. Follow the Knoxville Square Dance on Facebook: www.facebook.com/knoxvillesquaredance

ARTIST LECTURE: LEE BENSON in ROOM 109, A+A BUILDING - RECEPTION IMMEDIATELY TO FOLLOW IN THE EWING GALLERY

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.

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

Ensemble concert; featuring Love United Gospel Choir, Trinidadian Steelband, Hart-Strings Advanced Ensemble, Austin East High School West African Dance Troupe, and UT jazz students in Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall, Natalie L. Haslam Music Center

Unless otherwise noted, concerts are FREE and open to the public. The Natalie Haslam Music Center is located at 1741 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, and the Alumni Memorial Building is located at 1408 Middle Drive on the UT campus. *For individual or small group performances, please check the web site or call the day of the event for updates or cancellations: 865-974-5678, www.music.utk.edu/events

Guest artist recital; an all-Russian program including Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons," Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," and selected Rachmaninov Preludes in Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall, Natalie L. Haslam Music Center

Unless otherwise noted, concerts are FREE and open to the public. The Natalie Haslam Music Center is located at 1741 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, and the Alumni Memorial Building is located at 1408 Middle Drive on the UT campus. *For individual or small group performances, please check the web site or call the day of the event for updates or cancellations: 865-974-5678, www.music.utk.edu/events

Join us at Boyd’s Jig & Reel in Old City from 5:30-7:00pm for some Irish grub and good ole company. Designers Kyle Schellinger (costumes), Henry Wilkinson (scenic), and Tannis Kapell (lighting) will provide attendees a behind-the-scenes look of the Irish romantic comedy, Outside Mullingar. Guests can choose to see the show that night or any other night of the run for only $15. For tickets, please RSVP here: http://clarencebrowntheatre.com/cbt-young-professional-rsvp/

Outside Mullingar is filled with beautiful language and set in the rural hills of Ireland, this romantic comedy reminds us that — early or late — love always arrives on time. Farmers Anthony and Rosemary are clueless when it comes to love. To find it, they will have to overcome a land feud, family rivalries, and their own fears about romance. Information: amiddle5@utk.edu or (865) 974-5654.

Shenanigans Art Studios celebrates their Grand Opening with a Souper Valentine Night at their new location, 110 N Front Street, Rockwood, Tennessee (Rockwood American Legion Building).

The cost is a reasonable $15 for a selection of homemade soups, all the trimmings, sweet desserts, and a hand-thrown ceramic bowl by a Shenanigans artist to take home.

The Shenanigans Art Studios is a local artist cooperative supporting art and artists in our community. Shenanigans features an art gallery of selected local artist work, varied art classes for both adults and children, and art events throughout the year. For reservations to the event or more information contact Jenni Kelly at Shenanigans Art Studios, 931-284-8065

Paintings by a father and son hiding during the Holocaust

In 1944, after being in hiding for two years, Eva Schloss’s entire family was betrayed and put on a train to Auschwitz. It was on this train that Eva’s brother Heinz told her he had hidden paintings that he and their father created while in hiding. After Eva and her mother survived the horrors of Auschwitz, they found the paintings under the attic floor with a note that read: “Property of Eric and Hein Geiringer from Amsterdam, who are in hiding and will collect the items after the war.”

We are thrilled to present an exhibition of prints and original paintings by Heinz and Erich on loan from The Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam.

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

Pellissippi State Community College alumni will be the featured artists in an upcoming exhibit in the Bagwell Center for Media and Art Gallery. "Through the Open Door: The Alumni Arts Exhibition" will feature Sharon Bachleda, Will Evers, Pete Hoffecker, Brandon McBath, Jamie Schneider and Patty Tinsley and their works of ceramic, metalwork, video, painting, printmaking, drawing and mixed media.

The exhibit's opening reception, from 3-5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 6, will offer an opportunity to meet some of the artists.

The featured Pellissippi State alumni have gone on to study at four-year institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago; Watkins College of Art, Design and Film; Indiana University; University of Memphis and University of Tennessee.

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

The Farragut Museum Committee and Farragut Arts Council honor Black History Month at the Farragut Town Hall. The theme for this year's celebration is "Creative Knowledge through Drama and Art." The museum will highlight Black History Month with special displays in the Town Hall Rotunda.

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

Each February, the From Africa to Appalachia Foundation for Education and the Arts (FATA) and Rose Center join together to celebrate Black History Month. For this 29th annual celebration, curator Bob Spirko has developed the exhibit “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” to be featured in the Edith Davis Gallery at Rose Center in Morristown. The exhibit is a tribute to the photography and life of Gregory Manuel Kyle, Jr. (1954-2015) and will feature over two dozen of his photographs and other works. An opening reception and celebration will be held on Sunday, February 5, beginning with the exhibit opening at 2:00 PM and continuing with a program beginning at 3:00 PM. The program will include inspirational music, remarks from FATA Co-President Beverly Lee, and guest speakers including Citizen Tribune publisher Mike Fishman; J.B. Pectol, vice president of communications and marketing at Walters State Community College; and Rev. H Roger Mills, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church of Whitesburg The music will be provided by Yolanda Treece, Rock of Ages Baptist Church, and Tabernacle Baptist Church.

Serving as a photographer for the Citizen Tribune and Walters State Community College, Kyle was known throughout the area as he documented news stories, sporting events, celebrations, milestones, campus life, and much more. He was a familiar face to many residents of the Lakeway Region who knew him as a friendly, professional, and talented photographer.

The Rose Center, 442 West Second North St., Morristown, TN, 37814. Hours: M-F 9-5. Information: 423-581-4330, www.rosecenter.org

Free admission. Each reading will include a discussion session afterwards with the cast, director and audience and, when possible, the playwright. Readings:

+ Dracula: Down for the Count by Mary Lynn Dobson - A comic retelling of the Dracula story. Think, “Young Frankenstein” meets Count Dracula.
+ Okra by Bill Raulerson - A comic caper set in backwoods Louisiana with a little magic, a few ghosts, and a very inept police force.
+ The Senator’s Wife by C. Robert Jones - When politics and family collide, they can both end up a little worse for wear.
+ When Blackbirds Sing by Gayle Greene - A lifetime prison sentence on a questionable conviction leaves a woman who was more a victim in her own to right to desperately seek a connection with a daughter she never knew.

Upcoming dates:
February 23: 6:00 pm Okra, Farragut

February 25: noon Okra, Lawson McGee
2:30 Dracula, Lawson McGee

February 26: 1:15 Senator’s Wife, Lawson McGee
3:00 Blackbirds Sing, Lawson McGee

Tennessee Stage Company: 865-546-4280, www.tennesseestage.com

The Knoxville Museum of Art announces an exciting new exhibition, Virtual Views: Digital Art from the Thoma Foundation. This electronic media exhibition is presented in conjunction with the 2017 Big Ears music festival. Drawn from the extensive Chicago-based collection of Carl and Marilynn Thoma, Virtual Views explores the growing importance of electronic new media in contemporary art as seen in the work of artists who are pioneers in the use of LEDs (light-emitting diodes), LCD (liquid crystal display), and computer-driven imagery. The exhibition features nine electronic works comprised of synthetic materials and powered by digital technology, yet the rhythms and patterns of its imagery are derived from nature. The featured artists include Jim Campbell, Craig Dorety, John Gerrard, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Alan Rath, Daniel Rozin, Björn Schülke, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Leo Villareal.

Virtual Views is organized by the KMA and presented in conjunction with the 2017 Big Ears Festival March 23-26.

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