Calendar of Events

Knoxville Children’s Theatre, in partnership with The Ritchie Company, will present “Sleeping Beauty & the Seven Sisters,” based on the classic fairy tale by Charles Perrault.

The play will be performed June 9 - 25, Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM; Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM; Sundays at 3 PM. KCT reboots the classic story amidst the color and pageantry of France. The happy life of Briar-Rose is interrupted by a curse from one of the Seven Wise Sisters of Fountainbleau, sending the girl into a deep sleep. Can an ancient wizard and a young soldier come to her rescue with some magic of their own?
The play is performed by 14 talented young actors, from ages 8 to 14.

Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-208-3677, www.childrenstheatreknoxville.com.

The image of the tortured artist is cliché because it’s often true, and, more so, because we talk about it a lot. In fact we love it. It may be that it appeals to a strange human craving for martyrdom: we love those who suffer for their passions. But not all artists fall on their swords or mutilate their ears; for a whole bunch of them the creative process reflects an earnest desire to bring a burning passion or drive to create into harmony with a good, even calm life.

Dino Liddick is one of the seekers of calm. Dino’s exhibit, “With the Eye, For the Mind” is currently hanging in our Market Square location, and the work that comprises the show is built upon a foundation of mindfulness and kindness. Some of that is a reaction to an emotional life, and some is related to sheer practicality. Certainly the artist has responded to emotional crises in his work, but for Liddick, the art isn’t merely a kind of therapy: it’s a statement of being. “Sometimes somebody will ask me how I feel, and I say, well, look at that painting – that’s how I feel.” On his website, he writes, “Rather than pulling ideas from the mind to produce ‘art,’” he, “practices clearing his mind through the process of a piece.”

Rather than formulate a work, Liddick hopes the piece will come together intuitively without too much conscious involvement. It’s an effort to feel rather than to think. When he’s moved by a subject or situation, Dino tries “to go home and reach that feeling, and let that feeling come into shape. I try to paint the feeling and then put in the shapes – I don’t try to the paint the shapes and then put in the feeling.”

“With the Eye, for the Mind” by Dino Liddick will be on view at the downtown Knoxville Tomato Head on Market Square from June 5th through July 2nd. The exhibit will display at the West Knoxville Gallery Tomato Head from July 4th through August 3rd.

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

Opening reception: Friday, June 2, 5-9PM

The UT Downtown Gallery is pleased to present “Living On”, an exhibition of 24 portraits of holocaust survivors and liberators living in Tennessee by Robert Heller. Heller, a professor in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee since 1986, received his B.S. and M.A. degrees in photojournalism from Syracuse University. He taught photography and graphics for five years at the University of Miami, and was publications designer and photographer at the State University of New York College at New Paltz, and Elmira College in New York. Heller also taught photography at The Center for Photography at Woodstock, New York. His photographs have been selected for numerous juried exhibitions and he continues to do freelance work in both graphic design and photography.

“Living On,” has previously been exhibited in museums around the state of Tennessee and at major cities in Poland. A book of the images and accompanying interviews was published by the University of Tennessee Press in spring, 2008. Heller is a member of the National Press Photographers Association, the Society for News Design and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, where he has served as head of the Visual Communication Division.

Living On is a project of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission, which is funded by an annual appropriation from the Tennessee State Legislature and by private donations. Assistance in the development of this documentary project was provided, as well, by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Inc. The traveling exhibition was curated by Susan W. Knowles.

Please visit our website, www.tennesseeholocaustcommission.org, for more information on this and other public outreach programs.
This event is free and open to the public. This exhibition will run through mid-July. The closing date is TBA.

Free admission! UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: W-F 11-6, Sat 10-3. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

The Dogwood Arts Regional Art Exhibition was developed to showcase and award the finest artists of our region. Fine art encompassing all styles and genres from both emerging and established artists has been selected by juror Leslie Noell, Director of Programs at Bakersville, North Carolina’s Penland School of Crafts.

June 2, 2017: Opening & Award Ceremony 5:30-8:30 (awards at 7 PM).

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com

A self-taught artist with a background in creative writing and journalism, a passion for advertising, and an unrelenting drive to make. Ryan-Ashley finds herself crafting copy by day, stringing together minimalist-inspired wearables by night, and reading books in hot baths as often as possible.

Ryan-Ashley has been teaching knitting for 14 years, and facilitates workshops on a variety of subjects including peyote-stitch beadwork, bead-making, fiberwork jewelry, intro. to leatherwork, and a host of other DIY-related topics. New to Knoxville, but eager to dig into the maker community, you can learn about any and all upcoming projects, workshops, and shows at http://www.smartandbeckercreative.com/.

Opening reception: 6-9 PM on Friday June 2.

RALA, 112 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-525-7888, https://shoprala.com/

The Music Show is an art competition based on the theme of music and what it means to the artist. All different types of interpretations will be represented. Juried by Carl Gombert.

Winners will be awarded cash prizes at the opening on "First" Friday, June, 2 at 6pm. Doors open at 5pm. Light refreshments will be served.

Broadway Studios and Gallery, 1127 Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Hours: Thurs-Sat, 11-7. Information: 865-556-8676, www.BroadwayStudiosAndGallery.com

Reception: September 1 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Stone, Mesh and Metal features prints by faculty from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville School of Art in the school’s nationally ranked printmaking program. Beauvais Lyons, Althea Murphy-Price and Koichi Yamamoto are pursuing their art using a variety of printmaking methods including lithography, screenprint and intaglio, reflecting the materials and processes of their chosen media. This exhibition offers a sampling of some of their recent investigations.

Blackberry Farm Gallery (Maryville College), Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Information: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

Asafe Pereira

Amity serves as a visual love letter to the friends who allow themselves to be vulnerable with me. Every form has a unique characteristics, making them alluring. My longing to create and photograph comes from the desire to know those I love in a deeper way. The vulnerability they share, I reward with anonymity. The familiarity and comfort we indulge in ignites an excitement in me which pushes me to create.

Old City Java / 109 S. Central St., Knoxville

Stop by to see both of our exhibits this month by Brandy Slaybaugh and Miah Weaver. Brandy's delicate ink and watercolor pieces and Miah's whimsical collages will captivate you!

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Grounds and trails open during daylight hours. Call for Visitor Center hours. Information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

During the American Gilded Age, which offered unprecedented access to consumer goods, what one owned or had the ability to buy became an important way to assert one’s identity.

The American Gilded Age (1870–1900) was a time of rapid modernization and great expansion of the country’s middle class. Though there was also vast income disparity, most Americans experienced an increase in overall quality of life.

Mass manufacturing permitted most people to buy a wealth of new goods, and the growth of trade and travel meant that Americans had new access to, and interest in, goods from around the world. Suddenly, even the middle class could emulate the wealthy, and identity was bound more than ever to what one owned.

From fish forks and fashionable dress, to furniture and fine china, this exhibition explores the seemingly superficial personal and household objects consumed during this era and how they were visible and powerful symbols of wealth, power, and social class. They speak not only to the great change changes occurring in America at the time, but to our continuing preoccupation today with the objects we choose to buy, wear, and display.

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

Triforium – a ceramic installation by artist Eliza Au is on view in the Geoffrey A. Wolpert Gallery at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. The opening reception is Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 5:00 – 7:00 pm. The public is invited.

Triforium, is a site-specific, wall installation created by ceramic artist, Eliza Au. Her work investigates ornamentation in architecture, and how it engages the idea of creating a sacred space. Au finds elegance, beauty, and balance in mathematical relationships and appreciates the technical challenges of creating her work in clay. “I am interested in how a viewer moves through and experiences space, and how this serves as a metaphor for solitude, self-reflection and transformation through time and movement,” says Au.

Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada, Eliza Au received her BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and her MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. She has previously received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and has taught at various institutions in Canada and the United States, including the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, the Alberta College of Art and Design, Monmouth College in Illinois, and The University of Iowa. She has participated in numerous residencies including The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Forthcoming solo exhibitions will be held at the Northern Arizona University Museum in Fall 2017 and Balitmore Clayworks in Spring 2018.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

The Knoxville Museum of Art presents Gathering Light: Works by Beauford Delaney from the KMA Collection. Gathering Light includes more than 30 of Delaney’s paintings and drawings—nearly all of which have never before been on public view—that were purchased from the artist’s estate between 2014 and 2016 in what is one of the most significant art acquisition in the KMA’s 27-year history. The acquisition and display of these works are part of a larger effort to bring long-overdue attention to Delaney’s legacy in his hometown.

Beauford Delaney (Knoxville 1901-1979 Paris) is considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Despite battling poverty, prejudice, and mental illness, he achieved an international reputation for his portraits, scenes of city life, and free-form abstractions marked by intense colors, bold contours, and vibrant surfaces. The KMA’s growing collection promises to serve as a vital resource for the preservation and celebration of this East Tennessee master’s work.

The paintings and drawings in Gathering Light were purchased with funds provided by the Rachael Patterson Young Art Acquisition Reserve (part of a major gift from the Aslan Foundation), along with additional support from the KMA Collectors Circle, Brenda and Larry Thompson, and friends of the museum. The KMA also wishes to acknowledge Derek L. Spratley, the executor of the Estate of Beauford Delaney, for making works available for loan and acquisition. Accompanying the works acquired by the KMA are also a small selection of paintings from the artist’s estate that the museum hopes to raise funds to purchase.

“We are thrilled to shine a light on one of the world’s greatest artists and local hero Beauford Delaney,” said KMA Executive Director David Butler. “His legacy has been recognized internationally, but he is less well-known here at home. We hope this exhibition helps to change that.”

The museum is holding an opening reception Thursday, May 4 from 5:30 to 7:30pm. This event is free and open to the public.

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