Calendar of Events

This month's gallery exhibit features the work of Ijams' senior naturalist, Stephen Lyn Bales! A talented artist and designer who has been with Ijams for 19 years, Stephen Lyn also has written books on nature for UT Press including Natural Histories and Ghost Birds. His latest book, Ephemeral by Nature, will be available in the Ijams gift shop in September. All of the pen-and-ink works featured in the gallery were done in conjunction with one of his books, newspaper articles, River Rescue t-shirts or for interpretive signs at Ijams.

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

Join us this summer for our first ever outdoor Bike-in Movies Series presented by TVB and Yee-Haw Brewing featuring some of our favorite flicks on the lawn at The Mill & Mine! We have special surprises in-store for each event, so stay tuned and RSVP below to get the scoop as all of the details unfold. We're also excited to announce $1 of each ticket will go to a different charity each week!

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

Billy Ray Cyrus at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium, Thursday, August 3.

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the smash hit that started it all, Achy Break Heart. Throughout the course of nearly three decades, Billy Ray Cyrus has achieved international success as a singer, songwriter, entertainer, and philanthropist. He has sold millions of albums, charted 35 singles—16 of which are Top 40 hits— and continues to receive critical acclaim as an actor, writer, and executive producer in film and television. Cyrus will be joined by special guest, Nashville’s rising star, Olivia Lane.

Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum, 500 Howard Baker Jr Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37915. Information: www.knoxvillecoliseum.com

Cruz Contreras, former Blount County man who fronts The Black Lillies and who co-founded Robinella and the CC Stringband, will kick off this year’s Hot Summer Nights Concert Series at the Blount County Public Library at 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 3.

With roots in Blount County and Michigan, Contreras has gone on to affect music worldwide. A multi-instrumentalist, Cruz’s projects have topped Billboard and Americana radio charts. He has won independent Music Awards and has been nominated for the Americana Music Association’s Emerging Artist of the Year award.

Cruz, founder and front man for The Black Lillies, writes and arranges all their material. The music has been acclaimed by outlets such as “American Songwriter Magazine,” “Rolling Stone,” NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “Vanity Fair.”

Cruz has appeared on national television shows such as “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “CMT,” “VH-1,” “GAC,” “Bluegrass Underground” and PBS Television’s “Sun Studio” sessions.

This year’s exciting concert series, sponsored by the Blount County Friends of the Library, boasts a diverse and engaging variety of performing artists and music genres. The concerts will be performed on each Thursday night in August at 7 p.m.

The concerts will be indoors in the library’s air conditioned main gallery. Open to the public, these presentations are hosted by the Blount County Public Library, located at 508 N. Cusick Street, Maryville, where services are an example of your tax dollars at work for you.

Blount County Public Library, 508 N. Cusick Street, Maryville, TN. Information: 865-982-0981, www.blountlibrary.org

"Women, Witches, and the End of Time" hosted by Knoxville Writers' Guild

Julia Franks, author of "Over the Plain Houses", speaks on her creative process.

Knoxville Writers’ Guild: Meetings take place at Central United Methodist Church's Fellowship Hall, 201 E. Third Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: www.KnoxvilleWritersGuild.org

Recent works by photographer Ron Sullivan and potter Linda Sullivan will be on display. Ron Sullivan says about himself, "My photographic influences include photographer Jerry Uelsmann, whose work I first came across at Columbia College in Chicago. He is a master photographic composite artist whose surrealism developed in the darkroom before there was any such thing as digital manipulation. The objective of all of my images is the same as that for every painter, photographer, sculptor, poet, filmmaker: get the viewer to linger before the image, to wonder exactly what is being presented here. Is that a photograph, a watercolor, a print? In the current series titled Ports of Air, I am using composites of several images to correlate to Wallace Stevens’ poem, Anecdote of the Jar."

Linda Sullivan describes her process this way: " The process for creating crystalline work is challenging in that successful results require several steps to ensure that crystals form. Conditions must be just right – appropriate clay body, fluid glazes with specific chemical ingredients, correct thickness of glaze, and complex firing/cooling kiln cycle. As a result, the failure rate with this technique is greater than in my previous work. Still, experimenting with crystalline glazes has been a nice change of pace, and opening the kiln to see crystal formations on the pieces has been quite satisfying."

Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tu-Th & Sa 11-6, Fri 11-9, Su 1-5. Information: 865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net

The Enamelist Society’s mission is to educate and encourage artists and collectors about the beauty of enameled art. Combining heat from a kiln or torch with colored glass, the enamelist engages in a mystical, magical, and transformational alchemy of turning sand into glass on metal. The result is a reflective, vibrant color expressed in each artist’s vision. Viewers are invited to gain inspiration from the exquisite craft and creativity showcased in the works in Alchemy4, the Enamelist Society’s 16th International Juried Exhibition and 12th Juried Student Exhibition. More information about the Enamelist Society can be found at: www.enamelistsociety.org

The Alchemy4 International and Student Exhibitions collectively showcase 150 exquisite jewelry, objects, and mixed media sculptures and installations made by 98 artists. The exhibit is being featured in three venues – after the exhibit closes at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts it will then travel to the Ohio Craft Museum in Columbus, OH, and then to the Metal Museum in Memphis, TN.

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

UT’s McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture’s Museum Store will host a sale featuring work by regional artists from July 27 to August 3. The sale will include jewelry, ceramics, turned wood, and photography with a 10 percent discount on these items during the week-long promotion.

Regional artists in the sale include ceramicist Hugh Bailey; jewelry-makers Aleta Chandler, Kathryn Jenkins, and Tami Moore; wood-workers Gordon Coker and Richard Dwyer; and photographer Brian McDaniel. More information on the artists can be found on the museum’s website.

The store is a member of the Museum Store Association and only purchases from vendors who guarantee items are ethical and meet high quality standards. As always, museum members and UT students receive an additional 10 percent discount in the store. All purchases include tax, and all proceeds from store purchases help fund the museum's free educational programs, which serve over 10,000 Knoxville-area students each year.

Free two-hour museum parking passes are available from the parking kiosk at the entrance to Circle Park Drive during the week. Free parking is available on the weekends. Free public transportation to the museum is available via the Knoxville Trolley Vol Line. 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

Flying Anvil Theatre kicks off its first season in its new space in Rocky Hill with THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL, music and lyrics by David Nehls and book by Betsy Kelso. Critics have called the 2005 Off-Broadway smash “South Park meets Desperate Housewives.” A country-rock and blues musical about agoraphobia, adultery, '80s nostalgia, spray cheese, road kill, hysterical pregnancy, a broken electric chair, kleptomania, strippers, flan, and disco, the story centers around regular guy Norbert and his agoraphobic wife, Jeannie, whose marriage is threatened by Armadillo Acres' newcomer, the hot young stripper, Pippi. The trailer park also plays home to a Greek-chorus trio of women – Linoleum, Betty, and Pickles, each dysfunctional in her own right. When Pippi’s angry ex-boyfriend shows up, it looks like bad news for everyone, until a surprising secret leads to a happy ending, when the entire cast sings the rousing anthem, ”I Gotta Make Like a Nail (and Press On).”

Director Jayne Morgan says the show is a real audience pleaser. “We’ve heard from a number of people who have seen the show in other cities and can’t wait to see it again. The show is outrageous and funny and over the top – the perfect summer musical if you’re just looking for a something fun.” Terry Silver Alford will be musical directing and Dana Wham will choreograph. The cast of seasoned performers includes John Cherry, Tiffany Fenech, Mandi Lawson, Emily Helton, Chevy Anz, Curtis Bower and Wham.

Performances are Wed-Sat at 7:30 PM and Sun at 2 PM.

Flying Anvil Theatre, 1300 Rocky Hill Road, Knoxville. Information: 865-357-1309, www.flyinganviltheatre.com

Part of the 2017-18 "Best of Theatre Knoxville Downtown" Season!

By Howard, Williams, and Sears. Greater Tuna is the hilarious comedy about Texas' third smallest town, where the Lion's Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies. The eclectic band of citizens that make up this town are portrayed by only two performers, making this satire on life in rural America even more delightful as they depict all of the inhabitants of Tuna—men, women, children and animals.

"Howlingly funny."
– Variety

"The audience all but exploded the theatre with laughter."
– The New York Post

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

Five friends secretly convene in the middle of the night to act out the tragic tale of Julius Caesar. They soon become swept away as their own prejudices and personal vendettas begin to parallel the lives of the characters in distant Rome. Alliances and rivalries are turned upside down when the fun of play-acting takes a serious turn as Shakespeare’s poignant drama begins to hit home. Five actors with no set, no costume changes, and only candlelight bring the essence of this classic play vividly alive with the sheer theatricality of this all too timely story.

This is a site-specific production. Performances take place on UT campus, but exact locations are secret and change nightly. You will be given more in depth instructions including arrival time and audience meeting location via email 48 hours prior to your selected performance.

Performances are 90 minutes with no intermission and are staged in the round. If you need to leave during the performance, you will not be able to return to your seat. You will be assisted in finding alternate seating locations in order to ensure the enjoyment and safety of all patrons with minimal disruption to the performance.

Please arrive at the audience meeting location 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. There will be no late seating for this production. We will leave the audience meeting location at the scheduled start time and move to the secret performance site; if you arrive late, you will be left.

Info: https://nowisthetimeofnight.com/
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/julius-caesar-tickets-35546116391

Peppered Paper by Lesley Eaton - Painted paper collage, dinosaurs, crustaceans, flowers, and more. https://www.etsy.com/shop/PepperedPaper
Distinctive Gourds by Marty McConnaughey - https://www.distinctivegourds.com/

Westminister Presbyterian Church, 6500 S Northshore Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-F 9-4. Info: (865) 584-3957 or www.wpcknox.org