Calendar of Events

Hosted by Rala: Regional and Local Artisans

Join us for the opening of "Black Velvet," a print series by Jarred Elrod. Opening night will be held on First Friday of September, so come see the show and rub elbows with the artist! September 1, 6-9 PM

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

A reception will take place on Friday, September 1, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition.

In the lower gallery - Linde Mills works with various materials and primarily acrylic on canvas. “Many of us take great pleasure in watching people in motion; from sports to dance, the ease with which some can make the power in their bodies explode into motion is captivating,” says Mills. Her subject matter almost always involves this type of activity, typically in a dance fashion or involving water. “Capturing movement, life and a peacefulness behind the power generated by long-term hard work is what I strive for in each painting." For more information, please visit www.lindeluwho.com.

Mary Smith was born and raised in the Rochester, NY area. She lived in Pittsburgh, PA for ten years before moving to Knoxville in 1990. Smith began painting in 2015 as a form of therapy after the loss of her husband. She developed a passion for abstract painting and the freedom of expression it offers. Each piece she paints brings comfort. Her acrylic paintings are often spontaneous and the result of “wherever the brush takes her hand”. Painting and talking with others about her work provides Smith pleasure, joy and solace. “When people enjoy a painting with their smile or comment, I find it very rewarding,” she says.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, September 1, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition.

In the Balcony gallery - David Gildersleeve began his long and illustrious art career while growing up in Texas. His earliest work was displayed on his bedroom wall where he started to master the popular but challenging medium of crayons. He then moved to his first big exhibit where he was a featured artist on the family refrigerator. Gildersleeve’s professional art career began as a comic book artist, working for such companies as Vendetta, Gothic, and Calibre. During this time, he illustrated a variety of magazines from Playboy to The Crescent Review as well as developed logos and advertising campaigns for Solunet, Integrated Digital Networks, and Microsoft. He has written and illustrated several children’s books, contributed a speech to TED Talks, and taught at The Corcoran School of Art and at The Savannah College of Art and Design.

Gildersleeve paints subjects that invade his subconscious, using a wonky style to help bring these images to life. Using textures and a selective palette, he creates an unmistakable style in his work that most people refer to as “whimsical”. He displays his art in several galleries up and down the East coast and takes part in several shows a year that focus on his original paintings. In addition to his successful and creative projects, he enjoys spending as much time as he can with his wife and two sons, working on classic muscle cars, and writing autobiographies. For more information, please visit www.gsleeve.com.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, September 1, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition.

In the display case - As a figurative artist, Annamaria Gundlach is fascinated by the female form and its impact on art and religion throughout history. Nature is her inspiration, and her figures reflect sensuality, strength and connection to the earth.

“Each of my clay sculptures has its own voice which speaks as I create it,” says Gundlach. “I strive to create organic figures that exude natural elegance. I burnish and pit-fire my work so the smoke ages and mutes the colors with a patina that has a haunting suggestion of lost and forgotten eras. I refer to my work as ‘modern artifacts’. This oxymoron reflects my contradictory intent of modern elegance achieved with primitive methods and various surface enrichments that connect the past to the present.” For more information, please visit http://artdeannamaria.weebly.com/.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, September 1, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition.

On the North Wall - J. Brooks Brann has been an avid photographer for 40 years concentrating on landscapes and wildlife images. He is a native of Knoxville with a BS in Industrial Engineering and a MS in Mathematics from the University of Tennessee. Brann spent 34 years in Seattle where he worked for Boeing as a Senior Engineer. During that time, he explored many of the national parks, national monuments and Western wildlife refuges. From 1988 – 2010, he conducted more than 20 solo long distance river trips in Northern British Columbia and the Canadian Northwest Territories. After retiring in 1999, Brann divided his time between New Zealand and a cabin in the Northwest Territories where he pursued his interest in photography and trout fishing. In 2012, he moved back to Knoxville where he continues to concentrate on photography.

“A lot of research and planning goes into a trip, and typically several places are selected to visit,” says Brann. “If everything works out then I will return multiple times. Some of my favorite places for photography include Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, the coastal areas of Olympic National Park, the Yukon’s Dempster highway above the Arctic Circle (in Canada), the lava flows and coastal regions of the Island of Hawaii, and the Appalachians of East Tennessee.”

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, September 1, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition.

In the Atrium - Anthony M. Donaldson is a local painter who lives in Knoxville and is a KAT bus driver. He studied art heavily in high school and continued taking some classes in college. As a writer expresses in a book, an artist expresses in art. “I ask myself: does art imitate life or does life imitate art?” says Donaldson. “I think sometimes it's both. For me, God is the master artist, and He created everything. I find drawing easy, yet creativity requires deep thinking and studying.”

Donaldson aims to tell a story with his art, and the recent work he will display features many subjects such as climate change, human trafficking, Harlem Renaissance culture, and more.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

Something Blue is a solo exhibition of new works by Knoxville artist Mike C. Berry. This exhibition includes new paintings and drawings that expressively highlight Knoxville and its surrounding landscape.

“Something Blue” is a line taken from an Old English Rhyme with the word blue representing love and purity. Mike’s chosen subject matter clearly demonstrates this sentiment about Knoxville and is an appropriate title for his commitment to creating his unique style of work. This exhibition also marks the 10th anniversary of his successful 2007 Limited Edition Dogwood Print, “Spring in the City.”

Please join us at The Dogwood Arts Gallery at 123 W. Jackson Ave for a First Friday Reception September 1st from 5:30pm until 8:30pm. Light refreshments will be served.

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Viewing hours: Monday through Friday, 9:30-4:30. Information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com

Josef Albers, Matthew Deleget, Peter Dudek, Cris Gianakos, Michelle Grabner, Lynne Harlow, Changha Hwang, Russell Maltz, Rossana Martinez, Kristine Marx, Manfred Mohr

Dual Current: Inseparable Elements in Painting and Architecture, curated by Gabriele Evertz, examines the relationship between painting and architecture in a contemporary context through color, shape, and theory.

The artists whose works are featured in this exhibition are: Josef Albers (American, born Germany, 1888–1976), Matthew Deleget (American, born 1972), Peter Dudek (American, born 1952), Cris Gianakos (Greek-American, born 1934), Michelle Grabner (American, born 1962), Lynne Harlow (American, born 1968), Changha Hwang (Korean, born 1969), Russell Maltz (American, born 1952), Rossana Martinez (Puerto Rican, born 1969), Kristine Marx (American, born 1969), and Manfred Mohr (German, born 1938). Their works link three-dimensional space and the picture plane to create radical new forms. Dual Current explores the relationship between painting and architecture, closely intertwined since the Renaissance.

Reception: Thursday, August 31, 8:30 - 9:30PM

*The gallery is closed in observance of holidays and university closures
M: 10-5
T-TR: 10 - 7:30
F: 10-5
SUN: 1-4

Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

Flying Anvil Theatre gets Shipwrecked! Following the smash success of The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Flying Anvil Theatre’s second production in their new space is Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself) by Donald Margulies.

An amazing tale of bravery, survival and celebrity that left nineteenth-century England spellbound, this breathless story of a Victorian gentleman and seafaring wanderer springs to life like a theatrical pop-up book. The show features all the magic of a high seas adventure, populated by exotic islanders, flying wombats, giant sea turtles and a monstrous man-eating octopus. The audience is left to judge whether de Rougemont is an inspirational figure touched by genius or a mere con man. Audiences can also consider the possibility that the hero of this (possibly) true story is a little of each. This fast-paced, rollicking show examines how far we're willing to blur the line between fact and fiction to leave our mark on the world.

Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself) opens Friday, September 1 and runs for four weeks. Pre-opening previews are Wednesday, August 30 (Pay What You Can Night) and Thursday, August 31. The show is recommended for adults and children over the age of eight.

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

In the GEOFFREY A. WOLPERT GALLERY

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

Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church
Free and open to the public

When: Opening reception August 18 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists’ talks at 6:30 p.m.

Carra Artis paints impressionistic landscapes in oil. She hopes the viewer, through her work, will appreciate the beauty of God’s creation and mankind’s mark on the landscape. She strives to capture the essence, time, light, and mood of the scene. Almost all of her paintings are “en plein air,” meaning painted on location, or plein air completed in the studio. After moving to East Tennessee in 2013, Artis was overjoyed to find a group of nurturing artists, “Tuesday Painters,” a weekly plein air painting group. She is currently their coordinator. A member of the Arts and Cultural Alliance, her work has hung in shows at the Emporium, winning an honorable mention at the Tennessee Artists Association show in 2016. She has continued her growth by studying with Kathie Odom, John Lasater IV, Jason Sacran, Dawn Whitelaw, and Peggy Root. She has been influenced by visits to major art museums in New York City, Washington, D.C., Paris, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Florence, and Dublin. Her paintings are in private collections in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Zach Searcy creates mixed media work with paint, resin, found materials, and inkjet pigment transfers. Compositions juke, push, and pull to create a visceral experience. More recently the works have started to move through all axes, with compositions that spill over the side or toward the viewer. Materials and textures have become fixed in a way that the paintings become something that could be held or touched. This show of new works and old explores the experience of art’s function to take us to a faraway place as well as remind us that we are, in fact, right here. Searcy is a self-trained artist from Knoxville, Tennessee. He has been featured throughout the Southeast; at the NEXT Gallery in Denver, Colorado; and at the William King Museum of Art. He has served as a juror of the Dogwood Arts Festival. Once obsessed with browsing art on his smart phone late at night, Searcy brought this vision to curating a physical space in Knoxville: Zach Searcy Projects. The shows ranged from contemporary painting to a computer-controlled xylophone, and the space hosted for the Big Ears Documentary Project. He resides in Knoxville and splits his time between his studio and throwing darts with his brother.

Gallery hours: 10 AM – 5 PM, Monday through Thursday and 10 AM – 1 PM, Sunday
Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Gallery, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918

Drawn from the extensive collection of the Reading Public Museum, this vibrant exhibition examines the key role played by artists’ colonies in the development of American Impressionism. It features more than 50 paintings and works on paper by Frank W. Benson, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Ernest Lawson, William Paxton, Robert Reid, Chauncey Ryder, John Twachtman, Julian Alden Weir, and many others.

Many of the nationally prominent artists represented in this exhibition have ties to East Tennessee and the KMA’s ongoing display Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee. More than a dozen participated in large art exhibitions held in conjunction with Knoxville’s 1910 and 1911 Appalachian Expositions, and the 1913 National Conservation Exposition. Their paintings appeared alongside those of several East Tennessee artists represented in Higher Ground, such as Catherine Wiley, Lloyd Branson, Adelia Lutz, Charles Krutch, and Hugh Tyler, to name a few. These sprawling and ambitious exhibitions were designed with the goal of bringing the “best contemporary art in America” to people of the region. The displays highlighted art currents of the day, and allowed East Tennessee artists to demonstrate their proficiency in a national context.

Among other ties, John F. Carlson served as a juror for the 1913 Expo art exhibition along with Knoxville impressionist painter Catherine Wiley. Robert Reid was one of Wiley’s art instructors during her studies in New York, and Mary Cassatt’s intimate domestic scenes inspired Wiley’s career-long interest in depicting women and children. As a result of these and other connections, this exhibition offers a broader national lens through which viewers can assess the work of Wiley, Branson, Lutz, Krutch, Tyler and other Higher Ground artists who also experimented with Impressionism.

Organized by the Reading Public Museum, Pennsylvania. The museum is holding an opening reception Thursday, August 10 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