Calendar of Events

Cindy & Ella, the Knoxville Theatre Club's inaugural production, runs September 22-23 & 29-30 at Modern Studio. It is based on the ancient folktale of Cinderella, but if you're only familiar with the Disney cartoon, the plot of this dark comedy may be a bit surprising. Stranded in the lifeless heart of Dust Bowl-era Oklahoma, and reeling from the traumatic death of her mother, young Cindy Wicket is left teetering on the brink of madness. When her scheming Aunt Eudora arrives claiming ownership of the home, a violent battle of wits and wills ensues. Meanwhile, Eudora's daughter Ella must wrestle with her own mounting desperation as she watches her hopes for the future vanish beneath dust, dead crops, and her mother's all-consuming greed. When a handsome young man from Chicago arrives offering to buy the land, the stage is set for a final conflict over control of the homestead and the fate of all who live there.

Cindy & Ella stars Theatre Knoxville Downtown President Bonny Pendleton, Raine Palmer (The Office, Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night's Dream), Chad Wood (Two Gentlemen of Verona, Tennessee Medieval Faire, Hamlet) and Maria Kauffman (Pride and Prejudice, Sleeping Beauty, The Crucible.) The show's co-creators Gaddis and JP Schuffman have been producing original work together in NYC, Nashville, and Knoxville since 2010. In 2017 they founded Knoxville Theatre Club (www.knoxvilletheatreclub.org) which has hosted workshops and local community events such as The Pop-Up Theatre Project, Drama & Drinks, The Crow Flies Scriptworks, and the Knoxville Theatre Slam.

Cindy & Ella runs September 22-23 & 29-30 at Modern Studio, 109 W Anderson Ave, Knoxville, 37917. For tickets and more information please visit knoxvilletheatreclub.org, Tel: (865)469-6142.
Website: knoxvilletheatreclub.org

A unique exhibition by HoLa Hora Latina member artists celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month - one exhibition, two venues!

Opening Fri Sep 1, 5-9 PM at the Emporium and on display through Sep 8

Then, on display at the Knoxville Museum of Art from Sep 14 - Oct 15 in the Kramer Education Center. Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tu-Sa 10-5, Su 1-5. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

Information: 865-335-3358, www.holahoralatina.org

For thousands of years Northwest Coast Indians including the Coast Salish, Haida, Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw, Makah, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Tlingit peoples represented in this exhibition, have made art expressing their cultural norms and values with precision, clarity, and artistic exuberance. Using indigenous and trade materials obtained in their homes along the coast of Oregon and north to Alaska, Northwest coast peoples mark elaborate ceremonial life, social rank, and prestige through their objects and art.

This exhibition explores Northwest Coast art through over 60 objects made by known and unknown artists, representing traditional and modern forms of cultural expression. From model totem poles and bentwood boxes, to spoons, prints, and silver bracelets, these objects were created for different purposes––utilitarian, decorative, and ceremonial. What all of them share in common is the desire to preserve and perpetuate Northwest Coast cultural heritage and community.

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

Stop by to see this month's delightful exhibit by Robert H. Thompson, who re-imagines thrifted landscape paintings with thought-provoking ideas, as showcased by his talent for lettering.

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

Recent artwork in a variety of media by current C-N Art Dept faculty: Chad Airhart, Lisa Flanary, Heather Hartman, Cody Leihgeber, Julie Rabun, Raquel Roy, David Underwood, and Mark Wankel.

Opening Thur Sep 7, 3-5 PM

Gallery hours: M-F 8-4. Warren Art Bldg, corner of Branner Ave & Ken Sparks Way, Jefferson City, TN 37760. Info: 865-471-4985.

Featuring abstracts by Marty Elmer
South Knoxville Library, 4500 Chapman Highway, Knoxville, TN 37920. (865) 573-1772

Recent works by painter Kate McCullough and glass artist Johnny Glass will be on display Sept 1st to the end of September at the Art Market Gallery. An opening reception for the featured artists will begin at 5:30 p.m., Sept 1st, during Downtown Knoxville’s monthly First Friday Art Walk, with complimentary refreshments.

Kate McCullough says about her work, " The theme for my Featured Artist wall is called “The Ale Trail of Scruffy City”. You may have noticed that we now have a plethora of breweries and beer merchants popping up around town. The old diner is now a beer merchant, the old gas station is now a brewery. Some have taken a chance in areas that are desperately awaiting renewal. I chose the ones that had interesting architecture and/or signage. Very often the goal of my work is to capture a slice of life around town."

About Johnny Glass: Johnny Glass began his glass career in Los Angeles, CA, where he was first introduced to glass at Santa Monica College. He has spent multiple summers studying at Dale Chihuly’s world renowned Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA, where he studied with master glassblowers from around the world. His interests range from fine Italian cane and murrine work to the abstract arts of some of Japan’s most crafted masters.

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

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/

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