Calendar of Events

Knox County Public Library invites the public to join Gabe Cline-Snell for a discussion of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond at noon on Wednesday, November 15 in the East Tennessee History Center auditorium. Books Sandwiched In, a monthly lunch and learn on current topics, is sponsored by the Friends of Knox County Public Library. Reading the book is optional. Drinks are available to purchase, and attendees are welcome to bring lunch with them.

"Evicted reveals how hard it is for those living in poverty to remain housed," Cline-Snell said. "It is an accurate reflection of the struggles faced by many in our Knoxville community who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless."

There is hardly anything so essential as having a place to sleep and call home. In Evicted, Matthew Desmond provides clear analysis and solutions to address cycles of poverty and eviction. Matthew Desmond is a professor of Social Sciences at Harvard University. This ethnography is the product of years of research as an embedded sociologist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The heart-rending accounts of tenants' desperate attempts to make ends meet and landlords’ struggles to balance sympathy with profit are perhaps the most impactful on readers.

Gabe Cline-Snell is the Chief Clinical Services Officer for Volunteer Ministry Center. Gabe will be joined by a panel of experts on the issue of homelessness. Misty Goodwin of the Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee's Homeward Bound Program; Bruce Spangler, Chief Executive Officer of VMC; and Lisa Higginbotham, KnoxHMIS data analyst. All are members of the Knoxville/ Knox County Homeless Coalition.

In the East Tennessee History Center auditorium, 601 S. Gay Street. Books Sandwiched In is sponsored by the Friends of Knox County Public Library. Attendees may bring lunch. Drinks are available to purchase. Knox County Public Library: 500 West Church Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-215-8750, www.knoxlib.org

Wednesday, November 15 at 7:30 PM John Mark McMillan presents the "Mercury & Lightning Tour" featuring special guests The Brilliance and La Peer.
John Mark McMillan is something of an anomaly: an artist and Platinum-selling songwriter bending genres and defying categorization by carving out his own unique and independent path.
With an ear for melody and a poet’s eye for metaphor, no topic has been off-limits. While each of his albums over the past decade have continued to explore new territory, it’s McMillan’s ability to give lyric and language to the human experience that many consider his greatest gift. Mercury & Lightning, the latest offering from McMillan, reminds us why we love great songwriters; The great ones find a way to put new words to private musings and desperate feelings until the songs themselves begin to live in our bones.

Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information/tickets: 865-522-0832, www.knoxbijou.com, www.ticketmaster.com

Lee Bidgood; lecturer

Room G25, 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

Ensemble concert

Performance Hall #32, Alumni Memorial Building

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

At THE PARLOR AT MAPLE HALL on Gay Street.

Join renowned historian and author, Jack Neely, and the Knoxville History Project for our monthly history talk at this new venue offering special cocktails and finger foods on the night. Limited seating, please plan to get there early to avoid disappointment.

Free. Donations welcome.

Knoxville History Project, 516 West Vine Avenue #8, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-300-4559, www.Knoxvillehistoryproject.org

Directed by Dustin Guy Defa
Wednesday, November 15 · Regal Riviera · 7:00 p.m.

Indie Spirit Award-winning producer James M. Johnston (A Ghost Story, Listen Up Philip, Ain't Them Bodies Saints) will join us to discuss the film. James's visit is supported by the Visit Knoxville Film Office and UT Cinema Studies.

"A gently comic slices-of-life drama, the kind where a variety of people's conflicting, occasionally overlapping experience of the city comes together into a messy whole." - Village Voice

The Public Cinema: info@publiccinema.org, http://www.publiccinema.org/

Santa’s Wonderland returns to Bass Pro Shops and Knoxville-area families are invited to enjoy this magical Christmas village offering free photos with Santa and free family holiday activities including fun crafts and games.

Features include rustic Christmas cabins, holiday characters and live elves set amongst a dazzling backdrop of snow-covered hills and illuminated Christmas trees. The Santa’s Wonderland Christmas village offers remote control trucks, laser/ foam toy arcade, Lincoln Logs building area and much more. Kids can also spend time at one of the activity tables where they can write a letter to Santa, color and do fun crafts, all for free.

Families can enjoy the wonder of Christmas inside Bass Pro Shops with Santa’s Wonderland through December 24 including free photos with Santa. Guests can schedule their Santa time using the free Bass Pass system. Visit the Bass Pass Ticket Depot located at the entrance of Santa’s Wonderland to pick up a time-stamped pass.

Santa’s arrival coincides with Veteran’s Day and the start of a holiday round up program where customers can help support service members, military families and veterans through a donation program. Bass Pro Shops will donate 100 percent of customer contributions to USO Care Packages, which are shipped directly to active service members overseas, and AMVETS.

3629 Outdoor Sportsman Pl, Kodak, TN 37764. For hours and details visit www.BassPro.com/Santa.

Opening reception on Fri Nov 10, 6:30-8 PM. Free and open to the public.
Both exhibits will continue to be on view to the public, Nov. 10 - Dec. 15, 2017 and Jan. 3 - 4, 2018.

Every fall for the past 38 years, the Fountain City Art Guild holds its Holiday Show and Sale usually featuring 25 to 30 of the Guild's 40 members' original paintings, and sometimes handmade books, jewelry, pottery, and decorative gourds.This year, the Guild is honored to be sharing exhibit space with the Smoky Mountain Firecrackers. The Firecrackers are a group of about 25 artists who use lampwork (glass melting and shaping with a specially designed torch) to design intricate beads for jewelry and also to create amazing decorative glass marbles. Jo Marie Brotherton is one of the Firecrackers who is also a Guild member. It was her idea to have the Firecrackers exhibit their work at the Fountain City Art Center. The Firecrackers are involved in making special glass beads for children undergoing chemotherapy. The program is called "Beads of Courage."

FCAC Hours: Tu, Th 9 - 5; W, F 10 - 5; most Saturdays 9 -1

Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartcenter.com

Handmade Textiles - Just in time for holiday gifts!
https://www.shopfolk.org/

Glowing Body, 711 Irwin Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-545-4088, www.glowingbody.net

The Arab American Club of Knoxville: From the Middle East to the Smoky Mountains in the lower gallery
The Arab American Club of Knoxville presents an exhibit of paintings and photos from the Middle East to the Smoky Mountains. The exhibit shares the experiences of local community members through their photo journeys to the Middle East and East Tennessee. Photographer Sam Mishu’s work includes photos of Jordan, the ancient city of Petra, and the majestic natures of Cades Cove; Dean Rice’s photographs capture his visit to the Syrian Refugee Camp in Jordan; Rulla Habiby’s paintings captures the essence of her hometown Haifa and her husband’s hometown, Nazareth; Vivian Dakak’s expressive paintings tell the story of her Iraqi background and her life as an American; Hiba Alyawer’s paintings give abstract art a whole new meaning, exploring her life under Saddam, escaping as a child with her family to Kuwait and later settling in the United States.

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.

Work by Marcia Goldenstein, Tom Reising, Katarina Reising, and Peter Reising

Artists' reception: Sunday, November 19, 2-4pm

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

Modeling an Architectural Proving Ground - An exhibition by SMOUT ALLEN

Liquid Kingdom is a speculative design proposal for an environmental 'proving ground' of landscape and architectural installations, sited on the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. The project responds to the Isle's unique character, 'shaped by separation, a sense of independence and abrupt contact with nature', and prepares it for the future demands of society and climate change.

Mark Smout — Professor of Architecture and Landscape Futures, and Laura Allen — Professor of Architecture and Augmented Landscapes are based at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Our work takes two routes, architectural competitions, where the particular rigor of the competition brief, site and program provide the basis for new investigations and, conceptual design projects which test out the agenda and methodology of the design research practice. We focus on the dynamic relationship between the natural and the man made and how this can be revealed to enhance the experience of the architectural landscape.

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