Calendar of Events

"Don't get so busy earning your salt that you forget the sugar."

Pioneer House, home of the original Knoxville Girl t-shirt and letterpress printmaking studio and gallery, will throw open the doors Nov. 3 to welcome five local artists. The Knoxville Girls show and sale brings together five fine women with ties to Knoxville and a flair for fiber, ceramics, letterpress printmaking, encaustic painting and mixed media. You'll love them better than biscuits.

Reception for Artists: 5 p.m.-9 p.m., First Friday, Nov. 3

The artists:
Knoxville native Amanda Humphreys occupies her time teaching pottery classes and making functional, whimsical pottery. Her work is inspired by her love of textures and colors borrowed from old, historic buildings, vintage maps and the 80s and 90s in general. She also revels in classic country music.

Peg Hambright is a former graphic designer and illustrator who has neglected her creative side for the past 25 years while nurturing her little bakery, Magpies. In an attempt to find balance in her life, she's found herself transitioning from food into art by making art that is food. It's a start.

A mixed media artist from Knoxville, Cara Pfennigwerth loves to draw, crochet, garden and try just about anything hands-on. Another favorite art form is relief block print. She draws most of her inspiration from the flora and fauna of East Tennessee and creates as a way to preserve and appreciate the beauty of local wildlife.

Laura Baisden runs a custom letterpress shop called Camp Nevernice in the same historical building that is home to Pioneer House. She crafts custom posters and invitations for clients and hand-carves linoleum illustrations. She has a labor of love in the works: writing and illustrating a children's book.

Julie Belcher is the proprietor of Pioneer House. An Appalachian artist, dedicated handmade advocate and restorer of vintage printing presses from way back, she adds bits of her Southern and mountain heritage to all her works. Letterpress monoprints and small encaustic mixed media are among the new works she has created for this show.

Pioneer House of Letterpress & Vintage, 413 South Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Info: 865-200-8084, julie@pioneer-house.com, http://www.pioneer-house.com

Recent works by Marie Merritt and Nelson Ziegler will be on display at the Art Market Gallery. An opening reception for the featured artists will begin at 5:30 p.m., Nov 3rd, during Downtown Knoxville’s monthly First Friday Art Walk, with complimentary refreshments.

Marie Merritt shares her experience from hiking all the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains through her art. Interpreting the scenic vistas, babbling streams, lovely flora, and majestic animals she has encountered in her signature style of oil painting, she strives to give the viewer the feeling of awe that she has enjoyed. She develops a quality of depth and dimension in her paintings that is sensitive and expressive by using traditional time honored techniques of multiple layers of oil paints and glazes. Marie, a native of East Tennessee, has received numerous awards, designations and recognitions with her art, including Certified Decorative Artist and Teacher of Decorative Arts. Her original works hang in private and corporate collections throughout the region and her art has been featured on book covers and in magazines. She is represented by the Art Market Gallery in Knoxville, TN and her work can be seen at www.mariemerritt.com

Nelson Ziegler, of Sevierville, Tennessee in the Smoky Mountains, is a graduate of The Art Institute of Boston and Northwestern Academy of Watercolor. He has won many awards for both his painting and woodturning, both regionally and nationally. Among them, Gold Medal for watercolor at the American Artists Professional League, Honorable Mention-The Artist’s Magazine annual competition. He was chosen the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage artist of the year in 2016. He has participated in numerous juried exhibitions in New York including Allied Artists, American Artists Professional League, Salmagundi Club, Knickerbocker Artists, National Arts Club, Hudson Valley Arts Association, as well as Adirondack National Watercolor Exhibition, Faces of America (a national watercolor portrait show), Academic Artists Association, Springfield Arts League, Springfield, MA, Guild of Boston Artists, Copley Society, Boston, MA, North Shore Arts Association, Gloucester, MA, Tennessee Watercolor Society and Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts. A member of the National Watercolor Society, New England Watercolor Society, The Oil Painters of America and the Northshore Art Association and the American Association of Woodturners. Nelson’s works are in many private and corporate collections throughout the country. www.nelsonzieglerstudio.com

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 District Gallery is pleased to present Joe Parrott: Recent Works, opening Friday, November 3 from 5-8PM.

Sunny sidewalks, a shifting forest shadow, the daylight as it recedes into evening. Scenes of passerby, the twilit facade of a building- what could have gone unnoticed can be transformed by renewed attention to light and shadow, and what was one happenstance begins to feel like home. Recent Works gives a chance to revel in the present moment, caught in sparkling reflections and deep shadows, and offered to us through the attentive eyes of a longtime Knoxville native.

Please join us Friday, November 3 from 5-8 PM for an opening reception and to meet the artist. The show will be on display through November 25.

The District Gallery, 5113 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-F 10-5:30, Sa 10-4. Information: 865-200-4452, www.TheDistrictGallery.com

Hosted by Rala: Regional and Local Artisans

We are excited to announce our featured artists for the month of November! Please join us for a show opening with work by local artists, Cynthia Markert and Brian Scott Pittman

Opening reception November 3rd 6-9pm

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

This November, Broadway Studios and Gallery proudly presents one of Knoxville’s royalty of the arts, Eric Sublett. Eric Sublett will show a variety of work made during several decades in a show that is entitled: Portrayals.

As a child, Eric was the self-proclaimed mascot of the University of Tennessee Art Department where he helped his father Carl with his duties as a professor. Eric was unofficially mentored by his father by sitting with him after he had finished his paper route as his father sketched architectural structures around the area. Being given Carte Blanche to anything in his father’s studio, it turned out that Eric would become quite a talent in his own right. With connections made through Knoxville’s underground artistic culture, he witnessed the birth of fine art in Knoxville on the heels of the 1982 World’s Fair. It was at that moment that the “Scruffy Little City” could put a flag in the ground and declare that yes, like other cities, artists are here as well. With his good friend RB Morris, Eric helped contribute to this newfound celebration of the music and arts where he and his friends began to have art exhibits with parties in abandoned buildings in the Old City before there was an “Old City.” From there he opened a gallery in what would known as the Artist Colony, which was a group of Victorian houses across the street from the Candy Factory and the now Knoxville Museum of Art. With amazing stories, this colorful figure will present and eclectic grouping of artwork from over the decades.

The work will contain drawings, paintings, photography. There will also be time for old friends to come visit and for new friends to be made in a tiny re-celebration of birth of the arts in the town we all love. All are invited to participate: artists, enthusiasts, and the curious alike.

Opening is First Friday, November 3rd, in which the doors will open at 5pm.

This exhibit is free to the public. Broadway Studios and Gallery, 1127 Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Hours: Thurs-Sat, 10-6 (and whenever the open light is on throughout the week). Information: 865-556-8676, www.BroadwayStudiosAndGallery.com.

Mixed media sculpture and paintings by Marga McBride (ceramic sculpture and paintings) and Jay McBride (new works in wood)

Reception Fri Nov 3, 5-7 PM

Bennett Galleries, 5308 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919
(865) 584-6791 | www.bennettgalleries.com

McClung Museum Store will proudly partner with the U.S Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program as a Toy Drop-Off site this holiday season. From November 1–30, university and local community members are encouraged to help a child in need by donating a new, unwrapped gift for children up to 14 years old, or purchasing a new toy from the Museum Store for donation.

The Museum Store will also have appropriate gifts for purchase for Toys for Tots, including games, stuffed animals, stocking stuffers, kids’ books, adult coloring books and pencils, jewelry, and more. Need guidance? See the Toys for Tots FAQ for more information. Donations will be accepted in the Museum Store during museum hours. All Toys for Tots donors will receive a free gift.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: M-Sa 9-5, Su 1-5. Information: 865-974-2144, http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu

Art is happening in downtown Sevierville, TN. Artist Dasha Jamison will exhibit her paintings and pastels in her first solo show at Courthouse Donuts/Dyers Downtown through December 31st. A reception for the artist will take place Thursday, November 16th from 5:30 until 8:00 and is free to the public. This exhibition is part of an on-going series sponsored by the Sevierville Commons Arts Council and Sevierville Commons Association.

Born and raised in Russia, Dasha Jamison creates her paintings and drawings with the hope that the work will transport you to “ …a place you want to be.” Her appreciation for art was instilled by her mother and Dasha had the privilege to attend art classes as a child. As an exchange student, she moved to the United States and received her Master’s Degree in IT Engineering. Her journey as an artist began again in recent years, drawing inspiration from the landscapes of her travels. She utilizes a variety of media for her paintings, though drawing with pastels is her favorite form in which to be expressive. Dasha Jamison is a member of the Chicago Pastel Painters Association.

The Sevierville Commons Arts Council is a neighborhood revitalization organization of individuals, artists, studios, galleries and businesses dedicated to the promotion and awareness of the arts & culture through education, entertainment, community interaction and trade in Sevierville and Sevier County, TN. For more information, visit www.SeviervilleCommonsArtsCouncil.org.

Photographers of all ages – amateur and professional – share their vision of “sanctuary” in this first annual photography exhibition. Participants were asked to consider the definition of sanctuary: “a place of refuge or safety; a sacred place” and what that means to them…Where is your sanctuary? Is it a feeling? Is it a memory? Is it real? Is it imagined?

Over 20 photos are in the exhibition which runs through January 2018. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, October 19 from 6:00-7:30pm. The restaurant will remain open during the reception.

Sanctuary Vegan Café is located at 151 N. Seven Oaks Dr, Knoxville, TN 37922. Contact: Jody Sims, curator, 619-210-4587 or jody@jodysims.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

Opening Reception: Thursday, November 2, 2-5 pm

Inexteriors is a series of paintings by artist Marcia Santore that address ideas of impossible architectural spaces. The series has developed over a number of years and has been inspired by visions of windows through doorways through windows, the patterns of light in interior spaces created by seen or unseen openings, indeterminate interior and exterior spaces, unknown houses seen from within and without, mysterious stairways and hallways and hidden rooms, figures that inhabit (haunt?) those spaces, and the potential for these spaces to tell or conceal multiple, unfolding stories. Some of these paintings are in oil and others in acrylic. Some include collaged elements such as recycled paper.

“As someone who has moved many times, both as a child and as an adult, houses have multiple meanings for me—they are places full of mystery and possibility, suggestive of many potential futures or outcomes.”
—Marcia Santore

A portion of the proceeds of sales from this exhibition will be donated to the Oak Ridge Art Center. www.marciasantore.com

O'Brien Art Gallery, Roane State Community College, 276 Patton Lane, Harriman, TN 37748

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