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

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

Free and open to the public
Opening reception October 13 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists’ talks at 6:30 p.m.

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

Genie Even’s paintings are contemporary realism and include florals, trees, people, animals, and still life. She is drawn to color, the play of sunlight, and reflections. She uses a camera to create reference photos, composing as she shoots. The computer is only for cropping. She enjoys sketching as she develops a composition, stressing or eliminating lines or areas. Even is a graduate of Scripps College in Claremont, California. As an art major, she was privileged to study with an outstanding art faculty. For twenty-five years, transparent watercolor has been her preferred medium. Her watercolor education has been supplemented by quality workshops with nationally known watercolor artists. Her work has been accepted in many national exhibitions. She holds signature memberships in the California Watercolor Association, Watercolor West, the Texas Watercolor Society, and the Tennessee Watercolor Society.

Art is the first passion Terri Swaggerty recalls; it has always been an integral part of her essence and her path. Her painting explores different techniques and subjects. She paints subjects that pique her interest and especially the ones that take her breath away. These subjects are eclectic: nature, older and often kitschy objects, and body language and the energy between people. As she paints, she savor the colors, the composition, and applying the paint to the canvas. Swaggerty is a professional, award-winning photographer and photo re-toucher. Her work has been shown at TVUUC and Tomato Head Restaurant. She has also participated in Artemis Galley in Apalachicola, Florida and in the 2016 Plein Aire Show at Knoxville’s Emporium. She was a sidewalk portrait artist at the 1982 World’s Fair.

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

Stories in Stitches: Quilts from the East Tennessee Historical Society’s Permanent Collection

East Tennessee families treasure quilts made by their ancestors. Besides warming and decorating the bed, quilts also serve as reminders of important events—births, weddings, service to our country, the death of loved ones. Often, these memories are preserved in notes attached to the quilts or through stories handed down to younger generations. Sometimes notes are lost and memories fade, leaving families with a "mystery quilt." Did Grandma Jones or Granny Smith make this quilt? Or, was it Aunt Jane? When did she make it? Why did she choose this pattern? What caused this stain or that tear? These are some of the mysteries that quilt historians try to address through genealogical research and technical analysis.

From histories handed down to mysteries that remain, the new feature exhibition at the Museum of East Tennessee History provides visitors the opportunity to learn the "stories in stitches" from the quilts that have been entrusted to the East Tennessee Historical Society. Stories in Stitches features more than two dozen quilts with dates ranging from c. 1820 to 2001. The exhibition will be on display in the Rogers-Claussen Feature Gallery of the East Tennessee History Center from August 7, 2017 - January 2, 2018. Stories in Stitches is dedicated to Linda Claussen and Ginny Rogers for their years of service and support of the East Tennessee Historical Society’s quilt collection.

When the East Tennessee Historical Society was founded in 1834, early collection efforts focused on books and manuscripts. In more recent decades, objects began to be added, and the idea of displaying them in a museum grew. The ETHS Permanent Collection acquired its first quilt in 1992, one year before the Museum of East Tennessee History opened on the first floor of the renovated Customs House. Now a part of the expanded East Tennessee History Center, the museum and its collection includes more than 100 quilts. The ETHS Permanent Collection focuses on quilts made or used in one of East Tennessee’s 35 counties. An acquisitions committee reviews potential additions, evaluating the quilt’s history, condition, and importance to the collection as a whole. Some quilts are displayed in the museum’s signature exhibition, Voices of the Land: The People of East Tennessee. Others are cared for in climate-controlled storage and are brought out for special events or exhibitions like this one. The exhibition highlights more than two dozen quilts in a variety of fabrics, and patterns, and highlights some of the families who have made and cherished them. Patterns include everything from Rose of Sharon and “Knoxville Crazy Quilt” to a Civil War memory quilt and one pieced together out of clothing labels. The quilters range from John Sevier’s wife Bonny Kate to the Smoky Mountain Quilters of Tennessee.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

Art in Public Places Knoxville (AIPPK), now in its 10th year, is a featured presentation of Dogwood Arts. In partnership with the City of Knoxville, Art in Public Places Knoxville is a juried exhibition of large-scale sculptures created by exceptional local, regional and national artists. The 2017-2018 Exhibition will feature up to twenty sculptures in downtown Knoxville, the McGhee Tyson Airport, and Oak Ridge as juried by Knoxville-based sculpture artist John Douglas Powers.

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com

With the love of art and entertainment it's no wonder that a bottle or two of wine would get involved to create Wine and Canvas! Awesome local artists, great customer service and beautiful surroundings make for an amazing experience that you don't find anywhere else. Sipping your favorite wine or cocktail, letting your inner artist out to create a masterpiece and maybe breaking into song throughout the night is what we have planned for you! Leave your cares at the door and dive in to the paint party! Best part - you take your artwork with you and leave the clean up behind! Local artists in each city inspire and Instruct Wine and Canvas customers step-by-step to create their finished masterpiece. Each location hosts many events monthly with a different featured painting each night. With our step-by-step instruction method customers without a stroke of painting experience are at ease.

Upcoming events:

$35 per session (unless otherwise noted). Wine & Canvas: Knoxville, TN, 865-356-9179, http://www.wineandcanvas.com/knoxville-tn.html