Calendar of Events

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Happy Knoxvollidays: The 12 Songs Of Christmas

  • December 17, 2017
  • 7-10 PM

Category: Fundraisers and Music

Now that it's coming to the end of another year, how about we all come together to celebrate the holidays?!? We'll have a multitude of musicians performing their own, special take on holiday and Christmas tunes at The Central Collective in North Knoxville. They'll be performing "in-the-round" style, playing with others they may never have performed with together before!

Not only will it be a wonderful evening of music, but we'll also be giving all of the proceeds to help The Love Kitchen here in Knoxville. They have been working hard in order to help the folks of our community. We'll even have some baked goods available for purchase to help raise as much as we can. Now's our chance to give back!

A complete list of all involved to come at a later time. More and more keep pouring in, too quick to keep updated.

Tickets are $10 with 100% of the money going to The Love Kitchen. At The Central Collective, 923 N Central St, Knoxville, Tennessee 37917. https://www.facebook.com/events/151776252024655

Knoxville Horror Film Fest: Christmas Party & Central Cinema Fundraiser

  • December 17, 2017
  • 7-11 PM

Category: Film, Free event and Fundraisers

KHFF is returning to Relix Variety Theatre for our annual X-Mas event! Central Cinema is about to enter the construction phase, so we unfortunately can't hold the event at our new home, but we're thrilled to be back at the venue that we called home for so many years.

This year our good friends at AGFA (American Genre Film Archive) have donated a free screening for the event, and we've decided to show the late 90s horror classic, Jack Frost. If you haven't seen this gem, prepare yourself for more one liners than a Schwarzenegger film and one of the first onscreen appearances from American Pie star, Shannon Elizabeth.

Here's the trailer: https://youtu.be/oICtgsoSi6c

We'll also have our good friend Slasher Santa back for photo opportunities and he'll be giving out presents to everyone who makes a donation!

This event will be free, but with a suggested donation of $5 for the theater. Each person who donates will get to choose a present from Santa's gift bag and we always fill it to the brim with awesome swag, so it will be $5 well spent. If you are interested in donating more to Central Cinema, click the ticket link in the event and it will take you to our GoFundMe page.

At Relix Variety Theatre, 1208 N Central St, Knoxville, Tennessee 37917. https://www.facebook.com/events/219064761967204/

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts: Nature and Neon

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event

Join us for the opening reception for Nature and Neon, a national juried exhibition organized by Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. This exhibition is open to the public. Awards will be announced during the reception on Friday, January 12th from 6 – 8pm. All are welcome.

This year’s theme invited submissions that explore juxtapositions between the natural and the artificial worlds. Arrowmont itself is geographically located where the natural and the constructed worlds converge, and is also an environment that fosters artistic creation and education. Chosen by juror, Garth Johnson, the works selected for the exhibition consider what is natural, what is unnatural, and how the intersection of both may attempt to realize its own disparate beauty. Parts whimsical and sobering, Nature and Neon offers introspection into what these artists observe about our contemporary relationship to the landscape.

Garth Johnson, curator of ceramics at the ASU Art Museum in Tempe, Arizona, selected 47 works created by 46 artists, from 189 submissions for consideration. The final selection of artists include works spanning all media, with a wide variety of approaches to the exhibition’s theme. Awards will be announced during the reception on Friday, January 12th from 6 – 8pm.

Participating artists:
John Allen, Jess Benjamin, Tracey Bullington, Caroline Byrne, Chloe Darke, Audry Deal-McEver, Virginia Derryberry, Carrie Dickason, Magdolene Dykstra, Alicia Eggert, Sean Erwin, Heather Freeman, Meaghan Gates, Jon Geiger, Dana Lynn Harper, Helen Hawley, Richard Hricko, Mary Johnson, Stephanie Jonsson, Elliott Kayser, Liz Langyher, Michele Lasker, William Lenard, Mimi Logothetis, Andy Lowrie, Kenneth MacBain, Gregory Martin, Matthew Mauk, Ashlee Mays, Marty McConnaughey, Jessye McDowell, Matt Mitros, Dana Moody, Natalie Petrosky, Tongji Qian, Ted Ross, Victoria Shaheen, Rebecca Siemering, Ralston Fox Smith, Shannon Sullivan, Logan Szymanowski, Byron Tenesaca, Ruby Troup, Tali Weinberg, and Charles Wisseman

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm and Saturday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

Tennessee Theatre: Kinky Boots

Category: Dance, movement, Music and Theatre

Part of the 10th Anniversary Season of Broadway at the Tennessee Theatre

The 10th anniversary kicks off with KINKY BOOTS, Broadway’s huge-hearted, high-heeled hit! With songs by Grammy® and Tony® winning pop icon Cyndi Lauper, this joyous musical celebration is about the friendships we discover, and the belief that you can change the world when you change your mind. Inspired by true events, KINKY BOOTS takes you from a gentlemen’s shoe factory in Northampton to the glamorous catwalks of Milan. With direction and choreography by two-time Tony Award®-winner Jerry Mitchell (LEGALLY BLONDE, HAIRSPRAY) and a book by Broadway legend and four-time Tony Award®-winner Harvey Fierstein (LA CAGE AUX FOLLES), KINKY BOOTS is the winner of six Tony Awards® including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Choreography.

Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information/tickets: 865-684-1200, www.tennesseetheatre.com, www.ticketmaster.com

Knoxville Symphony Orchestra: Clayton Holiday Concert: Music from the Movies

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Category: Dance, movement and Music

Friday, December 15, 2017 - 7:30pm
Saturday, December 16, 2017 - 3:00pm & 7:30pm
Sunday, December 17, 2017 - 3:00pm

One of East Tennessee’s greatest holiday traditions, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra invites you to join Music Director Aram Demirjian and special guests for the annual Clayton Holiday Concert: Music from the Movies. Enjoy all your holiday favorites such as the Hallelujah Chorus Handel's Messiah, and special scores from holiday films including Polar Express, Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street and a few surprises.

We will welcome our friends to the stage from the Knoxville Choral Society, GO! Contemporary Dance Works, and Farragut High School Singers. This concert is sponsored by Clayton Bank, Clayton Homes and Clayton Volvo, there will be four chances to see this fantastic concert.

Discounts are available for groups of 10 more! Each concert includes a 30-minute pre-concert chat at 6:30 p.m. with conductor and guest artist, allowing an up-close Q&A session, insights and background to the music, composers and more.

At the Knoxville Civic Auditorium. Tickets and information: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

Pellissippi State & The WordPlayers: A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas

  • December 15, 2017 — December 17, 2017

Category: Kids, family and Theatre

December 15, 7:30 p.m.
December 16, 2:30 p.m.
December 17, 2:30 p.m.

This homespun tale pieces together a portion of Ingalls family history missing from the beloved “Little House” books — the winter of 1876. Enjoy this tale of gratitude that’s a perfect beginning for the holiday season. Get tickets at: www.pstcc.edu/arts/theatre

In the Clayton Performing Arts Center. Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

The WordPlayers: A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas

Category: Kids, family and Theatre

A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas will be presented by The WordPlayers, in collaboration with The Arts at Pellissippi, at Clayton Performing Arts Center, Pellissippi State Community College, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN. Public performances are Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m, Dec. 16 at 2:30 p.m. and Dec. 17 at 2:30 p.m.. Tickets are $8-$12 and may be purchased online at www.wordplayers.org, at the door, or by calling 865.539.7529.

A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas is a one-act play with music, based on the beloved series of "Little House on the Prairie" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Playwright, Laurie Brooks, imagines events that occurred when the Ingalls family had to leave Walnut Grove to run a hotel in Iowa. It is a story about hope, perseverance, and family. (Recommended for ages 8+)

The WordPlayers is a 501(c) 3 company of Christian theatre artists based in Knoxville. For school show or other information, please call (865) 539-2490, Email: wordplayers@comcast.net or visit: www.wordplayers.org

Zoo Knoxville: Santa's Village

Category: Festivals, special events, Kids, family and Science, nature

Santa Claus is coming to Zoo Knoxville and will be in residence at Santa’s Village this Thursday, Dec. 14 through Sunday, Dec. 17, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. daily. Santa Claus will be listening to Christmas wishes and available for photos in the festively decorated Santa’s Village, located in the zoo’s Kids Cove area. Guests will have the option to purchase portraits taken by a professional photographer and can take their own photos.

Complimentary event activities included with general admission are a visit with Santa Claus, reindeer games, holiday crafts and a story time each day at 12:30 p.m. Kids can also write a letter to Santa and they will receive a personal reply from Santa himself in the mail after their visit. For an additional ticket, rides will be available on the “Polar Express” train and kids can opt for a face-painting session for some holiday flair. All activities take place in the enclosed and heated Kids Cove tent for guests’ comfort. Now through February 28, 2018, zoo admission tickets are $5 off during Kroger Discount Days.

Currently, the zoo is open from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. daily. Admission and ticket sales stop one-hour before the zoo closes. Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open every day except Christmas. Information: 865-637-5331, https://www.zooknoxville.org

TVUUC: Exhibition by Coral Grace Turner and Marilyn Avery Turner

  • December 10, 2017 — February 7, 2018

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

Opening reception January 26 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists’ talks at 6:30 p.m.

Coral Grace Turner: New Work
This series utilizes remnants of fabric that Turner designed and printed over ten years ago. She was introduced to a process of hand quilting called English paper piecing earlier this year and found it to be a great way to reimagine her fabric pieces. The fabrics were designed using a grid for registration, layered with random patterning and variations in color to create movement. Similarly, quilting starts with a standard shape that is repeated in a grid-like structure, while the pattern on each shape is random. She created movement within each piece by matching lines and colors at the seams where one piece of fabric is joined with another.

Turner grew up in a family that had a great appreciation for the arts. Her mother taught art classes, one grandmother was a textile designer by trade and the other was a knitter and sewer. At the Rhode Island School of Design, Turner made three- dimensional work using sewing and knitting, which led to installations and finally site-specific sound installations when she graduated with a BFA in Sculpture in 1996. She took a screen printing on fabric class at Arrowmont in 2001 with Clare Verstegen, and the following year continued working with Verstegen in the MFA program in Fibers at Arizona State University, when most of the fabrics used in this work were printed.

Marilyn Avery Turner: A Tale of Two Series
The images and the limited palette came first, and in the process of making the work the idea of blood types and bloodlines emerged. In all of humanity there are only four basic blood types; we are incredibly similar at our core. In our divisive world, where people and cultures choose to concentrate on our differences, which in turn are used to justify any number of prejudices and crimes against humanity, it would be helpful to take this fundamental fact into account.

The other series has a monochromatic palette. In the work that has figurative elements the subject led to that choice, whereas in the non-figurative work there was a conscious decision to use only variations of a particular color. In both series, the figurative elements are based on Pre-Columbian designs and images that she has worked with for the past fifteen years.

Originally from New York City, Turner received her BFA from The Rhode Island School of Design in 1966. She has been concentrating on printmaking, specifically monoprinting and screenprinting, for the last 25 years, combining painting and collage, her main former mediums. She has taken classes since 1994 in the University of Tennessee Printmaking Department. She has been a member of The Art Market Gallery since its inception in 1982, exhibits her work in solo and group shows, and participates in juried exhibitions throughout the United States. www.marilynaveryturner.com

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Gallery hours: M-Th 10-5, Su 10-1. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org

River & Rail Theatre Company: The Unusual Tale of Mary & Joseph's Baby

Category: Theatre

Thursday, December 7 through Sunday, December 24.
The Unusual Tale of Mary & Joseph's Baby dares to take the classic story at its word. There really is a pregnant virgin. There are shepherds, angels, foreign dignitaries (a.k.a. wise men), a ratty extra room/stable at an inn, and a maniacal, bloodthirsty dictator whose menacing shadow hangs over everything.

And obviously, it's a comedy. Seriously it is.
The Unusual Tale of Mary & Joseph's Baby surprises both virgin-believing and non-virgin-believing audiences alike by telling the most over-told story in a sincerely human way that bursts with imagination and wonder.

The Green Room at the Jackson Avenue Terminal in the Old City
211 Jackson Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37902

River & Rail Theatre Company, 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 106, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-407-0727, www.riverandrailtheatre.com

Tomato Head: Exhibition by Gretchen Adreon

  • December 4, 2017 — February 5, 2018

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

“What does it mean?” I haven’t taken a poll, but it might be interesting to ask how often an artist working in the Abstract hears that particular question. It might be more enlightening to ask if that question becomes challenging to hear over time – not because it’s necessarily a bad question, but because most people ask the wrong person. It’s not a question for the artist: It’s a question for you.

Gretchen Adreon’s exhibit at our Market Square restaurant is an opportunity for you to pose that question to yourself over and over again. And that’s just how Adreon likes it. When a work is complete, she says, her hope is to “leave an open space and the viewer will be able to add their own feelings and connect with the piece to complete the process.” And of course, that means that there are many answers to the question of what’s all about. “From the very beginning I have had people telling me their feelings and impressions of my work. I LOVE that – that’s when the whole process comes full circle to me. When someone is engaged in the work, I feel I have succeeded. Sometimes one viewer sees what another cannot see at all but sees or, even better, feels something totally different. “

Adreon’s art begins as an emotional expression that, through any number of implements and materials -from trowels to sandpaper, and more- remains an open and emotional experience to share with the people who see it. Although this may leave the definition of her imagery in the eyes of others, Adreon is more than comfortable with that process: “My emotions went to abstractions rather than concrete imagery. I have never regretted taking that direction, however many, many people see images, figures and, yes, landscapes as well.”

Gretchen Adreon will be on view at the Market Square Tomato Head from December 4th through January 7th, 2018. She will then exhibit with the West Knoxville Gallery Tomato Head from January 9th through February 5th, 2018.

Tomato Head, 12 Market Square (865-637-4067) and 7240 Kingston Pike, Suite 172 (865-584-1075), in Knoxville. http://thetomatohead.com

Art Gallery at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church Exhibition

  • December 3, 2017 — February 2, 2018

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

The Art Gallery at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church will present an exhibit of multi-media art by six local artists, opening on Sunday, December 3, at 12:30 p.m. with a reception and gallery talk led by the artists. It is free and open to the public. The exhibit will continue through February 2.

The six artists whose work will be featured are Pat Fain, Mary Ann Damos, Jan Hill, Pat Fitchpatrick, Ina Sue Marlin, and Betsy Spooner. These six artists have studied side-by-side for the past five years under Chico Osten at the Oak Ridge Art Center. They all work with different paint media and in different painting styles.

ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. Free and open to the public, Gallery hours are Monday – Thursday, 9 am to 3 pm. and Sunday 9:30 am to 1 pm. For more information call (865) 483-6761.

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