Calendar of Events

Flying Anvil Theatre skewers holiday stress in The Big F.A.T. Holiday Cabaret opening Friday, Nov 24. ‘Tis the season for food, family, parties and gifts. And let’s face it – also feuds, indigestion, hangovers, busted budgets and weird Uncle Hal who tells those cringe-worthy jokes. Flying Anvil Theatre’s The Big F.A.T. Holiday Cabaret is the perfect antidote for holiday angst!

This comic musical review is full of songs and scenes that take a slightly twisted view of the season. Flying Anvil Artistic Director Jayne Morgan writes and directs, and Carol Z. Shane will musical direct. The show opens the Friday after Thanksgiving to give everyone something to do with those lingering out-of-town relatives.

Morgan says the show acknowledges that the holiday season can often be more frantic than fun. “The end of the year has gotten so intense, with impossible expectations on our schedules and psyches,” she says. “We laugh about that, and things like “Mean Santa” office games, weird holiday gifts and inappropriate relatives.”

Cast members include Emily Helton, Mandi Lawson and Curtis Bower, who previously appeared in The Great American Trailer Park Musical at the theatre. They are joined by Donald Thorne, Jessica Magers-Rankin, Carmen Brown and Brandon Phillips.

The Big F.A.T Holiday Cabaret opens Friday, November 24. Pay What You Can Nights are Wednesday, November 22 (Preview Performance), and Wednesday, November 29. The show runs through December 17 and reopens December 27 – 31 with a special New Year’s Eve performance with reception and champagne after the show.

This show is recommended for adults. Flying Anvil Theatre, 1300 Rocky Hill Road, Knoxville. Information: 865-357-1309, www.flyinganviltheatre.com

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

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

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