Calendar of Events

First Friday Receptions: February 2 + March 2, 5-9PM, UT Downtown Gallery

Artist Lecture: Thursday, February 1, 7:30 PM
room 109, A+A Building, UT Campus

In this immersive installation, Christina A. West integrates figurative sculptures into an altered gallery space, playfully alluding to the space of the home as a stage set.

Free admission! UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: W-F 11-6, Sat 10-3. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

What does it take to be a good citizen—at school or within an orchestra? The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will perform “Symphonic Citizenship” for more than 3,500 elementary students as part of the Very Young People’s Concerts. The theme “Symphonic Citizenship” explores character traits such as friendship, courage, sharing, waiting your turn, following directions and teamwork by comparing being a good citizen to being a good orchestra member. Musical highlights include: Mozart's Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, Haydn's Surprise Symphony, Copland's Variations on a Shaker Melody and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

These sold-out concerts are attended by school and home schooled groups from Knox and surrounding counties (pre-K through 2nd grade) and are open to the general public. Two of the three performances are sold out to more than 3,500 students total!

Wednesday, January 24 - 9:30 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. at the Tennessee Theatre (WALK UPS WELCOME FOR THE 11:00 A.M. PERFORMANCE: $8 at the door)
Thursday, January 25 - 9:30 a.m. at the Clayton Center for the Arts (SOLD OUT)

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. Tickets and information: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

At Modern Studio, 109 W Anderson Ave, Knoxville, Tennessee 37917

Man, it's cold. But you know what will warm you up? The instinctive reaction your body has when something unexpectedly funny happens right before your eyes (that and hot cocoa). Come out and watch Knoxville's only long-form improv group perform in a warm theater, with a cold brew, and a luke-warm style of comedy that is comfortable to all. (Does that even make sense?)

https://www.facebook.com/events/136077627085484/

Dr. Jason Fletcher, University of Wisconsin-Madison, a co-author of the book – discussing The Genome Factor : What the Social Genomics Revolution Reveals about Ourselves, Our History, and the Future by Jason Fletcher and Desmond Matthew.

“I’m very excited to be returning to Knoxville to share my research,” Fletcher said. “My first experience doing research was as an undergraduate at UT in the economics department and the center for business and economic research (CBER), which gave me many opportunities to learn how to work across disciplines and gather evidence on many policy topics.”

In The Genome Factor, Fletcher and co-author Dalton Conley take us on what one reviewer called, “an exhilarating and accessible exploration of dangerous and disputed territory: the role of genes in economic and social life.” They reveal that there are real genetic differences by racial ancestry, but differences that don't conform to what we call Black, white, or Latino. Genes explain a significant share of who gets ahead in society and who does not, but instead of giving rise to a genetocracy, genes often act as engines of mobility that counter social disadvantage.

“It is an honor to discuss my book in the Books Sandwiched In series,” Fletcher said. “I think the ongoing “social genomics” revolution has many important policy implications worth everyone joining in to discuss and consider—this will be the topic of the discussion related to my book.”

Fletcher is currently Romnes Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He completed a B.S. in economics and public administration at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville, and a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Applied Economics.

In the East Tennessee History Center auditorium, 601 S. Gay Street. Books Sandwiched In is sponsored by the Friends of Knox County Public Library. Reading the book is optional. 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

Oak Ridge’s Isotone Ensemble reprises its well-received New York City concert at Pellissippi State Community College for this year’s Common Academic Experience: “Inner Space/Outer Space.”

The January 24 concert at Pellissippi’s Clayton Performing Arts Center draws on international as well as local talent. Celebrated Canadian Composer Janet Danielson composed “Six Pieces of a Reverberant Cosmos” for Isotone in 2014. The work is based on “The Book of the Cosmos: Imagining the Universe from Heraclitus to Hawking” by renowned Canadian author Dennis Danielson. The composition will be presented along with a series of short readings by the author.

The second half of the concert moves from the mind to the lab, presenting tributes to the neutron research facilities of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The first work is “Spallation Quartet” by New York composer Larry Spivack. The work premiered three years ago at the ORNL Spallation Neutron Source auditorium and was streamed live around the world. Spivack joins forces with New York composer and guitarist, Adam Schneider to compose “High Flux Isotope Reactor” which will receive its East Tennessee premiere at the concert and includes special audience participation.

The Isotone Concert Series has been energizing audiences in the "Atomic City" of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for ten years as well as performing throughout the Southeast. This concert was the second presented at Peter Norton Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia. Matt Weber of the “I Care If You Listen” blog wrote that “’Isotone: A Collision of Music and Physics’…certainly lived up to its name…. Isotone captured the excitement, energy, and humor, as well as the dangers, of physics.”

Musicians participating in the concert include graduates from both Juilliard School and Indiana School of Music. At the core is the Cumberland Piano Trio, including Susan Eddlemon, violin, Dan Allcott, cello and Emi Kagawa, piano. Joining the trio are percussionists Larry Spivack and Scott Eddlemon and guitarist Adam Schneider.

The Isotone Concert will be performed 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 24 at Pellissippi State’s Clayton Performing Arts Center. Admission is free. The concert is co-sponsored by Pellissippi State Community College and Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. If you'd like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview please call Scott Eddlemon at 865-250-1195 or e-mail Scott at scott.eddlemon@gmail.com

We are so excited to announce that Kalamazoo quintet Greensky Bluegrass will be bringing their jamgrass spectacular to The Mill & Mine January 24th! Tickets to see these dashing gents are on sale now! You can't miss this one, Knoxville!

The Mill & Mine, 227 W. Depot Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Tickets/information: http://themillandmine.com

Ijams Nature Center Hosts Nature Preschool Information Sessions Jan. 23 and 31

Parents interested in learning more about the new Nature Preschool at Ijams Nature Center are invited to attend one of two information sessions scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 6 p.m. or Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 6 p.m. at the Ijams Visitor Center, 2915 Island Home Ave.
Scheduled to open in fall 2018, the Nature Preschool at Ijams Nature Center will focus on child-led, age-appropriate, experiential learning for children ages 3-5.

“Ijams is committed to encouraging and inspiring people of all ages to appreciate and care for the natural world,” Ijams Nature Education Director Jennifer Roder said. “Studies show that teaching young children about nature and encouraging nature play not only helps them develop and learn in fun and engaging atmosphere but also helps them develop a conservation ethic that will last throughout their lives.”

A nature-based preschool blends traditional education standards with the opportunity to learn about and explore the natural world. Children will spend most of the school day outdoors as they learn through play, discovery and inquiry. While they take part in age-appropriate and experiential learning opportunities, they will build a deeper bond with nature.

The Nature Preschool at Ijams Nature Center will align with and take inspiration from Waldorf Education principles, which focus on developing the whole child. Activities will provide sensory experiences with live animals, natural objects, artifacts, trail activities and art materials; encourage curiosity, cognitive growth and motor skills through unstructured, child-led outdoor adventures; build problem-solving, math and engineering skills through hands-on experiences; and cultivate social skills through group play and cooperative learning opportunities.

Ijams Nature Center also is hosting eight weeks of Nature Preschool Day Camp in summer 2018. Camps will be offered in morning and afternoon sessions each week starting June 4. The morning session runs from 9 a.m. to noon; the afternoon session runs from 1-4 p.m. Enrollment is open now. To register for Nature Preschool Day Camp, call 865-577-4717, ext. 114.

For more information about the Nature Preschool at Ijams Nature Center and the upcoming information sessions, visit www.ijams.org/nature-preschool.

Ijams Nature Center is a nonprofit, 315-acre educational nature center for all ages, abilities and walks of life. Located just three miles from downtown Knoxville, Ijams features 12 miles of hiking and mixed-use trails, a public access river dock, swimming, boating, biking and more. The Ijams grounds and trails are open every day from 8 a.m. until dusk. The Visitor Center is open Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.Ijams.org or call 865-577-4717.

A new special exhibit - "The Battle of Campbell Station" - will open January 22 at the Farragut Museum and remain through Friday, June 15.

The exhibit features items from the personal collection of local community member Gerald Augustus, including artifacts from the battle, fought Nov. 16, 1863, on the land surrounding the Farragut Town Hall.

A special "Friends Only" exhibit preview will precede a lecture by Augustus on Sunday, January 21. Friends are invited at 1:30 p.m. for refreshments. General admission begins at 2:30 p.m. If you are not a Friend and wish to join, you are welcome to register during the preview. The lecture on the battle begins at 3 p.m.

The Farragut Museum is committed to preserving the heritage of its East Tennessee community and features a remarkable collection of artifacts from the area, including an extensive collection of the personal belongings of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, first Admiral of the U.S Navy and hero of the Civil War. Housed in Farragut Town Hall located at 11408 Municipal Center Drive, the museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and offers free admission.

Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Dr, Farragut, TN 37934. Hours: M-F 10-4:30. Information: 865-966-7057, www.townoffarragut.org/museum

The 2018 Farragut Primary Schools Art Show, sponsored by the Town of Farragut, opens Monday, Jan. 22, and will be on display through Thursday, Feb. 1 in the Farragut Town Hall..

Don't miss the opportunity to view the work of some of the community's most talented young artists from Concord Christian School, Farragut Primary School, Knoxville Christian School, and St. John Neumann Catholic School.

There will be a reception to honor participating private school artists from 5-6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 23, and a reception to honor participating public school artists from 5-6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25.

Farragut Town Hall, 11408 Municipal Center Dr, Farragut, TN 37934. Hours: M-F 10-4:30. Information: 865-966-7057, www.townoffarragut.org/museum

Opening Reception: Saturday, January 20, 8:30pm - til*

C For Courtside is pleased to present its inaugural exhibition, "A Half Note Familiar." The show will include the works of its founding members Lynne Ghenov, Joshua Bienko, John Powers and Rubens Ghenov along with four artists specifically selected by each C for Courtside Directors. Mirroring the intentions of the space itself, "A Half Note Familiar” seeks to consider work from inside and outside the region in a way that contributes to and influences broader contemporary dialogues.

* In solidarity with justice seeking peace minded artists and creative individuals across the world, we are participating in an International Day of Art Action on the one-year anniversary of the United States Presidential UNauguration. We join Laurie Anderson (the brainchild of The Day of Art Action) in our intentions, seeking to unite, connect and celebrate a spirit of love, peace and understanding based in the simple hope that artistic production symbolizes.

Lynne Ghenov has selected Melissa McGrath's work due to the approximation of their praxes and content. Melissa’s work is a response and reflection of a consistent trauma and disaster that has occurred in the landscape where she was raised inscribed on paper through fire. Lynne uses ledger gridded paper salvaged from her parents’ home office acquired after her mother’s death, wherein memory organically and symbolically investigates itself in form within the confines of the stoic gridded structure.

Joshua Bienko’s selection of Eleanor Ray sits in the attraction to slippages that can occur between works. What at once might appear quiet and tragic, holds the potential to become loud and humorous, and vice-versa. Though a dissimilarity may seem obvious at first, they also, perhaps surreptitiously and subtly begin to harmonize more than contrast, operating in cahoots as it were, in a psychological and physical interior space.

John Powers and Kim Faler are engaged in parallel explorations of systems, pattern, sub-pattern, language and personal narrative. Their shared interest in small, potentially mundane moments, rubs against evocations of the unseen forces and glacial timelines that frame our world. Their included works here variously address the passage of time, energy exchange, collapsed narratives and the veil separating the familiar from the anonymous.

Lastly, Rubens Ghenov here compeers his work to that of Claudia Peña Salinas’. Both of Latin American descent (Brazilian and Mexican respectively), their work strangely resides akin to the geometric abstraction of Central and South American artists, though the impetus here may emanate elsewhere. A specific coloration and insertion of memorabilia and objects are inherently present in both, forging an architectonic of the personal mired in the historical and the fictive.

C for Courtside is an artist-run curatorial project space located just north of downtown Knoxville. Founded in the fall of 2017 with the intentions of facilitating multiple creative activities, the Directors (John Powers, Joshua Bienko, Lynne Ghenov and Rubens Ghenov) will work to add to the exciting artistic development and momentum already at foot in the Southeast. In addition to exhibitions, C for Courtside will host artist lectures and guest speakers, live performances, pop-up shows, experimental theatre, justice seeking organizations in need of a place to meet, and other situationist aligned activities. Each endeavor will aim to extend the space of the gallery beyond its physical limitations, while fostering a community based in and on the exigencies of art-making. The launch of the space has been made possible in part by the support of Ann and Steve Bailey Opportunity Grant.

C for Courtside Gallery, 513 Cooper Street, Knoxville, TN 37917
Info: cforcourtside@gmail.com

Between 2006 and 2009, an international team of historians, archaeologists, and geographers traveled to France to rediscover and document where Fentress County-native Sergeant Alvin C. York made his heroic stand. In the Footsteps of Sergeant York, a traveling exhibition from the Museum of the American Military Experience, showcases this groundbreaking research and allows visitors to retrace the steps of one of America's best-known military heroes.

Through the new interactive exhibit, the East Tennessee Historical Society invites you to step back into the the trenches of WWI, to hear the sounds of war, view clips of the film on York's life, see items from the York home along with other interesting artifacts, and experience the front line that made the man from Pall Mall, Tennessee an international superstar.

In the Footsteps of Sergeant York will be on display in the Rogers-Claussen Feature Gallery at the East Tennessee History Center. The exhibit and corresponding programming is presented in partnership with the Museum of the American Military Experience, Tennessee State Parks, The Sergeant York Patriotic Foundation, the University of Tennessee's Center for the Study of War and Society, and the Knox County Public Library.

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

Flying Anvil Theatre kicks off 2018 season with Mary’s Wedding, an epic love story set during the first world war. Love, hope and survival are the themes in Stephen Massicotte’s play, Mary’s Wedding, the first offering of an eight-show season by Flying Anvil Theatre.

The award-winning play follows Mary and Charlie from their awkward meeting in a barn during a thunderstorm across the prairies of Canada and the horrific battlefields of the first world war. Up and coming playwright Stephen Massicotte spins a breathtaking saga about young lovers who must surrender their fate to the uncertainties of their tumultuous times – a testament to the power of memory and hope that lingers like a remembered dream.

“It’s a simply gorgeous play,” director Jayne Morgan says. “Beautiful, heartbreaking and hopeful, all at the same time. “

The show stars UT students Emily Helton and Parker Jenkins. Lighting design is by Jon Chemay, with soundscapes by Mike Ponder. Steve Krempasky designed the set, which includes a logging sawbuck that doubles as horse. “The actors use this massive piece of logging equipment to simulate riding,” Morgan explains. “There’s something thrilling about it – they really manage to make you believe they are mounted on a draft horse or charging into a battle, saber drawn. It’s wonderful theatrical magic.” Critics have raved about the play, saying it “recalls the grand passion of Catherine and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.”

Flying Anvil Theatre, 1300 Rocky Hill Road, Knoxville. Information: 865-357-1309, www.flyinganviltheatre.com