Calendar of Events

By: Kenneth Jones

“Dynamic! Rich! Impressive! Cleverly crafted! Articulate! Razor-sharp!” Salt Lake Tribune

A gentle children’s book with an apparent hidden message stirs the passions of a segregationist senator and a no-nonsense state librarian in 1959 Montgomery, just as the Civil Rights Movement is flowering. Inspired by true events, Alabama Story puts politicians, star-crossed childhood friends, and one feisty author in a struggle for the soul of the Deep South.

Clarence Brown Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com. For tickets: 865-974-5161, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

Remote Area Medical will hold a mobile medical clinic on January 31-February 4 in Knoxville's Chilhowee Park's Jacob Building, 3301 E Magnolia Ave, Knoxville, TN 37914.

The patient parking lot will open no later than midnight. Numbered patient admission tickets will be given out beginning at 3 AM, one ticket per patient. Clinic doors will open at 6 AM. Patients will be admitted in numerical order by ticket # and a ticket is required for admission. Services are provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. Due to time constraints, be prepared to choose between DENTAL and VISION services.

RAM offers free, high-quality vision, dental, and medical services on a first-come, first-serve basis. No insurance or identification is required. These services are free and open to the public.

For information, visit ramusa.org or call 865-579-2555.

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra presents THE Q SERIES at the SQUARE ROOM for classical music Wednesdays! Single tickets are $18 in advance/$20 at the door. Featuring performances by nine talented KSO musicians in two ensembles: the Principal Quartet and Woodwind Quintet.

The Square Room at Café 4, 4 Market Square, Knoxville, TN 37902. Tickets and information: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

Directed by Stephen Cone

16-year-old Cyd decides to spend a summer in Chicago with her aunt Miranda, a well-known novelist. Soon after her arrival, Cyd encounters Katie, a young barista behind the counter. The two make plans to meet up after Katie's shift and a new, charged relationship begins. Miranda's staid, content life acts as a counterpoint to young Cyd's dizzying explorations of sexuality and love, and as the summer continues they develop a strong relationship founded on a shared openness and healthy conflict.

At Regal Riviera.

The Public Cinema: info@publiccinema.org, http://www.publiccinema.org/

PACE, VISIT KNOXVILLE and LOCAL PARTNERS WILL HOST A
BIKE SHARE HAPPY HOUR Wednesday, January 31, 2018 at Balter Beer Works,
100 S Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37902, 5-7PM.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions from bike share consultants, provide feedback on bike rack locations, learn about Pace physical and digital branding opportunities and hear about Pace's goals and next steps in Knoxville.
Pace is the new nationwide dockless service from Zagster, a veteran in the bike share space with more than 200 bike shares across 35 states. Over the next year, Pace will be making its way into dozens of new markets, and Knoxville is next on the list. The Pace model: An app-based service utilizing a Bluetooth lock, Pace allows riders to tether their bikes to Pace-owned bike racks or public bike racks. This gives riders the predictability of dedicated parking in key locations, plus the freedom and flexibility to make true door-to-door trips. What's more, Pace's unique "hold" function allows riders to make mid-rental stops - for coffee, a meeting - and have a bike waiting for them when they're done.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/knoxville-bike-share-happy-hour-registration-41722624493?aff=release

At Bearden Goodwill, 5307 Kingston Pike Knoxville, TN, 37919

Goodwill is pleased to host the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program at our training center in Bearden. VITA provides free tax assistance to the community, particularly those with low and limited income, individuals with disabilities, non-English speaking and/or elderly taxpayers.

Please bring social security cards or ITIN letters for each person on the return, photo identification for the taxpayer and spouse, and all paperwork for your turn. This paperwork may include W-2s or 1099-MISCs for jobs, 1099-Rs for retirement income, 1099-INTs and 1099-DIVs for interest and dividends, and/or SSA-1099s for those on social security. Taxpayers who got their health insurance through healthcare.gov must have their 1095-A form. People with HSAs must have the 1099-SA showing how much was distributed to them.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday - 10am-3pm
For more information about VITA, visit www.irs.gov.
Goodwill Industries-Knoxville: 865-588-8567, www.gwiktn.org

Shen Yun comes to the Tennessee Theatre on January 30 and 31 at 7:30PM.

Dazzling colors and exquisite artistry explode on stage when Shen Yun rings in the New Year with its all-new 2018 Production. Join us for a grandly entertaining experience rich with cultural nuance, meaningful themes, and divine inspiration. This is high art for the whole family.

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

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

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