Calendar of Events

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

“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

Zoo Knoxville is offering $5 off admission tickets during Kroger Discount Days, December 1 through February 28, 2018. During Kroger Discount Days, guests can discover why winter is an enjoyable time to visit the zoo. Many animals, including red pandas, river otters, elephants, gorillas, red wolves, lions and tigers, enjoy the cooler temperatures. On days when the temperature drops below 40 degrees, some animals will be moved indoors, but visitors can still see many in their indoor viewing areas. The Pilot Flying J Wee Play Adventure is a popular indoor area that’s an entertaining stop for creative play during visits as well.

A December trip to the zoo may even include a visit to Santa’s Village, a special holiday encounter and photo opportunity with Santa Claus. Santa’s Village will be open for holiday photos and Christmas wishes December 14 through 17, from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. each day in the heated Kids Cove tent. Discounted tickets can be purchased at the zoo ticket window during regular zoo hours and online at zooknoxville.org. Discounted admission tickets must be used by Feb. 28, 2018, and cannot be combined with any other promotion, discount, or coupon.

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

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

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

Sundays at 8:00 PM. 17th-18th Century Social Dancing with live music. Beginners welcome, no partner is required. Also Rapper Sword dance group meets most Sundays at 7:00 PM. Free. Call 865-546-8442.

At the Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37916. For information: 865-522-5851, www.jubileearts.org.