Calendar of Events

Reverse the Brain Drain caused by Spring Break! We'll have special activities all week for Brain Awareness! Join us to learn some new things about your smartest organ and have some fun! UT Psychology will even be at The Muse Tuesday-Friday from 11:30-1:30 to provide some brain expertise!

The Muse Knoxville, 516 N. Beaman Street, Knoxville, TN 37914. Information: 865-594-1494, www.themuseknoxville.org

Please join us for the reception on Saturday, April 7th in the Blain Gallery for light refreshments.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts announces Alternative Bodies, a group exhibition showcasing new work by the 2017-2018 Arrowmont Artists-in-Residence: Xia Zhang, Paige Ward, Elyse-Krista Mische, Emily Culver, and Max Adrian. In vulnerable ways, these artists touch on a variety of topics related to the body such as queerness, sexuality, faith, race, and death. These artists are playful and inventive with their processes in order to start conversations that may otherwise be difficult to digest.

Works such as those by Zhang, Culver, and Adrian focus on matters of flesh and bone: what it means to touch bodies, to express ourselves through our bodies and the objects we interact with, to be celebrated, stigmatized, or separated because of our bodies. Tactility is a key element for these works which span a breadth of materials like faux-fur, orange peels, and rubber. Works by Mische and Ward, on the other hand, consider spiritual existences in pursuit of greater understanding of our mortality and what lies in wait beyond the body. Objects like concrete pillows and monumental papier-mâché vessels reference the body through its absence. Metaphors for faith and self-preservation speak to multiple possibilities of seeking and finding comfort.

Collectively, all five artists encourage the viewer to contemplate other perspectives and expressions of humanness at a time when the world feels more divided than unified. Alternative Bodies aspires to a level of empathy and compassion for the hopes, hardships, and successes we all have within our physical forms.

The Artists-in-Residence Program is an 11-month program which provides early career, self-directed artists time, space and support to experiment and develop a new body of work in a creative community environment. Each year, five artists of different media are selected for the eleven-month program, which begins mid-June and continues through late May of the following year. Participants receive exhibition opportunities, teaching experience, professional development and a private studio.

In the Sandra J. Blain Gallery, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

The exhibition will open on March 10 from 7 to 9 pm with a gallery talk at 6:30

Featuring local artists whose work is composed of reused or re-imagined materials, ephemera, or found objects.

Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tu-F 9-5, Sa-M 1-4. Information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org

The March/April 2018 Farragut Arts Council Featured Artist is painter William "Dan" DeFord. His exhibit focuses on the mountains and local culture of East Tennessee, where he grew up. DeFord's grandparents were Concord natives. He pursued art from a young age, and some of his childhood drawings are included in the exhibit.

He went on to attend college in Seattle, Wash., and Southern California, graduating with degrees in electrical engineering, math and physics. He continued to paint, and studied and worked with local artists in Tennessee, California and North Carolina. He returned to East Tennessee with his family in 1971.

DeFord's artwork features subjects from the 1930s to present in oil, watercolor and mixed media.

Each month, the work of an artist or group of artists is featured in specially-designed cases on the second floor of the rotunda in Farragut Town Hall. For more information about this exhibit or to access a Featured Artist application, email ParksandRecInfo@townoffarragut.org, call 966-7057 or visit townoffarragut.org/artsandculture.

Town of Farragut, 11408 Municipal Center Drive, Farragut, TN 37934

Check out the full festival schedule and details here: http://tennesseestage.com/2018/01/05/new-play-festival-2018/

by Paul Leeper
Three very unusual looks at love which comes in many guises.
As everyone knows, love is not for the faint of heart.

March 9–25 at Theatre Knoxville Downtown
Thursday thru Saturday at 8pm & Sunday matinees at 3pm

For tickets and more information, please contact Tennessee Stage Company: 865-546-4280, www.tennesseestage.com

The Story Story, a new original offering from local duo Sara Gaddis and JP Schuffman, is an exciting twist on the classic hero's tale. In the tradition of the fully realized fantasy universes such as The Dark Crystal and Alice in Wonderland, a group of travelling performers weave the tapestry of Uri of the Sash, a village healer turned hero when a cave-dwelling creature called Lescau the Dusk Walker curses her village and sends her on a quest to find the origin of all human stories. On her journey she encounters a host of amazing creatures and characters, faces untold danger, and must to rely on her willpower, wits, and a bit of magic to save her friends from a terrible fate.

The Knoxville Theatre Club ensemble consists of six local performers familiar to regular viewers of Knoxville theater, portraying every role from eccentric tinkers and talking dogs to nightmarish monsters and a three-headed librarian. This world premiere production combines reverence for traditional storytelling with fantastic puppetry, fast-paced humor, a unique mythology, and exhilarating up-close stagecraft.

The Story Story stars Raine Palmer, Debi Wetherington, Sara Gaddis, Caleb Burnham, Chad Wood, and JP Schuffman. The show's co-creators Gaddis and Schuffman have been producing original work together in NYC, Nashville, and Knoxville since 2010. In 2017, they founded Knoxville Theatre Club (www.knoxvilletheatreclub.org) which has hosted workshops and local community events such as The Pop-Up Theatre Project, Drama & Drinks, The Crow Flies Scriptworks, and the Knoxville Theatre Slam.

The Story Story runs March 8-10, 16-17, & 23-24 at Modern Studio, 109 W Anderson Ave, Knoxville, 37917. The show is suitable for all ages, and tickets are available at the door or in advance via the website, www.knoxvilletheatreclub.org/tickets.

Knoxville’s next generation of artists is on display, featuring the work of gifted art students from area schools at Clayton Center for the Arts.

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com

In its fourth year, this is an exhibit promoting the work of East Tennessee’s finest K-12 art teachers and current art interns/student teachers from public schools, private schools and academies located at Clayton Center for the Arts.

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com

Playwright Edward Albee famously decried the efforts of critics and scholars to identify too much “connective tissue” in his work. Albee said he didn’t control characters – they act the way they act because that’s who they are, and they do what they do because that’s what they want to do. For Albee, writing, art if you will, isn’t limited or necessarily driven by what happens to the creator of the work. Albee might have opined that in art, like life, the artist starts something, somewhere for reasons known or unknown, but once started that creation careens off in its own direction. Artist Kimberly Pack, whose exhibit currently hangs in our Market Square location, isn’t exactly sure where the characters in her work came from, but she does know that they have taken up residence in her imagination where they seem to have heard and heeded a call to be fruitful and multiply.

A quick look at her collection of drawings (ink on watercolor paper) is enough to tempt an observer into wondering if these strange little people have some connection to the artist’s life: Are they personal demons trying to get out? Are they unkind caricatures of unpleasant characters from her past? Are they born of some great sadness or a little touch of madness?

Kimberly Pack will be on view at the Market Square Tomato Head thru March 4th, 2018. She will exhibit at the West Knoxville Gallery Tomato Head from March 6th thru April 2nd, 2018.

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

Love is in the air. And it’s on our walls. It’s hanging there, mostly in bold colors, as a clear statement that photographer Ric Brooks loves music makers almost as much as he loves their music. For years, Brooks has been the official unofficial photographer of Big Ears. And it’s a role he loves. He’s a straightforward guy, I suspect he wouldn’t tell you any lies. So when he repeats that he isn’t a professional photographer, you believe that he believes it. Yet when you look at his work, you’ll recognize that he is a passionate shutterbug – which, in many ways, is exactly what you want for a festival that touches the very heart of passion.

His collection of work now hanging on our Market Square walls spans 2009 – 2017 and is mostly comprised of artists in action shots. Each one is a studied photo in its way. Brooks says, “I’m in the audience, listening, and I see a photograph that I want to take. Say, I see this look on the artist’s face, and I know I want to photograph it. I’ll have to take 3 or 4 just to get that expression. Lots of musicians will do certain things, make a move or something to get that high note; you know it – it’s what people call the guitar face. But you can see that happening in the song so you know it’s going to come back on the chorus or somewhere. I’m waiting for it. I know what photo I want.”

The exhibit represents just a fraction of his search for the images he likes and an extensive association with musicians. Brooks and Big Ears founder Ashley Capps have a long and continuous friendship that dates back to Kindergarten. When Capps started doing concerts at the Laurel Theatre way back when, Brooks was there with a camera and, sometimes, catering too. When Capps opened Ella Guru’s, Brooks was there, managing, taking tickets, and meeting, hearing and watching.

“Big Ears Big Eyes – Big Ears photos from 2009-2017”, an exhibit of photographs by Ric Brooks will be on view at the downtown Tomato Head on Market Square from March 5th thru April 1st. The exhibit will then be on view at the West Knoxville Gallery Tomato Head from April 3rd thru May 7th.

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

Stop by for local art that will put a smile on your face! March's exhibit features Gayla D. Seale's bright watercolor paintings and Mtn. Girl Design's adorable pebble collages. Both capture the charm and magic of everyday life.

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Grounds and trails open during daylight hours. Call for Visitor Center hours. Information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

Paintings by Max Robinson, patchwork fabric art by Melissa Everett and screen painted fabrics and embroidery by Coral Turner.

Westminister Presbyterian Church, 6500 S Northshore Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-F 9-4. Info: (865) 584-3957 or www.wpcknox.org