Calendar of Events

Market Square and the surrounding streets will be transformed into a vibrant art fair featuring juried artwork from local and regional artisans, live entertainment, activities for children, food trucks, a beer garden, and much more. More than 90 juried artists will feature and sell their work at the festival. Artisans working in mixed media, clay, drawing/pastels, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, painting, photography, sculpture, and wood will be selling their wares. “Since co-chairing with Brooke Carper over the past 6 years, this is the largest festival we have been a part of, based on the number of artists, food vendors, and Creation Station vendors”, says Dogwood Arts Festival Co-Chair Shanna Browning. The entertainment on the Bill Lyons Market Square Stage is something not to be missed this year. From local favorite Josiah & the Greater Good to Nashville-based Friday night headliners Carolina Story, the diversity in the full lineup this year will appeal to all audiences.

In addition to the Bill Lyons Market Square Stage, the Children’s Stage, located behind the East Tennessee Historical Society, will showcase live entertainment geared toward children. Creation Station will also have entertaining family-style craft activities throughout the festival for children of all ages and their families.

The Blooming Beer Garden is back this year! Enjoy a craft beer from Yee-Haw Brewing Company out of Johnson City, Tennessee right in the middle of Market Square!

Times: Friday: 11:00am – 9:00pm; Saturday: 10:00am – 9:00pm; Sunday: 11:00am – 5:00pm
Cost: Free
Dogwood Arts: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com

This annual theatrical event showcases new, unpublished works; directed, performed, and produced by local artists. For the last seven years, Tiger Lily Theatre has made it part of its mission to provide opportunities for new writers, performers, directors, technicians, and designers. This production offers a forum to explore and develop their craft further as well as encourage new and aspiring theatre artists. The result is a wildly diverse and engaging evening of live theatre that has become an audience favorite.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors. We accept both cash and card at the door. Reservations are highly encouraged and can be secured by emailing TigerLilyTheatreTn@gmail.com. Held at Modern Studio. Info: https://www.modernstudio.org/events/

Tiger Lily Theatre: 770-560-2767, www.tigerlilytheatre.org

The Guild of the Knoxville Museum of Art presents Artists On Location exhibition and art sale on Saturday, April 28 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. This event will provide both new and seasoned collectors the chance to acquire original paintings of some of Knoxville’s best-known sites.

Throughout the week of April 23–27, local and regional artists will capture on canvas the many varied scenes in and around Knoxville. From urban street to pastoral garden settings, the public is invited to watch artists in action as they paint “en plein air” at locations around town.

Artists will exhibit and sell their works at the exhibition and art sale on Saturday, April 28 at 5:30pm. The annual event is free and open to the public, and includes light refreshments and a cash bar. A portion of the proceeds of the sale will benefit the Knoxville Museum of Art.

Painting in open air or “plein air” became popular in the mid- 19th century when artists of the French Impressionist movement sought to paint light and its changing ephemeral qualities in the atmosphere. The practice of painting on location increased with the development of transportable paint tubes and box easels.

Jason Saunders is the Artists on Location 2018 featured artist. He began his formal studies at David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he obtained a strong foundation of painting under the watchful eye of his teacher Dawn E. Whitelaw. Currently, Saunders lives and paints primarily in middle Tennessee. His paintings are described as honest, peaceful, and emotional.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

Have any gently used bikes taking up space? Think that bike might look better spiffed up and earned by a deserving kid? We do too! Bring it down to the Bearden Beer Market any time between April 22-29 and get a draft beer for a penny to support the Kids Loves Bikes program, DreamBikes and the kids of the Vestal Boys and Girls Club.

April 20 will mark the opening night of another world premiere by national playwright Lisa Soland. This time she also sits in the director’s chair, directing local actor Greg Helton in her new one-person play, SERGEANT YORK: THE PLAY.

Sergeant York: The Play depicts the life and times of Pall Mall, Tennessee resident, Alvin C. York, also known as Sergeant York, the most decorated Army soldier of WWI. York received the Medal of Honor for killing 28 German soldiers and singlehandedly capturing 132 others in the battle of the Argonne forest, France. Gary Cooper won an Academy Award for best actor portraying York in the beloved 1941 film, Sergeant York. Ms. Soland’s live stage version also dramatizes what York accomplished in his community following the war. He built roads into Pall Mall and constructed the Alvin C. York Institute, which forever changed the lives of the people of The Valley of the Three Forks of the Wolf.

Ms. Soland presently teaches playwriting at Maryville College where her drama The Sniper’s Nest premiered, as well as her hit comedy Waiting, both also directed by the playwright. She moved to Eastern Tennessee nine years ago from Hollywood, where she had directed and produced over 80 shows, 55 of which were original. Ms. Soland received a Tennessee Arts Commission Grant for her work on SERGEANT YORK: THE PLAY and has received full support from York’s descendants making themselves available for interviews.

SERGEANT YORK: THE PLAY opens in the HUB student center, on the campus of West Park church, 8833 Middlebrook Pike, April 20 and April 21 at 7:30 pm. The play will then run Thursday through Saturday nights at 7:30 pm, as well as Saturday afternoons at 2 pm, with an additional performance on Memorial Day, May 28, 2018, at 7:30 pm.

Tickets are free. Secure your seat online at: http://www.westparkbaptist.org/sergeantyork/

Flying Anvil Anvil Theatre takes a twisted comedic look at love, bad breakups and revenge in Carrying a Torch. The show features a quartet of female singers performing jazz and blues standards, Broadway show tunes and even a little rock and roll, all arranged by acclaimed local musician, Musical Director Wendel Werner.

Writer/Director Jayne Morgan says the cabaret-style musical is a special reunion for her and Werner. “A couple of decades ago, we did a version of this show with a cabaret act. I’ve always wanted to work with him again and we’re finally making it happen with this updated version. It’s a fun show, particularly for anyone who has ever suffered through a bad breakup…and lived to laugh about it.” Morgan says. “In the second act, audiences get a chance to share their own stories. Which could get interesting.” Werner is a well-known jazz musician who recently directed an all-female version of Jesus Christ Superstar. Morgan is Artistic Director of Flying Anvil Theatre, which opened a new theatre space in Rocky Hill in 2017.

Carrying a Torch showcases familiar and new faces to local audiences. Dana Wham (The Great American Trailer Park Musical) and Jessica Magers-Rankin (The Big F.A.T. Holiday Cabaret) appeared in previous musicals for the theatre. Making their F.A.T. debuts are Broadway veteran Laura Beth Wells, who is also Associate Producer of the show, and recent UT Theatre graduate Lauren Winder. Terry Pfeiffer stage manages.

“We’ve had some fabulous voices on our stage,” Morgan says. “But this cast tops them all. The harmonies Wendel has created are just thrilling. Jaw-droppingly good. If you love harmony, you really shouldn’t miss this.”

Carrying a Torch has two preview performances Wednesday, April 18 (Pay What You Can night), and Thursday, April 19, and opens on Friday, April 20, with an after-party with cast and crew. The show runs for four weeks only – through May 13. Wednesday through Saturdays at 7:30 and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm. Tickets are available online at flyinganviltheatre.com, or reservations can be made by calling 865-357-1309.

Flying Anvil Theatre, 1300 Rocky Hill Road, Knoxville.

Part of the 2017-18 "Best of Theatre Knoxville Downtown" Season!

By Charles Marowitz. Picking up where the famous stories ended, the play centers on a death threat against Sherlock Holmes by the supposed son of his late nemesis, Professor Moriarty. Oddly enough, however, Holmes is warned of the plot by Moriarty's daughter, to whom Holmes (who turns out to be quite a ladies' man) is strongly attracted. The plot then twists and turns until Holmes finds himself imprisoned in a dank cellar, trapped not by young Moriarty but, to his shocked surprise, by the good Dr. Watson—who, it turns out, has long been bitterly resentful of his second-class status as Holmes' lackey. After Holmes' demise Watson comes into his own, or seems to, until a number of impostors turn up claiming to be the real Sherlock Holmes. In sorting all this out the play mixes humor and suspense in equal amounts, leading to a stunning final twist that will surely catch audiences by complete and breath-stopping surprise.

"Sherlock's Last Case is certainly a wonder … throwing social consciousness to the wind and simply entertaining an audience with a delightful theatrical sleight-of-hand."
—LA Daily News

Theatre Knoxville Downtown, 319 North Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information & tickets: 865-544-1999, www.theatreknoxville.com

Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollman; Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis

"For anarchic, first-rate comic relief, get thee to Urinetown." Time Out New York

A water shortage caused by a 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. Citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission. Deciding he has had enough, a hero plans a revolution!

Winner of three Tony Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards and two Obie Awards, this hilarious musical is a satire of capitalism, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, politics, greed, and the musical theatre!

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

Stop by to see April's colorful photography exhibit by Alan and Diana Lyle in the Ijams' Hallway Gallery! Their majestic shots of wildlife and rustic architecture capture the smallest of details. http://www.adlphotography.com/ADLPHOTOGRAPHY/About_Us.html

More events at http://ijams.org/events/. 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

Tuesdays 3-6 PM: Ebenezer Road Farmers Market, 1001 Ebenezer Road, Knoxville
Wednesdays 3-6 PM: Oak Ridge Farmers Market, Jackson Square
Fridays 3-6 PM: Lakeshore Park Farmers Market, 5908 Lyons View Drive, Knoxville
Saturdays 8 AM-Noon: Oak Ridge Farmers Market, Jackson Square

We bring the farm to you! Since 1976, the East TN Farmers Association (FARM) has offered fresh, local food and farm-based crafts. We have three convenient farmers market locations. All three locations offer sustainably produced grass-fed meat, hand-picked produce, farm fresh eggs, artisan bread and cheese, local honey, flowers and farm-based crafts. We inspect our vendors to make sure they are 100 percent local, all the time. The market is open mid-April through late November. Join us this season for high-quality food and crafts, in a convenient location!
http://www.easttnfarmmarkets.org/index.asp

OPENING FIRST FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 6:00 PM-9:00PM

My journey as an artist began with the comfort and connection associated with quilt making. I taught myself to quilt in 2012 upon the arrival of my first son. It was one of those huge transitions in life when you don’t really know what is about to happen next but you hold on and go for it. Much to my surprise, this “little hobby” I was embarking on would lead to huge personal growth, branching out and meeting some of the most inspirational people here in Knoxville.

Domestic life was a difficult adjustment for me, and through quilting I was able to find beauty and calm in the day to day hustle of child rearing. The historically woman-dominated craft of quilting was becoming a way of life for me, as it has for so many before me. For many years, women have been making these objects of utility to provide warmth and security to their loved ones, pouring their prayers and hardships into each one and weaving broken pieces back together. The quilt’s utility is so appealing and practical, yet what goes into making the surface design of each quilt is so much more than useful--and this method of beautifying the home environment has a deep and rich history into which I step with each quilt I design..

Modern quilt making has evolved into a movement of personal expression which has spurred me to keep exploring, asking questions and searching for more. My work is evolving, centering me and satisfying my need to be stimulated visually through color, composition and concept. I’ve been influenced greatly by cut paper collage, abstract expressionism, print making and a love for what I call organic geometry. There is a deep satisfaction in the calculated imperfections that come from creating by hand and being a work in progress, because these processes resonate with my experience. I discover under-appreciated beauty in life's imperfections. This show is about how much more there is to life than UTILITY.

This show is dedicated to the women who have taught me and encouraged me to explore. https://www.melissaneverett.com

The Central Collective, 923 N. Central Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-236-1590, info@thecentralcollective.com, www.thecentralcollective.com

Artist Lecture: Thursday, April 5, 7:30 PM, McCarty Auditorium, Art+ Architecture Building

Opening Reception: Friday, April 6, 5-9PM
Clarence Morgan is a visual artist whose studio focus is centered on painting, drawing and printmaking – often of an abstract nature. Utilizing random shapes and biomorphic forms within an intricate network of drawing, collage elements and subtle color, Morgan’s work ranges from highly patterned organic painting compositions to meticulously articulated and somewhat minimal collage-drawings. He approaches each work intuitively allowing the forms and elements to find their own natural cadence visual pulse. He studied painting and drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts with continued study in painting at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Fine Arts (now renamed Penn Design). Morgan’s prints, paintings and works on paper can be found in the collections of the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts, Asheville Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art and Weisman Museum of Art as well as many private collections throughout the United Sates. Clarence Morgan resides in Minneapolis, MN where he maintains a studio and is a Professor of Art at the University of Minnesota.

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