Calendar of Events

An artistic exploration of water & environment
EXHIBITION: MAY 4TH – MAY 30, 2018
OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY MAY 4TH, 5:00-8:30 PM

Modern Studio is pleased to announce Just Add Water, a collaborative art exhibition exploring water and the environment. The Just Add Water exhibition references the plants, people, animals, forests, and water crafts that require water to fully inhabit this world. The show features paintings and prints, and the opening reception includes dazzling parade-size fish puppets and hip-hop sound recordings highlighting our connection to water and the environment.

Knoxville-based collaborating artists include Betsy Hobkirk, Hawa Ware, Jennifer Willard, Martha Robbins, Suzanne Wedekind, and members of the Cattywampus Puppet Council. Fish puppets designed by Cattywampus and students at West Hills Elementary School.

Modern Studio, 109 W Anderson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-323-2425, www.modernstudio.org

You are invited to view more than 20 examples of southern mountain rifles and pistols at an upcoming temporary exhibit at the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend, Tennessee, from May 1 to October 25, presented by the Kentucky Rifle Foundation. These 18th and 19th century tools were essential for the survival of pioneers in the frontiers of Eastern Tennessee and Western Carolina.

These southern mountain rifles fully evolved in the last quarter of the 18th and the first quarter of the 19th centuries, as pioneers and settlers moved into what is now Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina. In the original colonies during this time, the Kentucky rifle was becoming an art piece in its “Golden Age,” while on the frontier, the southern mountain rifle had become an unadorned, iron-mounted utilitarian piece.

Baxter Bean, whose work exemplified the typical southern mountain rifle, was a third-generation gunsmith who worked in the Jonesboro, Tennessee, area. One of Baxter’s rifles, which will be on exhibit, was brought into Cades Cove by Wilson “Wilse” Birchfield, who named the rifle “Old Bean.” Wilse chose to live high in the mountains just under Gregory’s Bald. When he moved out of the Cove into the mountains, the old timers told him the bears would eat him alive. Wilse’s response to this was, “Old Wilson may eat some, too.”

For more details and to learn about special programming, call 865-448-0044 or visit www.gsmheritagecenter.org. This exhibit is included in the cost of daily admission to the Heritage Center or FREE to GSMHC members.

Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, 3/4 mile east of traffic light at the Highway 321 and 73 intersection towards the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Townsend, TN. Hours: M-Sa 10-5. Information: 865-448-0044, www.gsmheritagecenter.org

The Town's May/June 2018 Featured Artist is Quebec native Jill Crociata. Her colorful textile art is influenced by 1930s cottage and garden design, but with a contemporary twist.

Jill emphasizes texture through techniques of layered fabric and hand stitch. Using hand-dyed fabrics and threads, she creates engaging red-roofed cottages, forested landscapes and gardens that sparkle with beads and combinations of unusual threads. She is a member of the FreeStyle interest group of the Knoxville Chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild.

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, visit townoffarragut.org/artsandculture or

contact Brittany Spencer at ParksandRecInfo@townoffarragut.org or 218-3378.
Farragut Town Hall, located at 11408 Municipal Center Drive directly across from the Farragut Branch Post Office, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Reception June 28th 5-7pm

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

Paintings by Inna Nasanova Knox (2 - D)
Inna's paintings reflect a lot of sunshine, with the use of bold color and clear hues. She prefers painting cityscapes, but also paints seascapes, and landscapes, where she accentuates the local culture of an area. “I truly believe that every city and place has its own character and individuality.”
Inna grew up in several Russian cities with over a million people, living in Kazan, St. Petersburg, Litvenia Kaunas, and Ukraine Krivoy Rog. She immigrated to the USA in 2000, and in 2005 became a US citizen. Currently, she is a dual citizen of Russia and the USA. “My life experience and art educational background has broadened my visual art approach. My work is included in different private collections in different countries around the world and has been displayed in different countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Litvenia, and Aruba, as well as the United States in Wisconsin, Florida, and Tennessee.”

Harriet Howell (3 - D)
Harriet Howell's scarfs capes are inspired by nature and expressed through color and texture. Some are funky fun and others elegant, but all reveal something about being feminine and feeling wonderful.

Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tu-Th & Sa 11-6, Fri 11-9, Su 1-5. Information: 865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net

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/

Free and open to the public - Reception Friday, April 13, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.

Marcia Goldenstein approaches landscape painting through composites of different times and places, constructed in such a way as to produce new, believable and striking situations. The aerial view of the land is paired with a spectacular evening sky that dominates with its dramatic forms and hues. Giving substance and structure to color-infused air and atmosphere is in contrast to the dwarfed panorama below the horizon. Where they meet becomes the heart of the work. Goldenstein received her BFA and MFA degrees in Painting and Drawing from the University of Nebraska. She has been a visiting artist at the National Academy of Fine Arts, Bratislava, Slovakia; Sichuan University, Chengdu; Beihang University, Beijing; University of Texas, San Antonio; Arizona State University; University of Indianapolis; Tudor Hall, UK; College of the Ozarks; Knoxville Museum of Art; F.I.T, NY, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts; and many other schools and museums. She has an international exhibition record and is represented in numerous public and private collections in the US, Europe and China. She is currently Professor Emerita of Painting and Drawing at the University of Tennessee School of Art. marciagoldenstein.com

Todd Johnson finds art to be a res cogitans, “a thinking thing.” As an art teacher, he shares the images and ideas of highly regarded artists with his students. In his own studio, this daily experience informs his own art. Indeed, his interest in acrylic painting in miniature on paint chips is in reflecting upon the nature of art itself. He’s more broadly interested in the entirety of ideas surrounding the making, understanding and consuming of art. Johnson studied at Luther College and Eastern Michigan University. His work has been shown throughout the United States, including solo shows at The Clay Studio, in Philadelphia and Pewabic Pottery in Detroit; and traveling exhibitions originating from the San Diego Museum of Art and Baltimore Clayworks. He has received several grants including the Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholarship for travel in Japan, a Lincoln Center Education grant for Teaching Artist Training, and two National Endowment for the Arts awards for study at Anderson Ranch Arts Center and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. toddjohnsonart.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

Dogwood Arts Art In Public Places - Temporary Sculpture Exhibition

Art in Public Places is a large-scale outdoor sculpture program showcased throughout Knoxville, Oak Ridge, and Alcoa, Tennessee. The annual rotating installation is one of many Dogwood Arts programs focused on providing access to the arts for everyone, promoting awareness of the strong visual arts community thriving in our region, and creating a vibrant and inspiring environment for residents and visitors to experience. Over the past eleven years, Dogwood Arts has curated and installed over 220 works of art, and the Art In Public Places program has gained national recognition as a platform for world-class artists. This year’s ambitious collection of sculptures created by artists from across the nation has been selected by Director of the Zuckerman Museum of Art, Justin Rabideau.

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

Meeting every Sunday from 11 AM - noon at Adair Park, 1807 Adair Drive, Knoxville, TN 37918, near the Gazebo and Playground.

Meeting every Wednesday from 6-7 PM at Good People, 4026 Chapman Hwy, Knoxville, TN 37920.

Beginning April 7, meeting on Saturdays from 11 AM - noon at Olde Mechanicsville Park on Arthur St. near the Firehouse and the Lotus Light Center.

Requested donation of $10 for each class, $17 for two classes/week, or $22 for 3 classes/week.

Information: Karl Hess, karlalanhess@gmail.com

Pick Your Poison examines how mind-altering drugs have been used throughout the history of America.

Featuring over forty medicines, advertisements, historic and popular culture documents and books, video footage, and paraphernalia, the exhibition explores why some drugs remain socially acceptable, while others are outlawed because of their toxic, and intoxicating, characteristics.

These classifications have shifted at different times in history because of social and historical factors, and will continue to change. The exhibition explores some of the factors that have shaped the changing definition of some of our most potent drugs––alcohol, tobacco, opium, cocaine, and marijuana––from medical miracle to social menace.

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

We have a full event calendar that grows by the day!

Monday - Singer/songwriter night (open sign-up)
Tuesday - Open mic night (open sign-up)
Wed through Sun - Various Americana/Folk artists from Knoxville and across the country

The Troubadour Roadhouse and Performance Hall located in Bearden, 4705 Old Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919
Information: 865-851-8650, www.troubadourroadhouse.com
www.facebook.com/troubadourroadhouse

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