Calendar of Events
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
The Art of Planetary Science Exhibition
Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Free event and Science, nature
Featuring space and science-themed artwork at The Art of Planetary Science, a special exhibition at the American Astronomical Society's 2018 Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting, from October 21-25 in Knoxville, TN. This scientific conference will be attended by hundreds of planetary scientists and astronomers from all over the world! The exhibition will serve as a space to reflect on the beauty and elegance of our universe, and our role in discovery and exploration. It will also serve as a bridge to the surrounding art community, providing a window into local culture and perspectives.
The Art of Planetary Science is an annual art exhibition hosted by the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, with smaller satellite shows held at conferences and other events across the US. Information and photos from past shows can be found at the website below.
Information: www.lpl.arizona.edu/art (click TAPS@DPS). Inquiries can be directed art@lpl.arizona.edu.
At the Knoxville Convention Center, 701 Henley St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-522-5669, www.kccsmg.com
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts: Figurative Association
Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts will host the third Figurative Association Symposium from November 7-10, 2018. In 2010, Arrowmont presented the first symposium, which focused on and featured the figure in ceramics. In 2014, we expanded that focus to include sculpture in all media. Now, in 2018, we are welcoming all disciplines to the symposium – including 2-D, 3-D and expanded media.
https://www.arrowmont.org/visit/events/figurative-association-symposium/
In the Sandra J. Blain Gallery
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org
Ewing Gallery: Oyler Wu Collaborative
Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event
The Ewing Gallery is excited to collaborate with the UT College of Architecture and Design to bring an exhibition of work by the Oyler Wu Collaborative to Knoxville. This exhibition features original drawings, documentation of large-scale projects, digital drawings, models, and 3D printed jewelry from Jenny Wu's line, Lace.
Oyler Wu Collaborative is an experimental architecture and design firm located in Los Angeles, California. The office approaches architecture and design with a critical and rigorous intent that challenges the typical vision of the built environment. Recent works encompass a variety of scales, from products and installations to residential and institutional buildings. Oyler Wu was selected by the city of L.A. to be a part of the design team for the Los Angeles River Bikeway/Greenway project.
Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu established their practice in 2004. Since then, Oyler Wu Collaborative has been published globally and is recognized for its excellence in architectural design, research, and fabrication. Projects recently completed include: the 3D printing showroom and office space for 3DS Culinary in Hollywood, CA; the Stormcloud pavilion for SCI-Arc 40th anniversary event; the Cube, the winning pavilion entry for the Beijing Biennale; Taipei Sales Center, a 5 story commercial building; as well as a 16 story residential tower in Taipei, Taiwan.
Gallery hours:
M, T, W, F: 10am - 5pm
TR: 10am - 7:30PM
SUN: 1-4PM
Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu
Ijams Nature Center: Ijams' Gallery Presents Amy Broady

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event
Come by Ijams this October to dive into Amy Broady's gorgeous pen and ink works! Broady's whimsical patterns use positive and negative space to create a mesmerizing landscape of abstract design, allowing the viewer to have an almost meditative experience. You don't want to miss these intricate, delicate pieces!
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
TVUUC Gallery: Exhibition by Randy Arnold and Herbert Rieth
Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event
Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church - Free and open to the public
Reception Friday, October 19, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.
Randy Arnold: Blurring the Line
Arnold’s work often derives from personal experiences and contemporary or historical contexts. He is interested in patterns constructed by belief systems and the evolution of their physical manifestations. He attempts to illuminate these various structures as they express themselves in nature and the human condition. There is a blurring of the line between these distinct paradigms, yet they are synchronistically connected through layers of ancient and present.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Arnold has made his way through life along the path of the Lewis and Clark trail, via Wisconsin, South Dakota, Oregon, and finally Knoxville, Tennessee. He works at the Three Rivers Market cooperative and as a teacher at Pellissippi State Community College. His passion has always been art, from the age of six, when he became interested in drawing people and maps of the world. He has a BFA from Columbia College Art School, Columbia, Missouri, and an MFA in printmaking from the University of South Dakota. He was an artist in residence at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts.
Herbert Rieth
The paintings in this cycle are based on Rieth’s takes on mythological sources and have served as a way of processing life and world events. The artwork is largely mixed media acrylic painting, but the painting component has become a larger part of the image-making process. The works touch on loss, conflict, aging and ego.
Rieth is an artist and educator based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He works in a variety of media and modes, from mixed media fabric work to interactive installation and sculpture, and has shown work internationally and in 25 states of the USA. He received his BA from Indiana University in 2000 and his MFA from the University of Cincinnati. He is an Associate Professor of Visual Arts at Pellissippi State Community College.
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
The WordPlayers: Gulf View Drive

Category: Theatre
The WordPlayers presents Gulf View Drive, a serio-comedy by Arlene Hutton, October 11- 26 at Erin Presbyterian Church.
Gulf View Drive is an engaging, glimpse of life story set in the 1950s. Just as everything begins to come together for Raleigh and May, family tensions start to bear down like the heavy heat of Gulf Coastal Florida, where they just bought their first home. Their dream house shrinks as relatives descend carrying their own baggage. Questions concerning race, segregation, and traditional values seep into their lives, challenging them and testing their love for one another. Entertaining and moving, the revelatory Gulf View Drive will have you sitting on the screened-in porch in the middle of the hilarity, irony, and tension. (Suggested for ages 13+)
Oct. 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26 @ 7:30 p.m., October 14 & 21 @ 2:30 p.m. at Erin Presbyterian Church, 200 Lockett Rd., Knoxville. Tickets, $10-$15, are available online at wordplayers.org and at the door. Thursdays are Pay What You Can Nights. Call 865.539.2490 for more information.
Pellissippi State: Ashley Addair and Terra Madre Ceramics Collective
Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event
Visual artist Ashley Addair of Knoxville joins 15 local clay artists in a new exhibit at Pellissippi State Community College.
"Ashley Addair and Terra Madre: Women in Clay" will be on display at the College's Bagwell Center for Media and Art Gallery on the Hardin Valley Campus Oct. 8-26, with an opening reception with the artists scheduled for 3-5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10.
The exhibit, the latest installment in The Arts at Pellissippi State, is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
"It's going to be a busy show, and it's going to be full," said Pellissippi State Professor Jeffrey Lockett, program coordinator for Art. "The artists will take up different spaces within the Gallery, with the Terra Madre works displayed on pedestals and Ashley's works on the walls." Addair is a visual artist and an active member of the arts community in Knoxville. Her paintings are collected internationally. Terra Madre is a juried group of women clay artists living and working in the Knoxville area. Their work ranges from functional to sculptural and from traditional to whimsical. "Many Terra Madre members are or have been influential educators in the clay field locally, regionally and nationally," said Lisa Kurtz, an adjunct fine arts instructor at Pellissippi State whose work will be included in the upcoming exhibit. "They teach or have taught clay at a variety of locations including elementary and secondary schools, colleges, craft centers, workshops and churches."
Other Terra Madre teachers whose clay work will be featured at Pellissippi State include Amanda Bonar, Judy Brater, Jane Cartwright, Pat Clapsaddle, Valerie Eiler, Lynn Fisher, Annamaria Gundlach, Pat Herzog, Ellie Kotsianas, Wendie Love, Sandra McEntire, Jackie Mirzadeh, Jessica Stewart and Rikki Taylor.
"Both Ashley's and the Terra Madre artists' works showcase immediate reactions to the media they use," Lockett said. "With clay, you squeeze it and shape it while Ashley's paintings are often stream of consciousness. Sometimes these works are well thought out. Sometimes they are more spontaneous."
Bagwell Center Gallery hours: M-F 10-6:30.
Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts
Tomato Head: Featured Artist Gay Bryant
Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event
Gay Bryant’s work is on exhibit at the downtown Knoxville Tomato Head from October 7th thru November 4th and at the West Knoxville Gallery Tomato Head from November 5th thru December 3rd.
Aristotle spent a lot of time thinking about the human drive to control circumstances that interfere with a happy, safe, and productive life. As silly as it might sound, the philosopher was describing the same basic urge that impels us to insulate our houses and to buy insurance – we like to have a buffer between us and misfortune. Of course, at some level and in some circumstances, control is impossible. Often the only seeming answer is acceptance which means letting go of control and hoping for the best. Relationships can be like that. Watercolors can be the same.
In fact, if you talk to as many artists as we do, you’ll find that many of them believe that their work guides them (not the other way around) and that the best thing they can do is to just get out of the way. Artist Gay Bryant feels that way, at least some of the time: “Mostly I work in watercolor. And the key is letting go, to let the paint do its thing.”
And while it may appall some ancient Greeks and more than a few control freaks among us, her ability to trust in fate or good luck or providence (or whatever you want to call it) leads Bryant to more than a few beautiful places. Her nature paintings are evocative without being dogmatic; the gentle patterns recall a presence, a sense of being there, but they’re not so specific that you can’t imagine being there yourself. In fact, you may feel compelled to visit Alum Creek or Icewater Spring at dawn to experience Bryant’s subjects with your own eyes.
Read more about the artist and her work: http://thetomatohead.com/gay-bryant/
Tomato Head, 12 Market Square (865-637-4067) and 7240 Kingston Pike, Suite 172 (865-584-1075), in Knoxville. http://thetomatohead.com
Rala: October First Friday Artist - Chris McAdoo
Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event
Opening: October 5th from 6PM-9PM (the show will be up through the end of November.)
Chris McAdoo is a painter, printmaker, and designer living in East Tennessee. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, collections, and publications around the country and he has been an active studio artist for nearly twenty years.
In addition to having work on display, Chris will be painting live during the opening! All are welcome to come and watch, and Chris is happy to talk with folks as the process unfolds.
“My most recent series focuses on memory (or the lack thereof) and the significance that we attach to objects and places, particularly when we take them out of their original context. My work is an extension of my own experiences growing up in the south and a comment on my connections that give me a visceral reaction to the past rather than simple nostalgia. While the paintings speak to me in a very particular way, I would much rather suggest a narrative to the viewer than to lay it all on the table.”
Ongoing Show: Blanket Fort Studios---Kendra Barth (of Blanket Fort) produces funky ceramic pieces. Working out of her studio here in Knoxville, she uses a unique style to evoke wonder in her pieces. "I created this studio to share my love of naive wonder and storytelling."
Rala, 112 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Phone: (865) 525-7888
Instagram: @ShopRala
https://shoprala.com/
Art Guild at Fairfield Glade: Artful Wonder Fall Art Show
Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event
Enjoy the Opening Reception of the Artful Wonder Fall Art Show from 5-7 PM on Fri October 5.
This special reception is scheduled on the regular monthly “Fun and Wine Friday” reception date. Participants can view the show entries and watch the presentation of ribbons and cash awards to the winning artists. Hors d'oeuvres, wine, and other beverages will be available. The reception is free and open to the public.
Art Guild at Fairfield Glade at the Plateau Creative Arts Center, 451 Lakeview Drive, Fairfield Glade, TN 38558. Hours: M-Sa 9-4. Information: 931-707-7249, www.artguildfairfieldglade.net
Art Market Gallery: Work by Fran Thie and Larry Gabbard

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event
Recent works by artist Fran Thie and potter Larry Gabbard will be featured throughout October at the Art Market Gallery. An opening reception for the artists, including complimentary refreshments and live music performed by Harold Nagge, will begin at 5:30 p.m. on October 5th, during Downtown Knoxville’s monthly First Friday Art Walk. The show will highlight Fran Thie's pastel and watermedia works, and Larry Gabbard's fast-fired clay pottery.
The Art Market Gallery is also happy to welcome four new members in painting/drawing—Carole Quin, Kara Lockmiller, Pebbie Mott and Linn Stilwell—whose work will be on display beginning October 1st.
Fran Thie: Fran is an established pastel and watermedia artist whose work reflects her love of creative writing and literature by presenting sensitive, impressionistic and expressive interpretations of nature in both landscape and abstract paintings. Through intuitive use of color and texture, she strives to transform an ordinary scene into a special place where both drama and serenity can co-exist. Fran paints in both pastel and watermedia, but her primary specialty is pastel. By first preparing an underpainting in acrylic or watercolor, she lays a foundation for visual depth and richness, which she then overlays with pastel. While many of her works have been painted on location, she often begins the painting from a photograph or sketch in her studio, then puts the resource material aside and completes the painting by intuitively reacting to the painting surface. Her works, whether representational or abstract, always have their foundation in the world of nature.
Larry Gabbard: Larry began his pottery career after moving to Kingston, TN in 1999, and training initially at the Oak Ridge Art Center (ORAC). Most of his pottery is wheel thrown; he seeks out unique, alternative kilns and firing techniques (e.g., raku, horse hair, saggar, obvara, and pit firing). Larry attends workshops of well-known potters throughout the Southeast, studying and applying their unique techniques. He has attended classes at John Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC; Hambidge Center for Creative Arts at Rabun Gap, GA; Mudfire Gallery, Decatur, GA; and the ORAC in Oak Ridge, TN. Larry enjoys fast-firing techniques which create a rich variety of textures and colors on bisque clay. He finds the unexpected marks made when clay, heat, and smoke interact to be among the most intriguing and challenging of finishes to perfect and reproduce.
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
Art Market Gallery: "BeDazzled"

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event
“BeDazzled”—a special show featuring the Art Market Gallery’s five jewelry artisans—will be on display in the Art Market Gallery throughout October. This show is being held in conjunction with Tennessee Craft Week (October 5th–14th), celebrating our local craft artists. Please join us for this special event; you will “be dazzled” by the work of Roger Kroll, Jennifer Lindsay, Nancy Rowland-Engle, Lynn Straka, and Kristine Taylor.
Roger Kroll: The intention of Roger’s jewelry and metal art is to create a functional art form. His goal is to continually explore form, shape, color and texture, incorporating the vast pallet of techniques and materials available to the precious metal artist.
Jennifer Lindsay: Jennifer gets her inspiration from everywhere-architecture, gardens and historical customs. She fashions one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces using various beading techniques, imported seed beads, focal beads, semi-precious stones, or crystals.
Nancy Rowland-Engle: Nancy is a metalsmith who enjoys the creative process of designing and producing jewelry using silver, copper, and brass. Her work incorporates organic forms and geometric shapes. Most pieces have an industrial feel but come to look the way they do naturally. The shapes, the elements, and the organic forms all come from nature.
Lynn Straka: Lynn wants to bring joy to the wearer with her mixed-media jewelry. She uses sterling silver, copper and bronze with semi-precious stone accents. Her designs are influenced by nature, and may evoke a memory, affirm a belief, or be an extension of the wearer’s personality.
Kristine Taylor: Kristine is inspired by good design and beautiful color, using polymer clay and traditional jewelry materials, such as metal, fibers, stones and pearls, to create unique and limited edition pieces of jewelry. Her current work blends contemporary and ancient forms with abstract images.
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