Calendar of Events

"Sacred and Profane" exhibition the Frieson Black Cultural Center (extended)

The art gallery at the Frieson Black Cultural Center is featuring "Sacred and Profane," a retrospective exhibition of mixed-media prints by Marc Z. DeBose. DeBose, who received his MFA in Studio Art (printmaking) in 2002, died unexpectedly on Monday April 2, 2018 from a ruptured aorta. Marc’s father Frank DeBose, who loaned most of the works for this exhibition, is Professor Emeritus in Visual Communication Design at the School of Art Institute of Chicago where Marc completed his BFA in printmaking, electronic art and photography in 1996. The exhibition is an opportunity to celebrate his creative spirit. The exhibition will run through February 28, 2019.

Several of the works in the exhibition are from Marc’s MFA thesis, which examined the African-American experience in relationship to community police-work. These works also express the influences of his synthesis of Catholic and Pentecostal roots on family and community interactions. Following his MFA degree, Marc Z, DeBose continued his studio practice while also pursuing a career as a Chicago policeman.

1800 Melrose Ave., Knoxville. https://art.utk.edu/mixed-media-prints-by-utk-alumnus-marc-z-debose-at-the-frieson-black-cultural-centerr/

Opening reception with the artist scheduled for 3-5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29.

The colorful world of cosplay is coming to Pellissippi State Community College this fall with a photography exhibit celebrating the custom costumes, props and make-up that bring fictional characters to life. Cosplay -- short for costume play -- is a social activity in which fans dress up like characters from works of fiction such as comic books, video games or television shows. Cosplaying is the practice of constructing or wearing these types of costumes. Swanson, a professional photographer who graduated from Pellissippi State in 2015, enjoys cosplaying and has been photographing cosplayers for five years, both at conventions and on location. She sees cosplay as both art form and self-expression.

"What we're doing is portraying the characters we love," said Swanson, who started photographing cosplayers to show off their hard work and talent with costumes and makeup. "I love the cosplay community because it's fun to find others also dressed from the same series you are cosplaying from or even as the same character that you are cosplaying as. You get to have that instant connection with all these people you just met."

Swanson's favorite cosplay photo shoots include a Batman group at a convention in Atlanta and a recent portrait of a cosplayer dressed as Violet Evergarden, the title character from a Japanese light novel series that was adapted into an anime television series now on Netflix. Swanson's goal for her exhibit at Pellissippi State is to represent as many different characters as possible through the 17x22-inch prints hanging in the gallery and 4x6-inch prints displayed on a kiosk.

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

Letters from a Soviet Prison: The Personal Journal and Correspondence of CIA U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers
A Brown Bag Lecture with Francis Gary Powers Jr.

FREE | Attendees are encouraged to bring a “brown bag” lunch

Many will recall the Cold War incident when CIA U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down on May 1, 1960, while flying in Soviet airspace. Following his capture he was tried for espionage, then served nearly two years in a Soviet prison, until eventually being exchanged for a senior KGB spy. In a Brown Bag lecture on Monday, October 29, Powers' son, Francis Gary Powers, Jr., will discuss the Cold War, the U-2 incident, the controversy that surrounded his father, the Spielberg movie, Bridge of Spies, and the work of the Powers family to set his record straight. Much of the story is told through his father's journal and letters written and received during his time of captivity. The senior Powers was a graduate of Milligan College in Elizabethton, Tennessee.

Books will be available for purchase and signing following the lecture. Interestingly, the preface to the book, Letters from a Soviet Prison, is by Professor Sergei Khrushchev, son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

The lecture is presented by the East Tennessee Historical Society and sponsored by the Gentry Griffey Funeral Chapel & Crematorium and is free and open to the public. The lecture will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, October 29, at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. Guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch and enjoy the lecture. Soft drinks will be available. For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824 or visit the website at www.EastTNHistory.org.

Enjoy a frightfully authentic encounter with the past this Halloween at the circa-1796 Blount Mansion, Knoxville’s only National Historic Landmark. Once again we will offer special evening tours of our historic house and gardens, beginning with Cherokee ghost stories outside and culminating with a flashlight tour of the mansion and Halloween treats inside our visitors center. Cost is $10 per person.

Tours will take place from 8-9:30 p.m. on Saturday. Oct. 27, Monday, Oct. 29, and Tuesday, Oct. 30, and from 7:30-9:30 p.m. on Halloween night, Wednesday, Oct. 31.

Starting at 6 p.m. on Monday evening, Oct. 29, “Dr. Carvenstein” (graphic artist Ken Clayton) will offer a special pumpkin-carving seminar in the visitors center.

On Halloween night, we are offering a limited, special tours of the circa-1818 Craighead Jackson House from 11 p.m.-midnight. Special ticket required/$50 per person.

NEW THIS YEAR: Also on Halloween night, our The Big Camera will offer an evening of haunting historical photography! Learn how Spirit Photographs were created and leave with your own digitally printed Tin Type! No extra charge/donations accepted to cover costs of materials, etc.

NOTE: The Blount Mansion will be closed for regular tours during the day Oct. 27-31 so we can prepare the house for the evening events.

Free parking is available during the event at the Blount Mansion Visitors Center and in the Dwight Kessel Garage across the street. Blount Mansion, 200 W. Hill Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-525-2375, www.blountmansion.org

Reception date TBA

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

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

October 18, 19, 22, 23, 29, 30 -- 7-9 PM
TICKETS AVAILABLE at https://www.jameswhitesfort.org/jwf-halloween-bash/

Come and join the spirits for a tour of Downtown Knoxville’s scariest landmarks. The tours, which last approximately two hours each, will visit the sites of some of Knoxville’s best kept secrets. The tour will be about one and a half miles in length. All tours begin and end at James White’s Fort located at the intersection of Hill Avenue and Hall of Fame Drive. Ample free parking is available for tour participants at the Fort.
RESERVE YOUR PLACE NOW BEFORE THE GHOSTS AND GOBLINS DO!

James White's Fort, 205 E. Hill Ave, Knoxville, TN 37915. Information: 865-525-6514, www.jameswhitefort.org

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

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

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

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/

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