Calendar of Events

Jack Neely, longtime journalist and executive director of the Knoxville History Project, discusses his organization’s latest book, Historic Knoxville: The Curious Visitor’s Guide to its Stories and Places, which includes a literary section.

Any city with a literary heritage that can embrace Frances Hodgson Burnett, James Agee, Nikki Giovanni, and Cormac McCarthy is no simple place, and continues to inspire fiction and creative nonfiction.

Jack Neely is an author of several books about Knoxville, Tennessee including This Obscure Prismatic City.
https://knoxvillewritersguild.org/events/jan2019program/

Knoxville Writers’ Guild meetings take place at Central United Methodist Church's Fellowship Hall, 201 E. Third Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917.

Part of the 11th Anniversary Season of Broadway at the Tennessee Theatre

Cameron Mackintosh presents the new production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schnberg’s Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, Les Misrables, direct from an acclaimed two-and-a-half-year return to Broadway. With its glorious new staging and dazzlingly reimagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo, this breathtaking new production has left both audiences and critics awestruck, cheering “Les Miz is born again!” (NY1). Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misrables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption –a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Featuring the thrilling score and beloved songs “I Dreamed A Dream,”“On My Own,”“Stars," “Bring Him Home,”“One Day More,” and many more, this epic and uplifting story has become one of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history. Seen by more than 70 million people in 44 countries and in 22 languages around the globe, Les Misrables is still the world’s most popular musical, breaking box office records everywhere in its 32nd year.

Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information/tickets: 865-684-1200, www.tennesseetheatre.com, www.ticketmaster.com

The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame will offer up to four free admissions per paying adult from January 2, 2019 through January 5, 2019. Come witness history and have some fun in our ball court area. This offer is good during operations hours of Wednesday-Friday, 11 AM – 5 PM and Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM. All attendees must be chaperoned by a paying adult over the age of 18. See www.penny4arts.com for more details.

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, 700 Hall of Fame Dr, Knoxville, TN 37915. Information: 865-633-9000, www.wbhof.com

Writers in Modern Appalachia, an exhibit by literary arts nonprofit Bloodroot Mountain, will be on display Jan. 2-4 in the Clayton Center for the Arts’ Blackberry Farm Gallery on the Maryville College campus.

An opening reception will be held in the gallery on Wed., Jan. 2 from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Both the reception and exhibit are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The exhibit is an extension of the Writers in Modern Appalachia project by Bloodroot Mountain (bloodrootmountain.org), a literary-arts nonprofit co-directed by novelist Amy Greene and husband Trent Thompson. The coffee table style art book, Writers in Modern Appalachia, forthcoming in 2019 from Blair Publishing (www.blairpub.com) will feature photo essays profiling influential writers whose lives and work have shaped contemporary Appalachian culture. Photographs and excerpts from the book will be on display, highlighting images of the authors (Wendell Berry, Lee Smith, Silas House, Adriana Trigiani, Crystal Wilkinson, Ron Rash, George Ella Lyon) and their native landscapes.

Bloodroot Mountain is also pleased to publish Sam Stapleton’s art book, Stilled Life, a weaving together of poetry and fine art photography into a visual and literary masterpiece. The January exhibit will showcase Stapleton as featured modern Appalachian artist. Copies of his book will be available at the event.

Blackberry Farm Gallery, Clayton Center for the Arts
502 E Lamar Alexander Pkwy, Maryville, TN 37804
Info: 865-981-8590 or https://www.claytonartscenter.com/event/bloodroot-mountain-exhibit/?instance_id=8542

We offer a kids camp, usually a week long, typically for ages 5-12. We tailor the lessons to multiple ages by working together in whole-group instruction or by splitting up into smaller groups to maximize learning. We spend the day together creating art through various art forms like music, improv games, visual art and dance. We meet-up at the end of the day and share our experiences in a cool down meditative share time.

Our mission is to promote cooperation and the love of learning through art, craft and creativity! Through exploration of self we will find common ground in each other.

At The Birdhouse and SPARK
9 AM - 4 PM daily for ages 5-12
$235 for the week or $50/day

https://kidsinthearts.weebly.com/

December 26-28, January 2-4 & January 7 10am-4pm

Winter Wonderlabs are coming back for the school break! We’ll have special pop up chemistry activities December 26-January 7*. PLUS Mix and Squish to create your own Make-and-Take Slime (additional $1.00) December 26-28 and Sew with conductive thread to create your own Make-and-Take Treasure (additional $5.00) January 2-4 & 7. *(activity not available on Dec. 31 or Jan. 1).

Don’t miss the Building Station with Kapla Blocks & Stacking Buckets Dec. 26-28 and Jan. 2-4 & 7! Share your engineering masterpieces from the Building Station with us for our Wall of Wonder by emailing them to info@themuseknoxville.org!

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

Free and open to the public
Reception Friday, January 11, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.

Ken Moffett: Recent Work in Acrylic on Canvas
This work since 2010 represents an ongoing examination of the potential for artistic expression when limited to form, line and color. Representational aspects can seem to appear in some of these paintings, but the intent has always been to use nonobjective means. Emotive content is an inevitable and welcome outcome, some works being fractious, others calm, some brooding and others “optimistic” in tone. An early exposure to so-called abstract expressionism clearly had an influence. In all cases, the titles were chosen after completion of the work. While the approach may appear limiting, I have found a rewarding wealth of opportunities for intriguing compositional developments. Inevitably, my career in architecture may have had an influence on some of these compositions, though in general I have tried to regard these paintings as an opportunity to “work on something completely different.”

Moffett began creating and studying art in his youth while residing in Missouri, Oklahoma and Virginia, and continued at the College of Wooster in Ohio and the School of Design at North Carolina State University, where he received his degree in architecture. His watercolor paintings have been chosen for exhibit in Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee, and are included in a number of private collections. An exhibit at the Emporium Gallery in 2010 featured work in acrylics and other media, and his paintings have been included in Knoxville’s “Art in the Airport.” A Knoxville resident since 1975, Moffett was awarded the Gold Medal of the East Tennessee Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 2002. A retrospective exhibit of his architectural firm’s work is on exhibit at the UTK Art & Architecture Building, December 3 - January 25.


Kate Aubrey
I love to paint. It’s like breathing, only better. Or perhaps it is like life. What could teach me more quickly or thoroughly than watercolor the necessity of making mistakes if I would create something truly new? Or the need I have for discomfort in order to be willing to grow? Watercolor is my first and foremost choice of media precisely because it doesn’t just do what it’s told. There is a certain mischief in it. Every time I put brush to paper I discover something new — whether I intend to or not.

A devoted watercolorist for 40 years, Aubrey has studied with such notable artists as Charles Reid, Carol Orr, Don Andrews, Lian Quan Zhen, Mike Bailey, Ted Nuttall, Mary Moquin, Jeannie McGuire, and Stephen Quiller. She has won numerous awards in her travels and was named a finalist in The Artists Magazine’s Over 60 Competition of 2013 for her painting “Invisible.” Since arriving in the Knoxville area in 2014, Aubrey has taught several workshops in Tennessee and Nevada, is Vice President of the Knoxville Watercolor Society, and is a member of the Artists Guild of Tellico Village, the Fountain City Art Center, the Tennessee Artist’s Association, the Southern Watercolor Society, and the Arts Alliance of Knoxville. Her paintings have been accepted into several shows, including the Oak Ridge Art Center’s Annual Juried Shows of 2014 and 2015, winning awards each year, and The Arts and Culture Alliance’s National Juried Exhibition of 2016. She won awards in the 2016 and 2017 Southern Watercolor Society Juried Exhibits, and her painting “Old Soul, Dear Heart” took the top Jerry’s Artarama Purchase Award in the 2016 Tennessee Watercolor Society Biennial Exhibition.

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

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

In this season full of holidays, family and remembrance, our collection serves as a line (connection point?) between our current Art Center family and those who worked to sustain and preserve our program in the past. Among them are artists, collectors, and family of both. We will have three great shows to represent the individuals who created, those who collected, and those who contributed to our ability to share with our community the amazing variety and diversity of art. This show was inspired by the work of Joan O’Steen, artist and long-time supporter of the Art Center and creative work in our community.

Joan O’Steen has been a creative force for many years. She has been a painter, designer and fiber artist for many years. Her work, like many women, was woven through her life as a business woman; helpmate to husband, Tom Hill, as they sustained his family business, The Oak Ridger; loving Mother as she raised her children, and coach who worked with teams of young women. Her life-long pursuit of the creative and interest in fashion lead her to new and unexpected areas in which she could explore and experiment. The result is a fascinating combination of more traditional visual arts techniques like painting and more contemporary work with wearable art and basketry.

Retrospective: Artists will be a collection of work by artists who have been members of or have been associated with the Art Center during our history. Many of them have been instructors at the Art Center and/or have shown with us in their careers.

Retrospective: Collectors will showcase some of the wonderful pieces contributed to the Art Center for us to share with future generations. This grouping will include pieces that were lovingly collected by both members and individuals from the region who wished to leave a lasting impact on local cultural assets.

Watch our Facebook page for more information about the show and options for extended evening viewing during the exhibition. 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

Opening reception Friday, December 7, 5pm-9pm

Camila Manvas’ Biography - Español:
A los 10 años, una niña colombiana de nombre Camila Manvaz, entra en contacto con el mundo del color y la plástica. Enamorada desde entonces de los Colores, empieza a realizar obras donde la fantasía y la realidad conviven en entorno a lo que nada es lo que parece. Obras que pretenden reflejar las inquietantes alucinaciones que produce su propia mente… La solución que encontró Camila para contrarrestar los efectos de sus repentinos y fuertes cambios anímicos fue sencillamente pintar aquello que veía. Camila Manvaz (Bogotá, Colombia, 1983), vive en las líneas que delimitan el paraíso y el infierno. El mundo artístico de una de las creadoras contemporáneas más fascinantes tiene su origen en las más profundas alegrías y depresiones que nunca la han abandonado. Pero como adulto, ella a logrado desplegar la belleza más especial ante los asombrados ojos del espectador. Su infancia, adolescencia y juventud transcurrieron en Bogotá Colombia, en la que las mujeres tienen poco o nada que decir y son fuertemente criticadas por una sociedad violenta y machista. En 2016, se muda a los Estados Unidos, a la ciudad de Knoxville, Tennessee, para buscar nuevas vías de expresión con las que dar salida a la vorágine artística que anida en su mente y en su espíritu. Camila Manvaz estudio diseño industrial en la Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, y es actualmente una de las artistas colombianas contemporáneas con más fama, por su activismo social y derechos de la mujer. Compagina su actividad como Esposa, como madre de tres hijos, Gabriel, Jacobo y Victoria y como artista conceptual con la crítica pública a la desprotección a la mujer.

English:
At age 10, a Colombian girl named Camila Manvaz, came in contact with the world of color and plastic arts. Since then, she fell in love with the Colors, she began to create works where fantasy and reality coexisted in an environment where nothing is as it seems. Works that pretended to reflect the disturbing hallucinations produced by her own mind ... The solution that Camila found to counteract the effects of her sudden and strong mood changes was simply to paint what she saw. Camila Manvaz (Bogota, Colombia, 1983), lives in the borders that define paradise and hell. The artistic world of one of the most fascinating contemporary creators has its origins in the deepest joys and depressions that have never left her. But as an adult, she has managed to unfold the most special beauty for the astonished eyes of the spectator. Her childhood, adolescence and youth were spent in Bogota Colombia, a country in which women have little or nothing to say and are strongly criticized by a violent and macho society. In 2016, she moved to the United States, to the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, to find new ways of expression with which to give vent to the artistic maelstrom that nests in her mind and spirit. Camila Manvaz studied industrial design at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, and is currently one of the most famous contemporary Colombian artists, for her social activism and women's rights. She combines her activity as a wife, as a mother of three children, Gabriel, Jacobo and Victoria and as a conceptual artist with public criticism of the lack of protection for women.

Gallery will be closed for the Holidays from December 10 - January 2. We will be open M-F 1-5pm.

HoLa Hora Latina, 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 112, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-335-3358, www.holahoralatina.org

Opening Friday, December 7 from 5-8 p.m - Enjoy cozy seasonal fare, meet the artist, and take advantage of a special in-store promotion for your holiday shopping.

A collection of new works from the longtime Knoxville resident and locally beloved artist. "I'm looking for what this world doesn't give us anymore… a place outside where we can hear the world wake up and just be," says Odom.

This event is free and open to the public.

The District Gallery, 5113 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-F 10-5:30, Sa 10-4. Information: 865-200-4452, www.TheDistrictGallery.com

Zoo Knoxville is offering $5 off admission tickets during Kroger Discount Days. Guests can discover why winter is an enjoyable time to visit the zoo. Many animals, including red pandas, river otters, elephants, gorillas, red wolves, lions and tigers, enjoy the cooler temperatures. On days when the temperature drops below 40 degrees, some animals will be moved indoors, but visitors can still see most in their indoor viewing areas. The Pilot Flying J Wee Play Adventure is a popular indoor area that’s a warm stop for creative play and reptile viewing during visits as well.

A December trip to the zoo can even include a visit to Santa’s Village, a special holiday encounter and photo opportunity with Santa Claus. Santa’s Village will be open for holiday photos and Christmas wishes Thursday, Dec. 13 through Sunday, Dec. 16 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. each day in the heated Kids Cove Tent. Santa’s Village is included with general admission. Discounted tickets can be purchased at the zoo ticket window during regular zoo hours and online at zooknoxville.org. Discounted admission tickets must be used by Feb. 28, 2019, and cannot be combined with any other promotion, discount, or coupon.

Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open every day except Christmas. Information: 865-637-5331, www.zooknoxville.org