Calendar of Events

Opening reception: Jan 28, 4-6 PM

Solo exhibition by Aggie Toppins - Featuring graphic design and mixed media art. Aggie Toppins is Art Professor and Chair of the Art Dept at UT-Chattanooga. http://aggietoppins.com/

Omega Gallery at Carson-Newman University, Warren Art Building, corner of Branner & S. College Streets, Jefferson City, TN 37760. Gallery hours: M-F 8-4. Information: www.cn.edu

The College of Architecture and Design at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will host internationally renowned guest lecturers in its public lecture series during the 2018–19 school year.

January 28: Lola Sheppard from the University of Waterloo and Lateral Office, funded by the Robert B. Church Memorial Lecture fund

Unless otherwise noted, lectures begin at 5:30 p.m. in McCarty Auditorium, Room 109 of the Art and Architecture Building, at 1715 Volunteer Boulevard. All lectures are free and open to the public.

For 44 years, UT’s College of Architecture and Design has hosted leading architects and design professionals through its Robert B. Church Memorial Lectures, the Governor’s Chair Lecture Series, and General Shale Lectures to enrich the education of its students and elevate the profession in the community.

CONTACT: Amanda Johnson (865-974-6401, amandajohnson@utk.edu); https://news.utk.edu/2018/09/17/college-of-architecture-and-design-announces-2018-19-lecture-series

Opening Reception & Presentation of Awards: January 25, 2019, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

The Sevier County Biennial Juried Exhibition is a juried presentation of artworks created by residents of Sevier County, Tennessee. This year’s juror, Sarah Stanley, Curator at the William King Museum of Art in Abingdon, VA, selected 61 works created by 42 artists. The works showcased in this exhibit are a testament to the artistic skill, talent, and creativity of Sevier County residents. Congratulations to all the artists, and to the awardees. For more award information and the full list of participating artists, visit arrowmont.org/19th-sevier-county-biennial-juried-exhibition/

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

A play by Kristin Sergel, based on the classic novel by A. A. Milne.

Winnie-the-Pooh is Christopher Robin's fat little bear, who would like to drift peacefully through life, humming tunes and stopping frequently to eat a little something. However, he finds himself involved in all sorts of frantic adventures, assisted by such friends as the dismal Eeyore, Piglet and Rabbit, with his countless relations. Pooh's intentions are always the best, but his passion for honey and condensed milk keeps getting him into trouble. When friend Piglet gets roped into Kanga's household and Kanga starts bathing him (with soap!) and forcing down spoonfuls of Strengthening Medicine, Pooh comes to the rescue! A.A. Milne's wit and special understanding of young people make this one of the most beloved plays for young people.

The play is performed by 13 talented young actors from ages 8 to 16. Alex Montgomery, an 8th grader at Grace Christian Academy, will portray Winne, and Devin Alley, a 6th grader at Sacred Heart plays Christopher Robin.

Casey Sams will direct the production. Casey is an Associate Professor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Theatre, and teaches Movement, Acting and Musical Theatre to both undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Tennessee. She has served on the faculty at Penn State, Interlochen Arts Camp, The Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, and The Governor’s School for the Arts in Virginia.

Performances are typically Thursday-Sunday, and tickets are $12 per Adult, $10 per child. Reservations are strongly recommended. Group rates are available for groups of 12 or more by making advance reservations by phone. Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-208-3677, www.knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com

You don't want to miss January's gallery artist, Tracye Burnett Sowders, and her whimsical watercolor paintings. Her gorgeous work features vibrant landscapes, animal friends and ethereal people. Many of her paintings are limited editions, so stop by to claim one of these magical pieces for yourself!

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

A reception with the artists will be held 3-5 p.m on Friday, Feb. 1.

"The objects and environments that I create are fueled by encounters with natural forces," Jamey Grimes says in his artist statement. "My intent is to remind us of our relationship and scale to the forces of nature."

Mind-bending sculptural work and lush drawings combine this month in a new visual art exhibit at Pellissippi State Community College. Grimes and Wegrzynowski are instructors at the University of Alabama.

Grimes' sculptural work references forms in nature, biological structures and exploring spaces. His relatively simple techniques and forms are recombined in endless variations to create meditations on interconnectivity and structures in space.

Charlotte Wegrzynowski won second place in the SECAC 2016 Juried Exhibition and received the Best of Show award in the 31st West Alabama Juried Art Show. Wegrzynowski also delves into forms in space and in light and dark. Her drawings explore the illusion of space as well as communicating strong metaphorical narratives. "Though they could not be more different artists, both in form and content, the similarities in the ways that their artwork 'dances' make this a disparate, but very informative pairing," said Herb Rieth, associate professor of Liberal Arts for Pellissippi State.

Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Bagwell Center Gallery hours: M-F 9 AM - 9 PM. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

Kate Gilmore will give a public lecture on Thursday, January 17th at 7:30 PM in room 109 of the Art + Architecture Building. A brief reception for the exhibition will follow immediately in the Ewing Gallery.

Kate Gilmore: In Your Way features ten works—nine performance-based videos and one live performance/sculptural installation—by this New York-based artist known for synthesizing multiple artistic mediums including performance, video, sculpture, and painting. In her videos, Gilmore critiques and also inserts herself into male dominated movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism, exploring feminist themes and modern and contemporary art tropes, all the while exhibiting relentless determination. The spilling and splattering from her work are an ode to Abstract Expressionism or 1950s stripe paintings. Her works are mischievous and political, as well as humorous and critical of the heroic language and absence of women in these artistic movements. The physical situations and actions Gilmore creates for herself and her performers are metaphors for challenges women face culturally and socially.

Gallery hours:
M, T, W, F: 10am - 5pm
Thurs: 10am - 7:30pm
Sundays: 1-4

Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

BAD WATER presents Eleanor Aldrich: SERPENT'S QUARTERS. On view January 4 through January 28, the opening reception will take place on Friday, January 4 from 6 to 9 p.m.

SERPENT’S QUARTER’S plays with the garage space of BAD WATER as the kind of out-building where do-it-yourself work happens, as well as the serpent as a spiritual trickster. The stage and floating clothing embody the feeling of an alternative chapel. Jackets and upholstery play host to found-image transfers, sculptural surfaces, drawn and real shadows. The grid is a motif throughout. Used as the support of the work, the grid is at times strained, pressed against, squeezed through, and decorated by the material. Belief shifts between the actual and illusion.

Aldrich’s work is textural and alchemical. She matches materials – often industrial sealants – and techniques to the subject matter they resemble in order to achieve a convincing approximation while short-cutting rendering. Utilizing unruly materials, the substances Aldrich manipulates retain partial control over their final form — interrupting illustration and retaining the truth of their physical nature. She works with a kind of mimetic literalism that embodies the physicality of the subject while serving pictorial conventions, posing questions about physicality as the standard of reality.

Eleanor Aldrich (b. 1984 | Springerville, AZ) lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee. She received her MFA from The University of Tennessee and attended Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture in 2012. She participated in the Drawing Center's Open Sessions (2014 - 2016), and her work has been included in New American Paintings and on ArtForum.com.

BAD WATER is an artist-run gallery set in a once vacant backyard structure located in Knoxville, Tennessee | behind 320 E. Churchwell Ave. | www.badwater.gallery

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

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

Coming to Happy Holler this November, it'll be open for just five months, so we're going to put as much awesome stuff in there as we can before it's gone forever! You can read more about how this came about in this article in the Knoxville News Sentinel as well as this article in Inside Of Knoxville.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/entertainment/music/2018/10/03/new-knoxville-popup-music-venue-outpost-announced/1511021002/

https://insideofknoxville.com/2018/10/new-pop-up-concert-series-announced/

With the new venue, we are already off and running announcing shows. We already have tickets on sale for our first five shows plus, you can register (for free) to come to our grand opening event!
• firekid on Thursday, November 1st
• Strung Like a Horse on Friday, November 2nd
• Hardcastle on Saturday, November 3rd
• Free Grand Opening Event With Music From Jubal on Friday, November 9th
• William Wild on Friday, November 16th
• Vacation Manor on Thursday, November 29th

And more! Open through March 2019 at 109 W. Anderson Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. http://knoxvillemusicwarehouse.com/the-outpost