Calendar of Events

TAKE ME AS I AM 2019 TOUR

Christopher Cross made history with his 1980 self-titled debut album, winning five Grammy Awards, including for the first time ever the four most prestigious awards: Record of the Year (for the single “Sailing”), Album of the Year, Song of the Year (also for “Sailing”), and Best New Artist. Now, 30+ years after his extraordinary emergence into the music business, Cross continues his recording and performing career with a new album, Take Me As I Am, that evokes the artistry of such great singer-songwriters as Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman while addressing contemporary concerns head-on a combination which is sure to please his loyal fan base.

Take Me As I Am is a unique offering from Christopher Cross, a hybrid of sorts the songs are instrumentals with choruses to create the lyrical landscape. This is not quite a “guitar” album, but it leaves the listener with no question about his expertise on the subject. Two very special songs are “Roberta, dedicated to Christopher’s mentor, Joni Mitchell, and “Truth” with a lyric by Rob Meurer, one of the last songs Rob wrote before his tragic passing. This song is sung as a duet with Gigi Worth, a name that will be familiar to Christopher’s fans. Gigi and Rob were also very close, which makes her performance on this track all the more meaningful. The album closes with a song in memory of Rob called Alvah, (Rob’s middle name), which features beautiful string arrangements by Chris Walden.

In Christopher’s words, “It was a blessing to work with all these talented folks in the making of this album which holds so many bittersweet emotions for me. I didn't expect to make another one, but, as Rob reminded me once, its what we do.”

At Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information/tickets: 865-522-0832, www.knoxbijou.com, www.ticketmaster.com

Knoxville, TN: On Monday, February 18, poet Tiana Clark will read as part of the University of Tennessee Creative Writing Series.

Tiana Clark is the author of the debut poetry collection, I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018), winner of the 2017 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize, and Equilibrium (Bull City Press, 2016), selected by Afaa Michael Weaver for the 2016 Frost Place Chapbook Competition. Clark is the winner of a 2019 Pushcart Prize, as well as the 2017 Furious Flower's Gwendolyn Brooks Centennial Poetry Prize and 2015 Rattle Poetry Prize. She was the 2017-2018 Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute of Creative Writing. Clark is the recipient of scholarships and fellowships to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Sewanee Writers' Conference, and Kenyon Review Writers Workshop. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University (M.F.A) and Tennessee State University (B.A.) where she studied Africana and Women's studies. Her writing has appeared in or is forthcoming from The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine, Kenyon Review, BuzzFeed News, American Poetry Review, New England Review, Oxford American, Best New Poets 2015, and elsewhere. She teaches creative writing at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

The reading begins at 7 p.m. in Strong Hall, Room 101 on the University of Tennessee Campus. The event is free and open to the public; all are encouraged to attend.

The mission of the UT Creative Writing Series is to feature "writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from around the country and around the world." The series is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Department of English.

english.utk.edu/creative-writing-program

Faculty and guest artist recital; Adam Cordle performs works written 100 years ago, in 1919.

Natalie Haslam Music Center, Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall
6pm

UT School of Music: Unless otherwise noted, concerts are FREE and open to the public. The Alumni Memorial Building located at 1408 Middle Drive on the UT campus. (The James R. Cox Auditorium is located in the Alumni Memorial Building.) The Natalie Haslam Music Center is located at 1741 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus. *For individual or small group performances, please check the web site or call the day of the event for updates or cancellations: 865-974-5678, www.music.utk.edu/events

Monday, February 18, 2019 - 11:45am to 1:30pm

Join the East Tennessee Historical Society on Monday, February 18, for a special Brown Bag lecture and book signing as the family team of Dr. Robin Montgomery and daughter Joy Montgomery present a program about Sam Houston, his life, his interaction with the Cherokee, and his role as an image of unity throughout the early 19th century.

Sam Houston holds the distinction of having served as the first president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two individuals to represent Texas in the United States Senate. He is the only person to have served as the governor of two different states—Texas and Tennessee. As a teenager, he ran away from home and lived with the Cherokee.

The Montgomery’s recently facilitated exchange trips between the three spots prominent in the life of Houston: Texas, East Tennessee, and Cherokee sites in Tennessee. Troy Wayne Poteete, chief justice of the Cherokee Supreme Court, represented the Cherokee Nation.

The program will begin at 11:45 a.m. at the East Tennessee History Center with Joy Montgomery speaking on Sam Houston and the Cherokee, followed by a short break, and then Dr. Robin Montgomery speaking at 12:45 p.m. on Sam Houston as a symbol of unity. The program is sponsored by the Harriet Z. Albers Memorial Fund and is and free and open to the public. Guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch and enjoy the lecture. Soft drinks will be available. East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

Free and open to the public
Reception Friday, February 22, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.

Kate McCullough
“There is so much freedom in being able to create,” says Kate. “The world of painting is a magical place where the looking glass is only limited by my imagination. The goal for my art is to not only reach that deeper place, but to offer something to the viewer that could reach a place in them that has meaning as well.”
Kate began painting in watercolor about 15 years ago, after a 35-year hiatus from art. Initially her studies at Villa Marie College and SUNY College at Buffalo included general design, art history and oil and acrylic painting. When she returned to painting, she decided to explore watercolor. She took courses with Marcia Goldenstein and Whitney Leland at UT, and then moved on to workshops at Arrowmont with Don Lake and Sue Archer; Kanuga with Linda Baker, Keiko Tanabe and Don Andrews; Cheap Joe’s with Linda Kemp; three workshops with John Salminen and a couple with Paul Jackson. McCullough now teaches watercolor classes at the Fountain City Art Center and the Oak Ridge Art Center. She is the former president of the Knoxville Watercolor Society, a member of the Art Market Gallery in downtown Knoxville, a signature member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society and Vice President of the Art Guild of Tellico Village.

Roy McCullough
Roy says that painting is a process of discovery. When he and his wife, Kate, travel, they invariably bring cameras and open minds, and often jockey for position to capture their own version of the same scene. When they paint, they usually express the same subject in far different ways. Roy prefers somewhat earthy subjects to the purely picturesque. He is inspired by often-overlooked commercial illustrations from the advertising industry. These illustrators work under stressful deadlines, yet consistently produce outstanding, insightful and delightful work at the highest level. “When I find a subject that could make an interesting subject for a painting, I might conjure an untold background story,” says Roy. “I look for unexpected situations that reveal something universal. Sometimes it could be interesting lighting, shapes or color. And when people are involved, I ask, ‘What’s going on? Does it suggest a narrative?’ There is always a challenge involved in making a picture come to life. Sometimes I surprise myself and a painting works on multiple levels. When that happens, I feel I have succeeded.”

Roy’s love of art began in grade school and continued thorough his career in advertising. He studied art history in college and still enjoys museum- and gallery-hopping wherever he travels.

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 NEW PLAY FESTIVAL will consist of fully staged World Premiere presentation of The Senator’s Wife by North Carolina Playwright C. Robert Jones at the Historic Southern Railway Station
Directed by Jennifer Alldredge
February 14-24
A romantic comedy with songs

The 2019 New Play Festival also includes three table readings and two staged readings. The table readings will occur between March 1 - 31. Each reading will include a discussion session afterwards with the cast, director and audience – and when possible - the playwright.

The plays in this group are:
To The Bone, drama with laughs
A House For Mandy, drama
Raft, a dark comedy

The stage readings will each have one performance in February:
Amazing Graces by Lea McMahan
Indian Giver by Michael Reiman

For tickets and more information, please contact Tennessee Stage Company: 865-546-4280, www.tennesseestage.com

Beethoven's Violin Sonatas with Miroslav Hristov, violin and Chih-Long Hu, piano
Faculty recital; As part of Ludwig van Beethoven's 250thanniversary celebrations, Miroslav Hristov, violin and Chih-Long Hu, piano present an integral performance of Beethoven's Violin Sonatas on three consecutive Mondays in February. More about this series at music.utk.edu/beethoven250 .

Monday, February 11 at 8:00pm to 10:30pm
Monday, February 18 at 8:00pm to 10:30pm
Monday, February 25 at 8:00pm to 10:30pm

Natalie Haslam Music Center, Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall

UT School of Music: Unless otherwise noted, concerts are FREE and open to the public. The Alumni Memorial Building located at 1408 Middle Drive on the UT campus. (The James R. Cox Auditorium is located in the Alumni Memorial Building.) The Natalie Haslam Music Center is located at 1741 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus. *For individual or small group performances, please check the web site or call the day of the event for updates or cancellations: 865-974-5678, www.music.utk.edu/events

New Traditions focuses on the contemporary ways that metal as medium is being used in craft practices. Artists Sophie Glenn and Adam Hawk have distinctive ways of working with the material, while recognizing the importance of tradition in their fields.

As a furniture maker, Glenn understands the value of knowing the history of her craft, but also seeing that this can be a hindrance to makers wishing to push the limits of furniture design. “It is important to remember that furniture making and woodworking are not mutually exclusive,” says Glenn. In her body of work featured here, Rust Never Sleeps, Glenn has completely eliminated wood from the equation. All of her furniture designs are made entirely out of painted and rusted steel. “Hopefully, this trickery allows people to view and experience furniture in a new light.”

Brooches with vibrant, neon colors and geometric designs may feel influenced by anything but nature. But Adam Hawk’s jewelry pieces are just that. The overall forms of Hawk’s pieces are free flowing, and mimic structures found in natural environments, while at the same time, the designs play with the idea of natural geometry that occurs all around us. “From roaming the creeks and fields I grew up around, to traveling to foreign countries, my exposure to urban and natural aesthetics has had a major influence on my design vocabulary,” says Hawk.

Born and raised in New York City, Sophie Glenn received her BFA in Sculpture from the State University of New York at Purchase, and her MFA in Furniture Design and Woodworking from San Diego State University. She has worked extensively as a metal fabricator and welder for many independent makers and businesses across the country, including Vivian Beer Studio Works in Manchester, New Hampshire and Shelton Studios Inc. in Brooklyn, New York. She is currently the wood artist in residence at the Appalachian Center for Craft and was recently awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission. See more of Sophie’s work here: https://sophieglenn.com/

Adam Hawk is a studio artist and lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Hawk earned his MFA in metalsmithing/blacksmithing from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and BFA in sculpture and computer fine arts from Memphis College of Art. Previously, Hawk has served as an assistant professor at Memphis College of Art and worked as a Lead Blacksmith at the National Ornamental Metal Museum. His work has been exhibited at the National Ornamental Metal Museum, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, the HOW art museum in Shanghai, China, The Villa Braghieri in Italy, Walter Anderson Museum and the Fuller Craft Museum. See more of Adam’s work here: http://hawkforge.com/index.html

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

A one-act play by Peter Manos, author of Walk, Don’t Ride!

Oh Freedom! The Story of the Underground Railroad combines the stories of the men and women who were active in the fight against slavery with songs of the period. Famous participants like Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe are here. So are lesser known heroes of the movement like John Rankin, whose house on a hill above the Ohio River was a beacon for freedom for many escaping bondage; the mysterious “Peg Leg” Joe, who moved among the plantations teaching slaves to escape and “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” a song designed to show them the way; and Henry “Box” Brown, who had himself put in a box and mailed to freedom by general post!

Oh Freedom! inspires us all to work together for the good of all as it celebrates a time when Americans were at their courageous best, supporting one another, regardless of background, ethnicity or gender, in the cause to extend to all Americans our greatest, most inalienable right: to be free.

Length: approx. 50 minutes
Please call 865-539-2490 or email wordplayers@comcast.net to schedule a performance.

Schedule of Public Performances (Free Admission)
Feb. 6 – Walters State-Sevierville – CAPE 104 – 4:00 PM, 1720 Old Newport Hwy., Sevierville, TN
Feb. 7 – Walters State-Greeneville – 9:40 AM, 215 N. College St., Greeneville, TN
Feb. 7 – Walters State-Tazewell – 2:15 PM, 1325 Claiborne St., Tazewell, TN
Feb. 12 – Pellissippi State-Magnolia Campus – 12:25, 1610 E. Magnolia Ave., Knoxville
Feb. 12 – Johnson University – 7:00 PM, 7900 Johnson Dr., Knoxville
Feb. 14 – Pellissippi State-Blount Campus – 2:00 PM, 2731 W Lamar Alexander Pkwy, Friendsville, TN
Feb. 16 – Oak Valley Baptist Church – 4:00 PM, 194 Hampton Rd., Oak Ridge, TN
Feb. 17 – Fountain City UMC – 7:00 PM, 212 Hotel Rd., Fountain City/Knoxville, TN
Feb. 20 – Roane State Harriman – 12:30 & 6:00 PM, 276 Patton Ln., Harriman, TN
Feb. 24 – Fifth Avenue Baptist – 4:00 PM, 2500 E. 5th Ave., Knoxville
Feb. 26 – Emerald Academy – 5:30 PM, 220 Carrick St, Knoxville
Feb. 28 – Walters State-Morristown – Lyceum – 8:00 AM, 500 S. Davy Crockett Parkway, Morristown, TN

The WordPlayers performances are held at Erin Presbyterian Church, 200 Lockett Road, Knoxville, TN 37919. Information: 865-539-2490, www.wordplayers.org

By Michael Bartlett

A Pay What You Can Preview performance, where patrons can name their own price, will be Wednesday, Feb. 5th. A free preshow discussion with director John Sipes exploring the Shakespearean element will take place on Feb. 7th from 6:30-7:00 pm in the Lab Theatre. A panel discussion entitled “Enemy of the People” will take place following the February 17th 2:00 pm matinee. This discussion will revolved around the issues of freedom of the press, protection of privacy, government authority, and more. The Open Captioned performance is Sunday, Feb. 24th at 2:00 pm.

In this “modern future history” play, Queen Elizabeth has died. Charles, the “King-in-waiting” finally ascends the throne. Then, defying centuries of tradition, Charles boldly attempts to reassert the crown’s power in matters of government, landing himself – and his country – in a royal mess. Exploring power and betrayal, the drama reveals the people beneath the crowns as nuanced flesh and blood, and turns a Shakespearean lens on relationships in the world’s most famous and exposed family.

John Sipes (Director) is a Professor in the Department of Theatre at the University of Tennessee. Before joining the UT faculty, he was a Director and the Resident Movement Director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for fifteen seasons. Prior to his residency at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he was a Director and Movement Director for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival for twelve seasons and served as the Festival’s Artistic Director for five seasons. Directing credits include productions at the Clarence Brown Theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Milwaukee Rep, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival and others.

The production features visiting guest professional actors, UT faculty and graduate students, and community professional actors.

Clarence Brown Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com. For tickets: 865-974-5161, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

A closing reception with the artist will be held 3-5 p.m. Feb. 22.

Silkscreen gig posters for bands, sculptures and birdhouses may seem like an eclectic mix of objects, but for artist Matt Tullis, it's all interrelated.

Pellissippi State Community College will display a variety of Tullis' work through Feb. 22 in the Bagwell Center for Media and Art Gallery on the Hardin Valley Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road.

The exhibit, the latest installment in The Arts at Pellissippi State, is free and open to the public. The Gallery has expanded its hours and is now open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Tullis, who teaches graphic design at Western Kentucky University, is also a sculptor and raconteur. He titled the show "Pollinate" in reference to how all facets of his work are interrelated and develop from cross-pollination, he said.

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

Many Visions, Many Versions showcases works from four major indigenous artistic traditions in India: the Gond and Warli communities of central India, the Mithila region of Bihar, and the narrative scroll painters of West Bengal.

The exhibition features 47 exceptional paintings and drawings, selected from private collections in the United States and Europe, by 24 significant indigenous artists including Jangarh Singh Shyam, Jivya Soma Mashe, Sita Devi, and Swarna Chitrakar.

The exhibition explores the breadth of cultural traditions in India, revealing a dynamic aesthetic that remains deeply rooted in traditional culture, yet vitally responsive to issues of global concern. Rather than separating the art into sections distinguished by tribal and cultural affinities, the curators intentionally display the paintings thematically; accentuating the shared cultural features and contemporary concerns of these four communities that underlies the diversity of the artists’ unique expressive forms, techniques, and styles. The exhibition is divided into four broad categories: Myth and Cosmology, Nature – real and imagined, Village Life, and Contemporary Explorations. For American audiences eager to know more about Indian art, Many Visions, Many Versions offers an opportunity for viewers of all ages to learn about life and culture in India through these remarkable artworks.

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