Calendar of Events

DISNEY'S MARY POPPINS JR.
February 22 - March 17

Knoxville Children’s Theatre will present a live stage adaptation of the musical Disney’s Mary Poppins, Jr. The play will be performed February 22nd through March 17th: Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM, Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM, and Sundays at 3 PM, with shows at 7 PM on Sunday March 3, March 10 and March 17.

Based on one of the most popular Disney movies of all time and the Broadway musical that played for over 2,500 performances and received multiple Olivier and Tony Awards nominations, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins, Jr. captures hearts in a whole new way: as a practically perfect Broadway Junior musical! The jack-of-all trades, Bert, introduces us to England in 1910 and the troubled Banks family. Young Jane and Michael have sent many a nanny packing before Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep. Using a combination of magic and common sense, she must teach the family members how to value each other again. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures, but Jane and Michael aren't the only ones upon whom she has a profound effect. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises that "Anything can happen if you let it."

The play is performed by 24 talented young actors, from ages 10 to 17. Audrey Randall plays the title role of Mary Poppins, while Caleb Delong portrays the multitalented Bert. Jane is played by Evie Braude, and Eleanor Wood portrays Michael.

The play is directed by KCT Artistic Director, Dennis E. Perkins, and Musical Direction is provided by Paul Jones of Auralation Studios.

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

Reception: Sunday February 24, 5–7 p.m.

Beauvais Lyons, Director of the Hokes Archives

Circus Orbis was a regional circus based in Jacksboro, Tennessee, that performed in the American South and Midwest in the early 20th century. Unlike better-known circuses of the day, Circus Orbis toured in only ten train cars, had a cast of thirty performers, and a small menagerie consisting of domestic animals and costumed performers dressed as various anthropomorphic creatures. The founder of the circus, Thaddeus Evergood, spent a year in Rome in 1908 where he was a street performer and found inspiration from the city’s art and architecture. The design of Circus Orbis was informed by ancient Roman and Baroque art, as well as the trompe l’oeil frescos from the Villa Farnesina. This small exhibition presents a selection of graphic works used to promote the circus, some surviving printed ephemera, as well as a facsimile of one of the sideshow banners. Circus Orbis discontinued in 1929 when the “Splendorium,” a tented “Show Palace,” was destroyed in a fire. One of the best accounts of the circus may be found in Thaddeus Evergood’s memoir, Popcorn & Peanuts, published in 1933.

At Gallery 103, Art and Architecture Building, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
https://art.utk.edu/beauvais-lyons-to-exhibit-selections-from-circus-orbis-in-gallery-103/

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

This exhibition celebrates the uncommon aesthetic vision and philanthropic impulse of June and Rob Heller, who are among Knoxville’s most active, adventurous, and generous art collectors.

The selection of more than 50 sculptures and paintings attests to the couple’s journey as collectors over four decades. Lure of the Object pays tribute to the Heller’s accomplishments as collectors, their significant role as KMA patrons, and the many key sculptures and paintings they have donated to the museum. Some of the featured objects have been gifted to the KMA, while others are promised gifts. International contemporary glass is a particular area of focus, and the exhibition features works by William Morris, Richard Jolley, Bertil Vallien, Oben Abright, Dante Marioni, Therman Statom, and Stephen Rolfe Powell. Complementing sculptural works are paintings by Jim Dine, Frank Stella, Christo, and Paul Jenkins.

Before settling in Knoxville, the Hellers moved frequently as dictated by career assignments in London, Geneva, Singapore, and other major cities around the world. In each location, they made a practice of exploring galleries, art fairs, museums, and auctions with a sense of openness and adventure. Increasingly, they discovered works of art they could not live without. They were not bound by any set medium, period, or theme, but rather acquired works that provoked a strong emotional response. As their collection grew, so did the challenge of transporting objects—many of them quite large—from home to home. Soon after moving to Knoxville, they became involved in the city’s art scene. They patronized area artists, and became staunch supporters of the Knoxville Museum of Art. In particular, they became outspoken advocates for the KMA’s efforts to build a collection of contemporary sculpture which glass is a primary material. They supported the museum by donating funds as well as works from their extensive collection of modern and contemporary art.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM, Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

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

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

Join the artist for two receptions! Friday, February 1, 5-9 PM and Friday, March 1, 5-9 PM
Scott Bennett - Watercolor Art and Crafts

Gallery hours: Mon-Fri 1-5 PM
HoLa Hora Latina, 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 112, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-335-3358, www.holahoralatina.org

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

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

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