Calendar of Events

The Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law (LMU Law) and the East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS) have joined forces to bring world-renowned historian and biographer Ron Chernow to Knoxville on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, as a part of The Sherri and Baxter Lee Distinguished Speaker Series.

Chernow, a Pulitzer Prize winning and New York Times-bestselling historian, has authored some of the most renowned and acclaimed biographies ever published. While nearly all of his seven books have earned praise, honors and awards, his 2004 portrait of founding father Alexander Hamilton inspired a worldwide phenomenon in the Broadway musical Hamilton. The National Book Award winner illuminates the life and times of some of America's most significant historical figures in his works. His community presentation is entitled Hamilton: The Man and The Musical. Chernow will be the featured speaker at the 2019 White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 27.
Chernow's first book, The House of Morgan, won the National Book Award as the best nonfiction book of 1990 and is considered a modern classic. His second book, The Warburgs, won the prestigious George S. Eccles Prize for best business book of 1993. He followed that up with a collection of essays, The Death of the Banker. In 1998, he published Titan, a biography of John D. Rockefeller, which stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for 16 weeks. Alexander Hamilton was published to extraordinary acclaim in 2004. The book spent more than three months on The New York Times bestseller list and was the first recipient of the George Washington Book Prize for the year's best book about the founding era. In 2010, Chernow's long-awaited biography of George Washington, Washington: A Life, debuted to outstanding reviews. It would go on to win the New York Historical Society's coveted American History Book Prize and the Pulitzer Prize in Biography. Chernow's seventh book, Grant, was released to universal praise in 2017.

Beginning in 2008, Chernow collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda as the historical consultant on the sensational Broadway musical Hamilton. The musical is the biggest Broadway hit of the past 50 years. In May 2015, as a member of the show's creative team, he received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical. The show was nominated for a record-breaking 16 Tony Awards, winning 11. In November 2015, Chernow and Miranda jointly received the History Makers Award of the New York Historical Society for their work together on the acclaimed show and also were honored at the National Archives in Washington. That same month, Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton returned to The New York Times bestseller list. It has sold more than two million copies, making it one of the best-selling biographies of all time.

Chernow is an honors graduate of Yale and Cambridge. He is one of the most distinguished commentators on history, politics and business in America today. He has won virtually every major prize in American letters. Former President Barack Obama conferred upon him a National Humanities Medal at the White House in 2015. A frequent contributor to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Chernow is a familiar figure on national radio and television shows and has appeared in numerous documentaries. He is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates and is a past president of PEN America, the main book writers organization.

Tickets for the community lecture will go on sale on March 15, 2019, at the Tennessee Theatre box office or online at www.tennesseetheatre.com. General admission tickets are $55. Students, East Tennessee Historical Society members and Friends of the Knox County Public Library will receive a code for discounted tickets.

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

KFW is an art and fashion event with the ultimate goal of creating buzz and giving a relevant outlet to fashion houses, buyers, and culture enthusiasts.

The Kickoff Event – Monday, May 6: 6-8pm Celebrating our Design Community and the Fashion Arts in Knoxville
Sponsored by Gage Models & Talent Agency featuring music and runway with local artists and models performing a sneak peek of the weeklong runway events to follow.
Live Music: Cindi Alpert and the Corduroy Jazz Trio
Doors Open: 6pm for Music & Cocktail Hour
Runway: 7pm

Wednesday, May 8: 6-9pm Emerging Artists Runway
Doors Open: 6pm for Cocktail Hour
Runway: 7pm
Location: Relix, 1208 N Central St, Knoxville, TN 37917

Thursday, May 9 : 6-9pm Celebrating the Art of Hair & Makeup on the Runway
Doors Open: 6pm for Cocktail Hour
Runway: 7pm
Location: Relix, 1208 N Central St, Knoxville, TN 37917

Friday, May 10 : 6-9pm
Doors Open: 5:30pm for Cocktail Hour
Runway: 6:30pm

The Grand Finale Runway Events – Saturday, May 11
NOON: Doors Open
1pm Children’s Runway Event
2pm Emerging Model Showcase
3pm Boutique Bliss & Retail Therapy Runway
4pm Bridal Runway
7pm Cocktail Hour
8pm Grand Finale Couture Runway
Location: Jackson Terminal, Knoxville, TN 37917

https://www.facebook.com/knoxfashionweek/

The Appalachian Arts Craft Center will hold its annual Plant Sale starting Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and running for about 2 weeks.

Appalachian Arts Craft Center: 2716 Andersonville Highway, Clinton, TN. Hours: M-Sa 10-6, Su 1-5. Information: 865-494-9854, www.appalachianarts.net

PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE CLOSING RECEPTION: JUNE 28, 5 - 7 PM

In Her Domain is an exhibition featuring work by Helen Geglio and Angela Caldwell. Both artists seek to honor and represent the work women do. The two artists first met as a result of being paired for this show by gallery manager Kelsey Dillow - and have forged a lasting friendship as a result.

Read Kelsey Dillow's interview and learn more about how this connection has influenced the exhibit and their future work on Arrowmont's blog: www.arrowmont.org/in-her-domain-blog/

GEOFFREY A. WOLPERT GALLERY, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

Opening Reception: Friday, May 3, 3-5pm
JOIN US FOR A RECEPTION

The Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture

Summer Hours: Open: Tuesday - Friday: 1pm - 5pm

Exhibiting students from the School of Art
Mary Badillo
Parker Jenkins
Kelly Moore
Elisa Razak
Lauren Bergner
Tatiana Tikhonova

Exhibiting students from the College of Architecture and Design
M. Pruett Smith
Kyra Wu
Subu Bhandari
Maggie House
Fernando Turpin
Briana Willis
Halie Kennedy
Cameron Davis

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

Opening for the new exhibit will be First Friday, May 3, 5-9 PM

Sandy Hoeft is a landscape artist who lived in Alaska for many years. She recently retired to the Cumberland Plateau in beautiful Tennessee. Sandy gets her inspiration for her paintings from hiking and traveling the back roads. She loves the ever changing skies and enjoys painting large clouds. The barns and farmland in Tennessee have been her focus since retiring.

Lynn Straka, DVM, is a mixed media jewelry artist and practicing small animal veterinarian. "I began making natural and glass crystal beaded jewelry in about 2000—helping me through a tumultuous time. Jewelry-making quickly became a second vocation and I began selling my jewelry at craft shows. Ten years later, I expanded my work and began to transition from stringing beads to creating my jewelry by letter and word stamping on sterling silver and copper. I opened an Etsy shop, making and selling personalized pendant necklaces, bridal gifts and other unique pieces. At that time, I was self-taught, researching and learning technique and materials use on my own. I’ve always felt comfortable using small hand tools in these techniques, because the tools are similar to the tools I use in my veterinary surgical practice. In 2008, my husband and I moved to East Tennessee. I discovered Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and began taking yearly classes to develop my skills as an artist and metalworker. Having personal instruction reinforced my base knowledge and encouraged me to ask questions and trouble shoot subjects that have challenged me. The jewelry I make is adornment – created to produce joy to the wearer. Designs influenced by nature, they may evoke a memory, affirm a belief, or be an extension of the wearer’s personality."

The Art Market Gallery features two artists every month. These exhibits are new works by the artists, and they are often present to talk about their work and inspirations.

Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tu-Th & Sa 11-6, Fri 11-9, Su 1-5. Information: 865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net

Walt Fieldsa - Past and Present
Opening May 3rd 5:00-9:00
MAY 3 2019 – JUNE 1 2019

Silent Auction May 3rd-May 31st

Broadway Studios and Gallery, 1127 Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Hours: Fri-Sat, 10-6, by appointment, or when the "open" sign is illuminated. Information: 865-556-8676, www.BroadwayStudiosAndGallery.com

A reception will take place on Friday, May 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities.

Two photographers born in 1951, Sam Stapleton and John Vavruska, grew up in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains: Sam, on the western side in the town of Kingsport, TN and John, on the eastern slopes in Waynesville, NC. Both were heavily influenced by the culture and natural beauty of the southern Appalachians, both subsequently obtained professional degrees from the University of Tennessee (Sam in accounting and John in engineering), and both began their serious pursuit of photography in the early 1970’s. When they met in 1976, it was their shared love of photography that provided the foundation for their friendship, and for two years, they shared a house and a darkroom they built themselves. Time separated them: Vavruska was drawn to the American west in the early 1980’s, served in the Peace Corps in Nepal, and then settled in Santa Fe where he now resides with his wife of 30+ years; Stapleton remained close to his roots in Knoxville, where he too resides with his wife of 30+ years.

Yet with all of their similarities, the two have drifted apart in their photographic vision and now occupy virtual opposite ends of the photographic spectrum. Vavruska has remained primarily in the analog (film) world and has grown in the direction of large (4 x 5 inch) format black and white photography, capturing the grandeur of the natural landscape through hand-crafted gelatin silver prints. Conversely, Stapleton remained with small (35mm) format photography but converted whole-heartedly to digital technology where he continues to focus on the intimate color imagery of the East Tennessee landscape. While one’s images convey a high level of detail and tonal gradation, another’s use the spontaneity of the smaller format to explore the abstract and impressionistic capabilities of the medium. Hence the exhibit, Grace and Grandeur, is presented to share their story – the story of two men with a common photographic grounding that has matured into expressions of widely divergent visions. For more information, please visit www.johnvavruska.com and www.samstapletonphotography.com.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. CLOSED Monday May 27. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, May 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities.

This fiber and mixed media exhibition, curated by Trudi Van Dyke, features thirteen contemporary fiber artists who are juried members of the New Image Artists group. New Image is a group of artists from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC who come together to share their art and ideas. Members are active studio artists who work primarily with cloth, paper, and alternative materials.

The concept of “pairs” challenged the artists to consider their work as it developed in theme or concept and how one piece could influence the artist to create a companion piece. Unlike a diptych, each new work stands alone, and yet its voice is more fully developed when viewed as a pair that evolved from the subject, materials or some other element of the initial work. When conceiving work for Pairs, the artists experimented with relationships between subject, media and techniques. The artists began in a creative dimension without boundaries and chose a concept or subject without limits. The first work was planned and sometimes completed when the artist found a way to morph the idea, media or subject into a complementary piece. The resulting pair effectively enables viewers a more in-depth appreciation than a solitary work. For more information on New Image Artists, visit www.newimageartists.com.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. CLOSED Monday May 27. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, May 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities.

In college, Allen Monsarrat first studied architecture but graduated with a BFA with a concentration in pottery. His first art career was as a studio potter in Friendsville, TN for 25 years, followed by a career in decorative wall finishes, faux painting, cabinetry finishing and the occasional mural project. Never one to sit still, he turned to fine art painting which has developed into a concentration on representational work, including photorealism (paintings intended to look like photographs).

Monsarrat’s source material comes from photographs he has taken, which allows him to carefully design a composition and have plenty of information to include as much detail as he chooses. More importantly, as his reference source, a photograph allows him to study the nuances of color, light and reflection and how they change across a seemingly uniformly colored surface. Monsarrat uses translucent layers of paint to build depth unachievable with ink on paper. He began working in pastels in 2018, and for this exhibition, he will display oil paintings and pastels that depict iconic Knoxville scenes. For more information, please visit www.monsarratart.com.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. CLOSED Monday May 27. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, May 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities.

My thesis work explores lost connections and the distortion of my personal history. Personal photographs and old school notes are some of the visible remains of relationships I have made in my lifetime. These photographs display specific moments with other people, many of whom are no longer in my life. By distorting the individuals and places pictured, I am regarding the erosion of these memories and addressing the disconnect from that moment to present day. The original analog photographs are sanded, erased, and painted on with the intent of creating separation between the figures and the viewer, just as they are now separated from me. Forget Me Not (Really) is about the ghosts of our pasts that follow us into the present, no matter how much time has gone by, and no matter how much we may want to forget.

Anna Halliwell Boyd is a mixed media artist and arts educator from Oak Ridge. She earned her MFA in Painting from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2018 and her Masters in Teacher Education from the University of Tennessee in 2013. Her BFA in the 2D Arts with a concentration in Drawing was also earned at UT in 2008. During her undergraduate years and first graduate program, she made watercolors, ceramic sculptures, oil paintings, and drawings that alluded to the bizarre, sad nature of witnessing the decay of her grandmother’s mind with Alzheimer’s. Her recent works use mixed media to convey themes of loss and how the past is recollected. The photographs she took growing up are often resurrected in her work to convey lost connections with others and the distorted nature of memory. Boyd is currently an adjunct instructor at several institutions and exhibits work from her MFA thesis. For more information, please visit www.annahalliwellboyd.com.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. CLOSED Monday May 27. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, May 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities.

Barns, Beer Joints, and Baptist Churches… those are three words that likely mean something to everyone in the South – a ubiquitous phrase that Southern folk know, love, and understand. I was raised in those three places, and still inhabit them with a great degree of regularity. They are places that make me feel at home. They are places that hold many warm and fond memories. They are often places that show up in my favorite dreams, and always in my favorite memories.

Rodney Yardley is a self-taught photographer and part-time flaneur from Knoxville. Much of his time is spent trying to capture the feeling of memories and dreams using tools from antique film cameras to modern digital cameras and cell phones.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. CLOSED Monday May 27. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.