Calendar of Events
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Broadway Studios and Gallery: Walt Fieldsa - Past and Present
Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event
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
The Emporium Center: Grace and Grandeur by Sam Stapleton and John Vavruska
Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event
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.
The Emporium Center: Pairs: Work by the New Image Artists
Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event
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.
The Emporium Center: Knoxville: Special Light by Allen Monsarrat
Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event
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.
The Emporium Center: Anna Halliwell Boyd: Forget Me Not (Really)
Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event
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.
The Emporium Center: Rodney Yardley: Barns, Beer Joints, and Baptist Churches
Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event
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.
HoLa Hora Latina: Work by Delia Flores
Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event
Opening Fri May 3, 5-9 PM
Call for gallery hours. HoLa Hora Latina, 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 112, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-335-3358, www.holahoralatina.org
Dogwood Arts: Epiphone Student Guitar Design Exhibition
Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Free event, Fundraisers and Music
Friday, May 3rd | 5:30PM-7:30PM
Awaken Coffee | 125 W. Jackson Avenue
Join us at Awaken Coffee on First Friday for the opening of the 2019 Epiphone Student Guitar Design Exhibition!
Dogwood Arts partnered with the Songbirds Foundation in Chattanooga to give 20 high school and middle school students the chance to design guitars provided by Epiphone. The guitars were on exhibition in Chattanooga at Songbirds during the month of April and are moving to Awaken Coffee where they will be on display May 3rd-19th!
The guitars are being auctioned online to benefit Dogwood Arts and the Songbirds Foundation’s youth art programs. Check out all of the amazing designs and place your bid by clicking the link below!
https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/guitar-auction-7483
Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Viewing hours: M-F 9-5.
Information: 865-637-4561, https://www.dogwoodarts.com/guitar-contest/
UT Downtown Gallery: Art Source 2019
Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event
Art Source 2019: An Exhibition of works by Knox County Art Educators
Every day, Knox County art teachers devote their time and energy to cultivating creativity and critical skills in their students. For more than a decade, ARTSOURCE, the exhibition dedicated solely to Knox County art educators, has given these same teachers an opportunity to nourish and showcase their own artistic talents. Please join us to celebrate the achievements of our art educators!
Friday May 3, 2019: First Friday Art Opening @ UT Downtown Gallery, 5-9pm / awards 6:30pm
UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown
FREE Concerts on the Square - Jazz Tuesdays & Variety Thursdays
Category: Free event, Kids, family and Music
The City of Knoxville’s Office of Special Events is excited to announce the lineup of performers for this year’s Concerts on the Square, presented by First Century Bank. The live music series begins Thursday, May 2, 2019 on Market Square.
Kicking off the season of Variety Thursdays on May 2, 2019 will be Karns Middle School Jazz Band at 7 p.m. and Karns High School Jazz Band at 8 p.m., followed on May 9, 2019 by Symphony on the Square, sponsored by Home Federal Bank, from 7:30-9 p.m.
Variety Thursdays continue through June 27, 2019 from 7-9 p.m. with the following performers:
• May 16: Katie Pruitt, a Rhythm N’ Blooms Festival preview
• May 23: Ensemble Swing Time Band
• May 30: Bary Jolly’s Jimmy Buffett Tribute
• June 6: Mike Snodgrass
• June 13: Frontier Band
• June 20: Uptown Moonlighting
• June 27: Square on the Square
Jazz Tuesdays begin with the University of Tennessee Saxophone Ensemble on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 from 7-9 p.m.
Tuesday, May 14th
6:30-7:30pm - Knoxville Jazz Youth Orchestra
8-10pm - Knoxville Jazz Orchestra
Tuesday, May 21st
8-10pm Vance Thompson Quartet
Tuesday, May 28th
8-10pm Larry Vincent Group
Tuesday, June 4th
8-10pm Mark Boling Trio
Tuesday, June 11th
8-10pm Vance Thompson Quintet
On Tuesdays, May 21 - Aug. 27, 2019, Jazz on the Square concerts will feature some of the Southeast’s finest jazz musicians including Vance Thompson and Friends, the Greg Tardy Quartet and many more. Show times are 8-10 p.m. For a full calendar and details about the bands visit www.KnoxvilleTN.gov/concerts.
Concerts on the Square events are free, including parking for motorists entering City-owned garages after 6 p.m. Attendees should bring their own chairs or blankets for seating. No food or beer is being sold on Market Square by outside vendors during these events. Food is available from restaurants for take-out, but alcohol can only be consumed inside establishments or on their patios.
Interested in finding some free parking? No search needed. We have over 5,500 spaces free after 6pm on weeknights. You can also find free parking all weekend. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...it's free all year. Find a spot and come enjoy the fun! http://knoxvilletn.gov/news/2019/concerts_on_the_square_series_begins_may_2
WDVX: Blue Plate Special

Category: Free event and Music
Just like at your favorite meat n’ three, the WDVX Blue Plate Special® is served up piping hot. This fresh and free daily helping of live music during the lunchtime hour that features performers from all over the world and right here in Knoxville has put WDVX on the map as East Tennessee’s Own community supported radio.
The WDVX Blue Plate Special® is a live performance radio show held at noon, with your host Red Hickey Monday through Friday and Doug Lauderdale on Saturday, at the WDVX studio inside the Knoxville Visitor Center. It’s always free to join in so please don’t be shy. Make yourself at home as part of the WDVX family. From blues to bluegrass, country to Celtic, folk to funk, rockabilly to hillbilly, local to international, it all part of the live music experience on the WDVX Blue Plate Special. You’re welcome to bring your lunch.
Previous performing artists include Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, The Avett Brothers, Old Crowe Medicine Show, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Jim Lauderdale, Marty Stuart, Nickel Creek, Red Stick Ramblers, Rodney Crowell, String Cheese Incident, The Del McCoury Band, Tim O’Brien, Yonder Mountain String Band, David Grisman, Claire Lynch Band, Brett Dennen, Tommy Emmanuel, Uncle Earl, The Infamous Stringdusters, the Jerry Douglas Band, Joan Osborne, John Oats, Mary Gauthier, Darrell Scott, and many many more! There’s plenty of great music to go around! http://wdvx.com/program/blue-plate-special/
Free 2-hour visitor parking located next door to the Knoxville Visitor Center. One Vision Plaza, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Info: 865-544-1029, http://www.wdvx.com
Knoxville Children's Theatre: Little Women

Category: Kids, family and Theatre
Knoxville Children’s Theatre will present a live stage adaptation of the beloved children’s novel Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. The play will be performed April 26 through May 12: Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM, Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM, and Sundays at 3 PM.
Little Women is one of the most widely read novels of all time and named one of the “Top 100 Books for Children” by the National Education Association. As another Christmas arrives with Mr. March still off at the war front, Mrs. March’s daughters are growing up to be strikingly different from each other. Jo is willful, impulsive, and temperamental, whereas Beth is humble and selfless. Meg does not see a future outside her hometown, whereas Amy dreams of Europe. Jo and Laurence are inseparable in their youth, but which of the “Little Women” will he marry? And if “Laurie” is too conventional for Jo, what kind of man will she ever end up with? Ripe with life lessons about the change from child into young adult, Little Women is a timeless American classic.
The play is performed by 14 talented young actors, from ages 12 to 17. The March sisters are portrayed by 4 veteran KCT performers: Brycen Ritchie plays Jo, Emma Stark plays Amy, and Beth is played by Maddy Grace Payne. Campbell Ella plays the oldest March sister Meg, while the sisters’ mother, Mrs. March, also known as Marme, is played by Kennis Van Dyke. The girls’ friend Laurence is played by Dale Gross. The play is directed by KCT student intern, Charlotte Stark. The production team includes 3 students from the L&N STEM Academy. KCT is east Tennessee’s leading producer of plays for children.
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