Calendar of Events

Oct 10-13, 17-20, 24-27
5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. each evening

BOO! at the Zoo presented by U.S. Cellular® begins this weekend! Knoxville’s favorite Halloween event features 12 nights of safe and not-too-scary fun scheduled over three weekends; Friday through Sunday, Oct. 11-13 and Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 17-20 and Oct. 24-27, from 5:30-8:00 p.m. each evening. A special night exclusively for zoo annual passholders and Circle of Friends members is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 10 from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. A Halloween tradition for 33 years, this family event features trick-or-treating through the zoo along the BOO! Trail on a new route through Asian Trek, the Bank of America Monster Mash Dance Party, friendly costumed characters and entertainers each night. Additional activities include the Scary-Go-Round, the BOO! Choo Train, the new Baba Yaga Haunted Forest, and camel rides. Each weekend will feature special appearances by Star Wars characters from the 501st Legion, famous princesses, and on Thursday, Oct. 24, Simon and Siouxsie from Nat Geo’s “Snake City” will be meeting guests.

For more information, please visit https://www.booknoxville.com/

Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open every day except Christmas. Information: 865-637-5331, www.zooknoxville.org/event/boo-at-the-zoo

The WordPlayers presents Over the River and Through the Woods by Joe DiPietro on Oct. 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25 @ 7:30 p.m. & Oct. 13 & 20 @ 2:30 p.m.

Nick Cristano, 29 years old, loves his grandparents. He visits them every Sunday. They drive him crazy!! Nick's parents retired and moved to Florida. His sister got married and moved to California. Nick is left in New Jersey with both sets of his grandparents. Of course they love each other, but how can they possibly understand each other? Nick’s family is Italian-American. They have a saying: "Tengo famiglia," which doesn't translate very directly into English, but it expresses all the depth and complexities of family. It implies that family relationships provide the reason for being alive. Experience the hilarity and heart-break of this family, which may not be that far from your own.

The WordPlayers is a 501(c) 3 theatre company based in Knoxville, TN. Over the River and Through the Woods is sponsored by Care Around the Block and Dr. Ron & Peggy Turner. Upcoming programming includes The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and the premiere of Jackie Robinson Steals Home.

At Erin Presbyterian Church, 200 Lockett Rd., Knoxville. Tickets are $15 and available online at www.wordplayers.org and at the door. Thursdays are Pay What You Can Nights. For more information, call 865-539-2490.

Much Ado About Nothing, Thursday through Sunday, October 10, 11, 12 and 13, at the Clayton Center for the Arts. Show at 8:00 PM Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sunday at 2:00PM.
Directed by Walker Harrison '13. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for seniors (ages 60 and older) and students. Admission is free for Maryville College faculty, staff and students, but a printed ticket is required.

Tickets at https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/11734/the-clayton-center-for-the-arts-haslam-flexible-theatre?performance_id=2357619

In the Haslam Flexible Theatre.
Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Information/tickets: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

A Maryville-based graphic designer creates playful images that combine different media.

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

Our annual juried exhibition! Details TBA

Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tu-F 9-5, Sa-M 1-4. Information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org

Following his 2017 exhibit Twenty-One Still Lifes, Barry Spann returns with a compelling new body of work that playfully explores inner and outer spaces, and the realms in between. We invite you to experience a very special evening featuring a bold new installation singular to this exhibit.

Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, October 4 from 6-9 p.m. Meet the artist and enjoy live music & refreshments. The gallery will be transformed for a bold new installation singular to this exhibit. This is a dressy-casual First Friday event that is free & open to the public.

The District Gallery & Framery, 5113 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919
(865) 200-4452 or www.TheDistrictGallery.com
Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday 10-5:30, Saturday 10-4

Enjoy the Opening Reception of the “Autumn Blaze” Fall Art Show on Friday, October 4, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. This special reception is scheduled on the regular monthly “Fun and Wine Friday” reception date. Participants can view the show entries and watch the presentation of awards to the winning artists. Hors d'oeuvres, wine, and other beverages will be available. The reception is free and open to the public. The “Autumn Blaze” Fall Art Show will be on display in the gallery through October 31.

Art Guild at Fairfield Glade at the Plateau Creative Arts Center, 451 Lakeview Drive, Fairfield Glade, TN 38558. Information: 931-707-7249, www.artguildfairfieldglade.net

An opening reception will be held on Friday, October 4th from 5:30-8PM.

Pieced is a collaborative exhibition of work by Melissa Everett Textiles and Nick DeFord

Melissa Everett: Each dyed, painted or printed textile, a unique work of art in itself, is cut and deconstructed to then be reconciled into a larger quilted piece. The steps taken resonate and reveal how hope and beauty can emerge from brokenness.

Nick DeFord: The work in Pieced represents both an exploration of mapping, but also the metaphoric properties of gaming and escapism. By embellishing the already decorative surfaces of game boards, it both accentuates their paths and trails, but also destroys their utilitarianism. Additionally, by starting to use alchemical signs, symbols, images and monsters, the work alludes to the transformation from low art to high art, from ephemera to gold, and from the starting square to finished line.

More about the Artists: https://www.facebook.com/events/2297177240369140/

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com
Gallery hours M-F 9-5

October Featured Artists - First Friday Reception: October 4, 5:30 – 9 p.m.

Marie Merritt interprets the scenic vistas, babbling streams, lovely flora, and majestic animals she encounters in nature throughout her signature style of oil painting. She strives to impart the same sense of awe, peace and calm that she enjoys. She develops a quality of depth and dimension in her paintings that is sensitive and expressive by using traditional time honored techniques of multiple layers of oil paints and glazes. Marie, a native of East Tennessee, has received numerous awards, designations and recognitions with her art, including Certified Decorative Artist and Teacher of Decorative Arts. Her original works hang in private and corporate collections throughout the region and her art has been featured on book covers and in magazines. She is represented by the Art Market Gallery in Knoxville, TN and her work can be seen at www.mariemerritt.com

Linda Sullivan: My ceramic work for several years has consisted of wheel-thrown and hand-formed stoneware and porcelain fired to 2300 degrees F in the oxidizing atmosphere of electric kilns. I have had a special interest in developing unique glazes since graduate school at Northern Illinois University, where I received a Master of Fine Arts Degree. My work has often evoked landscape imagery. While I continue with that glaze approach, retirement a few years ago from a career in healthcare information technology allowed me time to finally begin experimenting with crystalline glazes.
The pieces in this show were made using porcelain clay with self-developed glazes containing chemicals, such as zinc oxide, that encourage development of crystals. I program a computerized kiln to reach a peak temperature of 2300 degrees and then cool slowly by holding at multiple specific temperatures for up to three hours at a time for crystal formation. Just as in nature, when conditions are right, crystals will develop and grow, resulting in unique pieces that differ from one another and cannot be duplicated. The process for creating crystalline work is challenging in that successful results require several steps to ensure that crystals form. Conditions must be correct – including appropriate clay body, fluid glazes with specific chemical ingredients and percentages, thickness of glaze, and firing/cooling kiln cycle are critical. The failure rate with this technique is greater than in my other work. However, experimenting with crystalline glazes has really captured my interest for now and has been very satisfying in spite of the unpredictability. The process for creating crystalline work is challenging in that successful results require several steps to ensure that crystals form. Conditions must be correct – including appropriate clay body, fluid glazes with specific chemical ingredients and percentages, thickness of glaze, and firing/cooling kiln cycle are critical. The failure rate with this technique is greater than in my other work. However, experimenting with crystalline glazes has really captured my interest for now and has been very satisfying in spite of the unpredictability.

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

October 4th 6-9PM (Will be on display the entire month)

Join us in welcoming Pippin Long as our October First Friday artist. She is a native Tennessean and a graduate of UT Knoxville with a degree in art. While she enjoys experimenting with various mediums and techniques, Pippin’s main focus is in drawing and painting, and has worked with watercolors from a very young age. Her newest work explores portraiture and the treatment of skin using watercolor and negative space. Pippin currently makes her home in Asheville, NC.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1229898297217399/

Rala, 112 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902
HOURS: Mon - Thurs: 10:00am to 8:00pm, Fri - Sat: 10:00am to 9:00pm, Sun: 11:00am to 5:00pm
PH: (865) 525-7888, Instagram: @ShopRala
https://shoprala.com

Awaken Coffee will host artist Rita Nabors for First Friday, Oct. 4 from 6-9 pm.

Rita Nabors is primarily self-taught, relying on continuous study, practice, and observation. Painting in oil and acrylic, her favorite subjects are landscapes and animals. Her current Farm Series is painted on rusty roofing tin.

Join us for inspiring art, refreshments and of course great coffee!

Awaken Coffee is a live music venue, espresso bar, craft beer & wine bar and organic restaurant in the heart of downtown. Awaken Coffee, 125 W Jackson Ave, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902

Hours: Mon-Thu 7 AM - 9 PM, Fri 7 AM - 10 PM, Sat 8 AM - 10 PM, Sun 2-8 PM

Broadway Studios and Gallery will be hosting The Community Art League of Athens, Tn with their show entitled "Trading Spaces" for the first Friday event in October.

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