Calendar of Events

Hosted by Knox County Public Library
Thursdays, 6:30-7:30 PM
Lawson McGhee Library, 500 W Church Ave, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902

The music of the Appalachian region is rich, meaningful and diverse. It is also misunderstood and misrepresented, much like the people and culture of the region. Join musician and musicologist, Sean McCollough in an exploration of our region's music history including ballad and old harp singing, early fiddle music, the history of the banjo, minstrelsy, early 20th-century string bands, the birth of the recording industry and "hillbilly music", coal-mining music, bluegrass, and today's Americana music.

Free to attend! https://www.facebook.com/events/182394796159423/

THE TAP PACK is a high energy, tap comedy show inspired by the infamous “Rat Pack” which included the famous talents of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior. With dazzling performances on stage, dressed in slick suits and equipped with sharp wit, they are a modern twist on the classic Rat Pack.

They infuse tap dance with swing music and witty banter. As a result, this is a taste of a new, highly entertaining act featuring some of Australia’s finest tap dancing performers tapping up a storm. With credits on stage, film and television and with over 20 musical theatre productions between them, The Tap Pack is pure entertainment.

The show features high energy performances of mind-blowing tap dancing, smooth vocals, a swinging live jazz band and witty on-stage banter. As a result, the five-member cast wins the audience from the first downbeat and the pace of their amazing performances never slows. They joke, they compete, they croon and they cajole while performing cool classics with a fresh twist.

Above all, The Tap Pack brings a new, invigorating energy to a timeless style. Old School Cool from the new Kings of Swing.

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

How I Built & Maintain a Children’s Illustration Career

On Thursday, February 6, from 7:00 – 8:00 PM, come hear from children’s illustrator Daniel Wiseman talk about how he got his start illustrating books for major publishers including Simon & Schuster, Abrams, Harper Collins, and Chronicle. He’ll speak about his start in publishing, how he works with authors, editors, and art directors, and what he plans to do in the future.

Daniel Wiseman lives in Knoxville, TN and has worked on over 15 books since his first in 2016 including the popular Baby Scientist series by Dr. Laura Gehl, My Brother the Duck by Pat Zietlow Miller, the When Your series by Susanna Leonard Hill, and the Play This series by Jessica Young.

Daniel spends his days drawing and relaxing in his little, hidden cabin with his wife and two sons. He also enjoys time in the mountains, jogging on new, undiscovered trails, cooking, and chain-sawing trees that fall in his yard. He considers himself a pretty lucky guy!

This event is free and open to the public; a $2 donation to the guild is suggested. Knoxville Writers’ Guild: Meetings take place at Central United Methodist Church's Fellowship Hall, 201 E. Third Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: www.KnoxvilleWritersGuild.org

Fascinating Account of One Woman’s 2,650-Mile Hike

Joan Tomlinson, a hiker who completed the Pacific Crest Trail, spanning an area from Mexico to Washington State, will talk about her hiking experience on Thursday, February 6th, 7:00 p.m. at the UT Arboretum Auditorium in Oak Ridge, 901 S. Illinois Avenue. Entitled “Time on the Mountains: One woman’s Lessons and Discoveries While Completing a Hike of the Pacific Crest Trail,” Tomlinson will talk about what became a three-year hike and the many challenges she faced.

This is a free program offered by the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society but donations are gratefully accepted. The program is co-sponsored by the UT Arboretum Society, REI – Knoxville and the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center. For more information on this program or the UT Arboretum Society, call 865-483-7277. No registration is required.

Tomlinson, whose trail name is “Blue Jay,” started hiking the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) at the California – Mexico border in April 2016 with the intention of getting to the Washington-Canada border to complete a thru hike in one season. She was drawn back to long distance hiking after completing a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) in 2014. Her PCT thru hike turned into a MYTH (multi-year thru hike) as she encountered trail conditions beyond her level of expertise. She completed her hike of the PCT over a three-year period in September of 2018.

“Blue Jay” said her PCT experience re-enforced her deeply felt connections to this planet we call home. She says she saw time written on the mountains and that has provided her with a wonderful perspective on the time and space we each hold in the grand scheme of life on Earth.

Celebrating 55 years in 2020, this program is one of many lectures and activities that will be offered this year by the UT Arboretum Society. The program is cosponsored by the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center.

The Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014, is one of ten outdoor laboratories located throughout the state as part of the UT AgResearch system. AgResearch is a division of the UT Institute of Agriculture. The Institute of Agriculture also provides instruction, research and public service through the UT Herbert College of Agriculture, the UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch and UT Extension offices, with locations in every county in the state.

To learn more about the Arboretum Society, go to www.utarboretumsociety.org. For more information on the program, call 865-483-7277 or mcampani@utk.edu.

In conjunction with their exhibition at C for Courtside, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, School of Art will host artists Taylor Baldwin and Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels for a joint lecture at 7:30pm in the McCarty Auditorium, A&A rm 109. The lecture is also free and open to the public.

Taylor Baldwin is a contemporary American sculptor, who also uses installation and video. He explores the space between visual legibility and cognition in his multi-media works. Taylor is on faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels is a native of Knoxville and a contemporary site-specific sculptor who disrupts and transforms existing architectural spaces. Her work creates mystery in mundane or known spaces, questioning the border between the physical and imagined. Her solo show Beauty Surplus is on view at the Kohler Arts Center through May 2020.

Courtside is located at 513 Cooper Street, Knoxville, TN., 37917 below the Second Creek Bridge. For inquiries and to make an appointment to view - cforcourtside@gmail.com | www.cforcourtside.com | Follow the gallery on Instagram: @cforcourtside

The WordPlayers of Knoxville will tour the World Premiere production of “Jackie Robinson Steals Home” to schools, community colleges and churches during February. This one-act play by Peter Manos chronicles the life story and achievements of Jackie Robinson, who, in 1947, became the first African-American athlete to break the color barrier in Major League baseball. His ability to avoid conflict and simply perform to the best of his ability, despite struggling with an instinct to fight back, provided an example for everyone of how one can rise above negative circumstances with grace and humility.

Schedule of Free Public Performances

Feb. 5, Walters State – Sevierville, 2:30 PM
Feb. 10, Walters State – Morristown, 6:15 PM
Feb. 13, Johnson University (Gymnasium), 7900 Johnson Dr., 7:00 PM
Feb. 15, Oak Valley Baptist, 194 Hampton Rd., Oak Ridge – 4:00 PM
Feb. 16, Fifth Ave. Baptist, 2500 E. 5 th Ave. – 4:00 PM
Feb. 19, Walters State – Greeneville, 9:40 AM
Feb. 20, Vine Middle, 1807 Martin Luther King Jr Ave. – 6:30 PM
Feb 21, Pellissippi State- Magnolia – 11:50 AM
Feb. 24, Walters State – Tazewell, 2:00 PM
Feb. 25, Roane State – Harriman, 11:00 AM

Supported by an Arts Builds Communities Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Arts and Culture Alliance, The WordPlayers’ 13th Annual Black History Show Tour will have 22 performances in 17 different venues across 9 TN counties For more information about The WordPlayers, please see www.wordplayers.org or call 865-539-2490.

With psychic mediums, séances gone awry and celestial visitors, Noël Coward’s comedy “Blithe Spirit” will run on the Clarence Brown mainstage February 5-23, 2020. UT Faculty/Staff receive 20% off ticket prices. UT Students see the previews for FREE and the rest of the performances for $5, excluding Opening Night. Free and convenient parking is available in the McClung Tower Garage on Volunteer Boulevard.

The Pay What You Wish Preview performance, where patrons can name their own price, will be held Wednesday, February 5th. Behind the Scenes Sunday will take place following the Sunday, February 9th matinee with Prop Master, Christy Fogarty, and Technical Director, Jason Fogarty, discussing some of the special effects in the production. A Talk Back with the actors will take place Sunday, February 16th following the matinee. The Open Captioned performance is Sunday, February 23rd at 2:00 pm.

Hoping to gather material for his novel, writer Charles Condomine invites psychic Madame Arcati to his home to conduct a séance and gets far more than he bargains for in Coward’s Tony Award winning comedy. An English playwright, actor, and composer Coward was known for his likable sophistication and sharp sense of humor. Although he wrote some of the most popular plays of his time, he was also known for his entertaining personality and his abilities as a witty storyteller. It is interesting to note that “Blithe Spirit” was first performed in 1941 at the end of the London Blitz (1940-1941). It was the final play in what is now considered Coward’s great comic trilogy about marriage and infidelity which included “Private Lives” and “Hay Fever.”

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

Pellissippi State Community College will celebrate the music and poetry of outstanding African-American artists by hosting the chamber music theatre work "Of Ebony Embers: Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance" as one of its Black History Month events.

The work, which features one actor accompanied on stage by an instrumental trio, will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at the Clayton Performing Arts Center on the college's Hardin Valley Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road. The performance is free and open to the public. "Of Ebony Embers," written by Akin Babatunde and performed by the Core Ensemble of Florida, examines the lives of African-American poets Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay as seen through the eyes of the African-American painter and muralist Aaron Douglas.

"Black history is America's history," said Pellissippi State Access and Diversity Director Gayle E. Wood. "February allows us to highlight the numerous contributions African Americans have made to American history. We celebrate the diversity of this history through music, art, displays, literature, theatre, food and much more."

All events Pellissippi State has planned for Black History Month are free and open to the public:
• The Tom Johnson Jazz Combo and Knoxville's Soulful Sounds Revue will perform on the Hardin Valley Campus on Friday, Feb. 28 - the jazz combo at noon and the Celebration of the Music of Motown 6-9 p.m., both in the Goins Building College Center.
• The WordPlayers, a Knoxville-based company of Christian theatre artists, will present the one-act play "Jackie Robinson Steals Home" at 11:50 a.m. Friday, Feb. 21, on Pellissippi State's Magnolia Avenue Campus. The play should end at 12:45 p.m.
• African-American Read-Ins will be held on all campuses, celebrating the work of black authors: 8:45 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Feb. 18 at Division Street; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 19 at Hardin Valley; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 19 at Blount County; times to be determined Feb. 19 at Strawberry Plains; and 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Feb. 26 at Magnolia Avenue.
• Four "Monday Movies" will be shown on the Hardin Valley Campus, followed by discussions: "Mississippi Burning" on Feb. 3, "Selma" on Feb. 10, "The Hate U Give" on Feb. 17 and "Harriet" on Feb. 24. Each movie will be shown beginning at 12:30 p.m. in the Goins Building Auditorium with a discussion following in the Goins Building Cafeteria Annex.

Other Black History Month events include lunch with guest speaker Vrondelia (Ronni) Chandler, a Pellissippi State alumna and chief executive officer for Project GRAD Knoxville; opportunities to chat about "hot topics" with the Active Black Student Association; and student poetry displays. For more information about any of Pellissippi State's upcoming Black History Month events, visit www.pstcc.edu/events/black-history, or contact Wood at 865.539.7160 or gwood@pstcc.edu.

Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932

DENSO Gallery, 502 E Lamar Alexander Pkwy, Maryville, TN 37804

Artist Statement: In college I first studied architecture, but graduated with a BFA with a concentration in pottery. My first art career was as a studio potter in Friendsville, Tn for 25 years. That was followed by a career in decorative wall finishes, faux painting, cabinetry finishing and the occasional mural project. Never one to sit still, I turned my attention to fine art painting which has developed into a concentration on representational work, including photorealism, paintings intended to look like photographs.

My source material is from photographs I have taken. This allows me to carefully design my composition and have plenty of information to include as much detailed information as I chose. More importantly, as my reference source, it allows me to study the nuances of color, light and reflection and how it changes across a seemingly uniformly colored surface. But the image in paint can go beyond a printed image. Using translucent layers of paint I am able to build depth unachievable with ink on paper.

To counter my tendency towards too much realism I began working in pastels in 2018. Still representational work, but much more graphic, as the pastel pigments lie on top of the paper and on top of one another. They don’t mix like paint. It is the eye and brain that do the blending.

There will be an artist reception February 28 from 6-8 pm
https://www.claytonartscenter.com/event/allen-monsarrat-exhibit/

This solo show displays the intricately detailed mixed media sculptural work of Mindy Michelle Herrin, an East Tennessee State University professor. Herrin’s work incorporates metalwork, ceramics and painting into figurative sculpture.

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

The 2020 New Play Festival includes three table readings, two staged readings and two full productions. Each table reading will include a discussion session afterwards with the cast, director and audience – and when possible - the playwright.

Christmas Reunion by Dennis Duff - A holiday story of a family struggling to reconnect and stay together despite themselves.
2/1 10:30 am Fountain City Library
2/29 1:00 pm Bearden Branch Library
3/1 2:30 pm Lawson McGhee Library

Goodbye Cruel World by John Babcock and Ted Westby - A black comedy of unrequited love and unexpected outcomes.
2/15 2:00 pm Bearden Branch Library
2/22 10:30 am Fountain City Library
2/29 2:30 pm Lawson McGhee Library

X’s And O’s by Taylor James Foster - A sci-fi tinged story of memory and reconnections set in an unknown future – or is a too well known past?
2/15 10:30 am Fountain City Library
2/29 10:30 am Lawson McGhee Library

Tennessee Stage Company: 865-546-4280 or visit http://tennesseestage.com/.

The 2020 AIR Biennial will be a showcase of the work of our past 4 Artists in Residence at the UT School of Art.

Dana Lok - https://www.danalok.com/
Fox Hysen - https://foxhysen.net/
Tracy Thomason - https://www.marinaro.biz/tracy-thomason-2017
Caitlin MacBride - https://caitlinmacbride.com/index.html

Receptions will be Friday, February 7th and Friday, March 6th from 5-9pm at the Gallery.

The Artist-in-Residence Program was initiated in 1982. Each semester an invited resident artist teaches both undergraduate and graduate level courses in the Painting & Drawing curriculum. The AIR program is highly successful in making a direct connection to the marketplace of ideas that surrounds art centers such as New York City, Chicago, and LA. The AIR invited to campus represent a spectrum of current sensibilities in painting and drawing holding sway in the art world today.

UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: W-F 11-6, Sa 10-3. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown