Calendar of Events

Tennessee Stage Company Presents its 25th Annual NEW PLAY FESTIVAL with a World Premiere Production of Carolyn Thomas and Harrison Young’s RAFT

RAFT is a slice-of-life comedy about two friends stranded on a bouncy castle in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As they wait for uncertain rescue, secrets can make their way to the surface. Can their friendship survive lies, sexual tension, and sun poisoning?

At Broadway Academy of Performing Arts, 706 N Broadway, Knoxville, TN 37917
Friday – Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm
Sunday afternoons at 2:00 pm

Tickets are on sale now. Call (865) 546-4280 for tickets & reservations. General Admission is $15. We proudly participate in the Penny4Arts Program!

http://www.tennesseestage.com

Meow Meow City
Friday, Feb 7, 5-9pm
Saturday, Feb 8, 12-7pm

Bekki Vaden-Ottinger is a self-taught mixed media artist and miniaturist. Her newest work combines nearly every skill she’s picked up along the way to bring you what she describes as “a place that long existed in my head as a sort of intensely bright and happy escape tunnel from the darkening world around me.”

Largely constructed of materials destined for the dumpster or the donation pile, MeowMeow City is a large-scale fantasy diorama, populated by “kiddies” (4” tall beings with fruit shaped heads) and a host of wide-eyed animals that seem to enjoy their jobs in public transportation.

“My friend’s mother gave me giant trash bags full of all kinds of floral supplies she was getting rid of. There was a bunch of plastic fruit in one bag and I decided to make dolls out of them. They feel like my buddies. Visitors would see them sitting on my bookshelves and ask me where they came from. I could see their home so clearly in my mind and I just wanted to see if I could see it in front of me without having to close my eyes.”

“The entire process of putting it all together was joyfully overwhelming. I’ve come to realize that MeowMeow City is no longer my escape. It’s more of an entrance. It’s where I found the long-lost kid in me...and she’s wearing her favorite dress and having the time of her life catching a piggy-back ride on a turtle!”

Tickets at http://www.thecentralcollective.com/ticketpurchase/meow-meow-city

The Central Collective, 923 N. Central Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-236-1590, info@thecentralcollective.com, www.thecentralcollective.com

JUST KIDDING WORLD TOUR
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7 | 8PM

Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information/tickets: 865-684-1200, www.tennesseetheatre.com, www.ticketmaster.com

"Bob Marley 75th Birthday Tribute"

Alive After Five is a unique live music series that takes place in the smoke-free, casually elegant setting of the Ann and Steve Bailey Hall in the Knoxville Museum of Art. There is a live band on stage, seating at tables, two cash bars, food from area restaurants, free freshly popped popcorn, and free parking. Audience members can enjoy listening to music, dancing, and browsing the museum’s art galleries. Admission is $15 for general and $10 for museum members and college students with ID. Ages 17 and under are admitted free.

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

Hosted by Rala: Regional and Local Artisans
Friday, February 7, 2020 at 6 PM – 9 PM

We are excited to announce Cynthia Markert as our featured artist for the month of February! All paintings are one of a kind and would be the perfect Valentines gift for your sweetie! Please join us for a show opening and to meet the artist.

112 W Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
PH: (865) 525-7888 or Instagram: @ShopRala

Enjoy activities related to Valentine's Day and "Heart" work by Hector Saldivar.

Fri Feb 7, 5-9 PM

HoLa Hora Latina, 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 112, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-335-3358, www.holahoralatina.org

Friday at 6 PM – 9 PM

Please join us for our February show! Clemmer says, "My goal is to inspire people to pull out their old family photographs and examine them, looking at what they reveal about the lives of the subjects. It is my hope that this series inspires the viewer to examine their own intricate family histories and the stories that may have been forgotten over time."

Mighty Mud, 126 and 127 Jennings Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-595-1900
https://www.facebook.com/events/196694368142660/

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