Calendar of Events

A reception will take place on Friday, February 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities with awards at 6 PM.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present its 14th annual National Juried Exhibition, a new exhibition featuring selected works from 38 artists throughout the United States. The National Juried Exhibition was developed in 2006 to provide a forum for local artists to compete on a national scale and display their highest quality work. The exhibition encompasses all styles and genres from both emerging and established artists working in a variety of media such as photography, acrylic, pencil, fibers, oil, paper, and more. Over $1,000 in cash awards will be announced at a brief awards ceremony.

Exhibiting artists include:
+ Virginia Taylor Derryberry, Kathryn Nidy, and Catherine Twomey of Asheville, NC
+ Ann J. Harwell of Wendell, NC
+ Wesley Miller of Alcoa, TN
+ Jan Burleson of Athens, TN
+ Susan Connelly McClelland of Bluff City, TN
+ Carrie Pendergrass of Chattanooga, TN
+ Marcia Athens, Jacques Gautreau, Nina Harvey, Jeanne Kidd, Anne Kinggard, Andreas Koschan, Ryan Mason, Alyssa Nealon, Tom Owens, Hei Park, Norm Plate, Lennie M. Robertson, Chris S. Rohwer, Caitlin Ryan, Pamela Salyer, William Timm, Marilyn Avery Turner, and Rick Whitehead of Knoxville, TN
+ Susan B. Miller and Jack Retterer of Lenoir City, TN
+ Gloria Vazquez of Limestone, TN
+ David Hardin of Loudon, TN
+ Carl Gombert of Maryville, TN
+ Michelle Barillaro and Debra Lovvorn Belvin of Oak Ridge, TN
+ AngelaDawn of Powell, TN
+ Charlotte Rollman and Jim Scarsella of Sevierville, TN
+ Kerry Remp of Seymour, TN
+ Marty McConnaughey of Sharps Chapel, TN

About the juror: Jordan Ahlers is the owner and director of Momentum Gallery in Asheville, NC, one of the region’s premier art galleries. With over twenty years’ experience in the field, Ahlers has collaborated with thousands of professional artists working across the country in a variety of media. In doing so, he has developed an eye for what is both interesting and marketable. Ahlers has a reputation as a gifted curator and trusted art advisor. Ahlers opened Momentum Gallery in 2017 with a mission to provide access to museum-quality work for the region and elevate the Asheville arts community. Ahlers attended the Kansas City Art Institute and later created a home in Asheville, where his family has resided for generations.

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

A reception will take place on Friday, February 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities

From Within is artist Yumee Eun’s expression of being through paint and poetry. It is her invitation to her viewers to feel the stillness and emptiness one experiences through meditation. Her hope is to share the emotions and feelings from her own visions that cannot be spoken but are better experienced through colors, textures, hard lines in charcoal, and the unpredictable nature of crackle. In this exhibition, Eun connects her poetry and art as a way for her viewers to feel hopeful from the experience of chaos, heartbreak, and hardship. She sees the crackle pieces in her work as the trials and life experiences in which people are destroyed, yet, can also come through, see into, and explore the light within themselves and be reborn from it. Her poetic words are there to accompany the viewer and inspire and invoke hope and calmness. Through her work, she hopes to share that art is a pathway to eternity. A way to see through the pains and trials on earth, and a way to find light and courage from the places within and beyond ourselves.

From Within is Eun’s second showcase as an emerging artist. https://www.facebook.com/YumeeEunArt/

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

A reception will take place on Friday, February 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities.

Artist statement: My driftwood creations have been inspired by years of collecting driftwood from my home state of Vermont. The driftwood is sourced from a magical place on Lake Champlain, which consistently provides beautiful pieces of lake-worn wood perfect for creations. My shells come mostly from Asia, where I spent over 20 years. My daughter's unused glass and metal beads and recycled jewelry have all found their way into my shop. I kept collecting until I found the time to create with these beautiful pieces. I love the warmth these pieces bring to a home in their unique and special places.

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

A reception will take place on Friday, February 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities.

Artist statement: We as human beings long for relationship and unity. I have found both of these, as a white male, living in East Knoxville, a predominately black community. This is why I am telling the story of my community – so our city can see how we can benefit from learning to truly live communally like East Knoxville has done for many years.

Josh Collins aims to tell the Story of East Knoxville from the perspective of someone who lives within the community and wants to share the beauty of life being lived there with people on the outskirts that may hold ungrounded biases. He wants to challenge viewers to look at life in East Knoxville with dignity, adoration and kindness. He also wants viewers to reflect on moments and growth the community has experienced together. For more information, follow him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/joshcollins.co/.

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

Join us at Dogwood Arts on Friday, February 7 from 5-8PM for the opening of Monsters Made with Love, an exhibition of ‘perfectly imperfect monsters’ curated by local artist Laurie Kay. The exhibition will include 30 local artists and makers whose fleece monsters are paired with a unique piece of art created in their individual styles and mediums.

Participating Artists: Kelly Sullivan, Connie Gaertner, Ashton Ludden, Susan Alexander, Stacy Monday, Vicki May, Melinda Sims, Gabrielle Kay, Issac Merkle, Andrew Messersmith, Laurie Kay, Christal Yost, Cheri Pollack, Kelly Hider, Hannah Isosaki, Tracy Homer, Jessica Gregory, Rebecca Warren, Matt Parnell, Amanda Humphreys, Nicholas Stawinski, Bryan Wilkerson, Michelle Compton, Preston Farabow, Forrest Kirpatrick, Barron Hall, Sean Simoneau, Nancy Rowland-Engle, Savanna Hoover, Victoria Wheelock

The monsters will be a part of an online auction throughout the month of February. Proceeds will benefit youth art programs provided by Dogwood Arts + Monsters Made With Love.

Auction link: https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/dogwood-arts-monsters-10472

-February 8th: Monster Workshop at Dogwood Arts (10A-12PM) | Register Here: http://bit.ly/2QXsRqu
-February 22nd: Monster Workshop at Dogwood Arts (6-8PM) | Register Here: http://bit.ly/37099Qh

Though workshops and sewing kits, Monsters Made with Love teaches people to make perfectly imperfect monsters while encouraging self-love. Sewing kits, available on Etsy, include everything you need to make a fleece monster to have and to hold. Workshops are great for all ages, genders and sewing levels.

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-637-4561, https://www.dogwoodarts.com

The 2020 New Play Festival includes three table readings, two staged readings and two full productions.

The table readings will occur between February 1, and March 1. Each reading will include a discussion session afterwards with the cast, director and audience – and when possible - the playwright. The plays in this group are: Goodbye Cruel World - a dark comedy; Christmas Reunion - a dramady; and X’s And O’s - a sci-fi.

The two staged readings will be followed by a discussion session with actors, audience, director and playwrights. The stage readings will each have one performance in February: A Graveyard in Madrid - a twisted tale; and A House For Mandy - a drama.

The full productions are Raft by Harrison Young and Carolyn Thomas directed by Ashley Freitag which will be produced February 7 – 23 and Amazing Graces by Lea McMahan which will be produced at The Southern Railway Station March 12 – 24. This is being directed by Allison Crye.

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

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/.