Calendar of Events

Featuring Pellissippi State Photography students, this exhibit displays different photography techniques and approaches with arresting results.

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

FEBRUARY 24 JOY WILLIAMS
April 20 GRETCHEN PRIMACK

All events take place Mondays at 7 p.m. in the Lindsay Young Auditorium in Hodges Library. Writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from around the country and around the world. Free and open to the public. https://english.utk.edu/
Sponsored by the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English

One of the most critically acclaimed figures in American literature, Joy Williams is the author, most recently, of Ninety-Nine Stories of God and The Visiting Privilege: New and Collected Stories. Featuring work that spans fifty years of Williams’s career, The Visiting Privilege has been met with “thundering, near-universal and thoroughly deserved acclaim.” Her distinctive voice and comic vision have earned her the admiration of writers as varied as George Saunders, Karen Russell, and Don DeLillo.

Williams’s other celebrated books include the novels The Quick and the Dead (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), State of Grace (a finalist for the National Book Award), and the essay collection Ill Nature: Rants and Reflections on Humanity and Other Animals (nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism). Her work has also appeared in The Paris Review, The New Yorker, Harper’s, and Esquire. She is the recipient of the Rea Award for the short story and the Harold and Mildred Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The reading begins at 7 p.m. in the Lindsay Young Auditorium of the John C. Hodges Library. The event is free and open to the public; all are encouraged to attend. Books will be available for purchase from Union Ave Books.

The mission of the UT Creative Writing Series is to feature “writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from around the country and around the world.” The series is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Department of English. In addition, this event has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Haines-Morris Endowment.

For more information, contact Christopher Hebert, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, at chebert3@utk.edu.

Facebook: Writers.in.the.Library
Twitter: utklibwriters

As an extension of his forthcoming book and related film project, James Merle Thomas will speak to the proliferation of "World Pictures" (Weltbilder) by examining the theoretical and historical dimensions of the habitable, a descriptive spatial term used since antiquity, and which opens onto a host of aesthetic, architectural, and ideological concerns throughout late modernity. At the crux of this lecture is a meditation on the study of habitable space during the Cold War—and specifically at the dawn of the 1970s—as the hallucinatory fever of the Apollo Era yielded to the Age of Aquarius, a moment when the utopian vision for dwelling in outer space was attenuated by the growing recognition of a rapidly uninhabitable Earth.

About: James Merle Thomas is an interdisciplinary scholar and curator whose work examines the art, visual culture, and technology of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and particularly, the aesthetics and politics of the Cold War. Central to his current research program are two interrelated projects: the first is a forthcoming book entitled Space Administration: NASA and the Aesthetics of the Habitable, which explores the intersections between abstract sculpture, architecture, design, and the aerospace industry during the height of a 1960s Space Race. The second project, a feature-length film currently in production and funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities, revisits NASA’s experimental underwater research station, established at the dawn of the 1970s off the coast of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawing on a series of experiments in art and technology from the late 1960s, Thomas’s lecture will chart what he terms an “aesthetics of the habitable”—an interdisciplinary concept that draws from abstract sculpture, graphic and environmental design, architecture, and engineering— in order to describe the historic and contemporary dimensions of dwelling in space.

Thomas is an Assistant Professor of Art History at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, and Curator at the Philadelphia-based Slought, an interdisciplinary exhibition and research center affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a doctorate in Art History from Stanford University.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9AM-5PM, Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-974-2144, http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu

Price: $10

This special tribute to Beauford & the Delaney Family, is an original Beck Black History Month presentation that interconnects the story of the Delaney family with the story of African American history through the arts.

This special tribute, hosted by Maxine Thompson Davis, will feature music by the Knoxville Opera Gospel Choir, celebrating over ten years of concert performances under the direction of Jeanie Turner Melton. Singing the final scene from Okoye’s Harriet Tubmanwill be Adia Evans accompanied by Brian Salesky, Executive and Artistic Director of Knoxville Opera. This original presentation will also include dance performances by the Austin East Magnet High School performing arts department under the direction of Malaika Guthrie, and West African drum and dance. Yvette Rice with YR Productions will bring art to life with an array of artistic models on the runway. Saxophonist Casey McClintock will create dynamic rhythmic melodies. Actors, Dalton Miksa, Morristown West High School, and Chris Cox, University of Alabama, will present an award-winning theatrical performance, “The Cure,” and presenting
Artece Slay as Delia Delaney, and Malik Baines as Beauford Delaney.

803 South Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902
(865) 524-8461
https://thedelaneyproject.org/events/

The Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra (KSYO) will present TWO winter concerts on Monday, February 17 and Monday, February 24 at the Tennessee Theatre, featuring five youth orchestras and the winners of the 2019-20 Concerto Competition. These concerts are sponsored by Richard Fox and Ralph Cianelli. These concerts are free to attend for students K-12 and $5 at the door for adults. Tickets may be purchased at the door. Before each performance, patrons can dine at Bistro at the Bjiou (807 S. Gay Street) and a portion of their purchase will be donated to the KSYO (please tell your servers you are dining to support the KSYO).

1. The KSYO Winter Concert will take place on Monday, February 17 at 7:00 p.m. featuring the Preludium, Philharmonia, Sinfonia and Youth Chamber Orchestras. Each Orchestra consists of approximately 50-80 students who will perform 6-10 minutes of music under its respective conductor. KSO Principal Horn, Jeffery Whaley will join the Youth Chamber Orchestra for Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 1 in D Major.

2. The top Youth Orchestra, conducted by James Fellenbaum, will perform on Monday, February 24 at 7:00 p.m. featuring the Concerto Competition winners: Miriam Ahrens, a sophomore student at Hardin Valley Academy and Trey Barrett, a junior at Hardin Valley Academy. Miriam Ahrens, viola, will perform a movement from Cecil Forsyth’s Concerto for Viola and Orchestra in G Minor, and Trey Barrett, bassoon, will perform Carl Maria von Weber’s Andante and Rondo Ungarese.

Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Tickets and information: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

Now in its second year, Take Action! Big and Small Ways to Save the Planet is a four-week conservation series that focuses on the many different ways you can have a positive impact on the planet. Classes, workshops and other activities will show you how to conserve natural resources and reduce your carbon footprint. Cleanup events and volunteer workdays will help you care for the place we all call home. This year’s lineup is going to be fun!

February 15 Volunteer Workday: Invasive Plant Removal (Noon-3 p.m.)
February 16 Conservation Conversations: Docuseries and Discussion (2-5 p.m.)
February 21 Parents’ Night Out (6:30-8 p.m.)
February 22 Household Hazardous Waste Recycling Event (10 a.m.-1 p.m.)
February 25 Sustainable Adulting: Sew It, Don’t Throw it! (6-8 p.m.)
February 29 Fifth Annual Weed Wrangle Knoxville (9 a.m.-Noon)
February 29 Family Hootenanny (6-9 p.m.)
March 7 Outdoor Gear Swap and Bike Collection Event (9 a.m.-Noon)
March 7 Citizen Science Kick-Off (1-5 p.m.)
March 8 Slow Foods Potluck: On the Local Level (5-8 p.m.)
March 10 Sustainable Adulting: Everything You Thought You Knew About Recycling (6-7:30 p.m.)
March 14 Volunteer Workday: Grayson Subaru Preserve (Noon-3 p.m.)
March 15 Ijams Seed Swap (1-4 p.m.)
March 15 Family Pollinator Garden Workshop (1:30- 2:30 p.m.)

Details on each event at https://ijams.org/take-action-big-and-small-ways-to-save-the-planet/

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Grounds and trails open during daylight hours. Call for Visitor Center hours. Information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

In the Galleries
February 8 through March 22, 2020

Artists Reception: Saturday, February 8, from 7 to 9 PM
Gallery Talk: 6:30 PM

The event is free and open to the public.

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

Awaken Coffee will host Peyton Tolleson on February 7 from 6-9. Payton is a self-taught, local artist. She works primarily with acrylic paint and enjoys the challenge of painting reflective and translucent subjects with bold contrasts and bright colors. Her Bar Series will be on display for the month of February.

Come join us for some light refreshments, exciting art, and 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, TN 37902. Hours: M-R 7 AM - 9 PM, F 7 AM - 10 PM, Sat 8 AM - 10 PM, Sun 2-8 PM. https://www.facebook.com/awakencoffeeoldcity/

C for Courtside is pleased to present a two person show featuring the work of Taylor Baldwin and Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels, curated by Eleanor Aldrich

The show opens Friday, February 7th at 7:00pm, and is 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

Exhibition opens Friday February 7, 5:00-9:00.

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

Exhibition opens Friday February 7, 5:00-9:00.

A day with my son and his passion for steam engines; a view from the train, documenting the ride and the sites passing by.

Phoenix Pharmacy: 418 S Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902
Tony Long <tony.tweek@gmail.com>