Calendar of Events

The Arts & Culture Alliance is please to present the eighth annual Knoxville Photo juried exhibition featuring selected works from 32 artists throughout the region. The exhibition encompasses photographs depicting all subjects and genres, including streetscapes, cityscapes, landscapes, environmental portraiture, portraits, abstracts, and more and will display in the main gallery of the Emporium Center from July 3-31, 2020.

The following artists’ works will be shown:
+ Tonya Wade Wunder of Arden, NC
+ Jared Kreiss of Bristol, TN
+ David Boruff, David Denton, Jurgen Dopatka, Laurie Drake, Katharine Emlen, Elena Ganusova, Chuck Jones, Nicki Klein, Andreas Koschan, Alyssa Nealon, Tom Owens, Chris Rohwer, Crystal Stinson, and Jeff Wischkaemper of Knoxville, TN
+ David Hardin of Loudon, TN
+ Debra Lovvorn Belvin and Yvonne Dalschen of Oak Ridge, TN
+ Marlon Davey of Rutledge, TN
+ Hayley Spear of Charlottesville, VA

Rocky Kenworthy served as juror for the exhibition and viewed 364 images to select the exhibition. Kenworthy has worked in the photography industry for more than 35 years. Arriving in New York City in the late 80’s, he spent ten years working and collaborating with photographers, photo editors, design firms and advertising agencies in various capacities as assistant, production coordinator, photographer, and retoucher. He established Dot Editions in 2005, one of the strongest boutique fine art printing studios on the East Coast. In 2013, Kenworthy established a presence for Dot Editions in Asheville, NC where he continues his passion for developing a collaborative style print studio for local, regional, and international artists alike. In 2019 Rocky launched The Gallery @ Dot Editions as an experiment in the discovery, preservation, and collection of bodies of photographic work that offer a unique lens into the world at a given place in time.

Over $1,000 in cash awards will be announced on July 3. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition. For more information, please visit https://www.knoxalliance.com/knoxville-photo.

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, July 6, for the holiday. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

Awaken Coffee will host an opening reception for artist Don Grogan on Friday, July 3 from 6-8 pm. Don’s art is made from reclaimed wood. A piece may contain wood from an old barn, old pallet, or throw away construction materials.

“My goal is to create work that is pleasing to the eye while using materials that typically would be thrown away or burned. Each piece I create is unique. I encourage people to view my pieces closely, touch them, and experience the texture and the character of the wood.”

Please join us for some amazing art, light refreshments, and of course great coffee!

Awaken Coffee, 125 W Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. (865) 951-0427 or https://www.facebook.com/awakencoffeeoldcity

This special display inaugurates the KMA’s newly renovated Sarah Jane Hardrath Kramer Education Center, a multi-purpose space named in honor of the KMA’s first director of education. We are taking advantage of current COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings to use this event and classroom space to display a diverse selection of sculptural works, many small in scale, from the KMA collection. Some were acquired years ago and have been displayed many times, while others have rarely been shown or were recently acquired. Figurative works by Tennessee artists Bessie Harvey, Richard Jolley, and Red Grooms explore human life in all its struggles, timeless beauty, and satirical moments. Small objects by Henry Moore and John Himmelfarb reflect contrasting approaches to bronze. John Jordan, Jen McCurdy, and Brad Sells each explore the vessel as a sculptural form from distinct vantage points. Together, this selection reflects a broad cross-section of modern and contemporary art from East Tennessee and beyond as expressed in a variety of materials and techniques.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Information: 865-525-6101, https://knoxart.org/exhibitions/sculptural-objects-from-the-kma-collection/

The Knoxville Museum of Art will reopen beginning Wednesday, July 1, 2020, with limited hours and extensive precautions to ensure the health and safety of visitors and museum staff.

Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin: Through the Unusual Door has been extended through October 25. The museum’s permanent flagship exhibitions--Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee and Currents: Recent Art from East Tennessee and Beyond—have been reinstalled and refreshed!

Visitors will be welcomed with the following measures necessitated by the public health situation:
• The KMA will be open on a restricted schedule, Wednesday-Sunday 1-5pm. The museum will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. (The KMA will also be closed Saturday, July 4 for the Independence Day holiday.)
• Attendance will be limited to 25 visitors per hour and reservations will be required by signing up on www.eventbrite.com. Link is also available on www.knoxart.org.
• Visitors will access the museum via the June and Rob Heller Garden gate adjacent to the parking lot, enter the building on the lower level, and exit at street level (one-way route).
• Visitors will be asked to wear face coverings. Disposable masks will be available for visitors who need them.
• Cleaning and sanitizing in public areas will be greatly increased.
• Visitors will be asked to stay 6 feet apart.

For questions about the reopening, visitors can contact the museum at info@knoxart.org.

Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin: Through the Unusual Door
This exhibition of 50+ paintings, works on paper, and unpublished archival material examines the 38-year relationship between painter Beauford Delaney (Knoxville 1901-1979 Paris) and writer James Baldwin (New York 1924-1987 Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France) and the ways their ongoing intellectual exchange shaped one another’s creative output and worldview.

Through the Unusual Door seeks to identify and disentangle the skein of influences that grew over and around a rich, complex lifetime relationship with a selection of Delaney’s works that reflects the powerful presence of Baldwin in Delaney’s life. The exhibition draws from the KMA’s extensive Delaney holdings, public and private collections around the country, and rarely displayed papers held by the Delaney estate. KMA curator Stephen Wicks is organizing the exhibition, which is accompanied by a color-illustrated catalogue published by the University of Tennessee Press.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 1-5 PM. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

Summer Art Academy 2020 is moving online! Due to restrictions on group activities related to COVID-19, the Knoxville Museum of Art’s Summer Art Academy will take place online only this year. No classes will be held at the museum. A full menu of fun and educational art activities will be available soon on the KMA’s YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/KnoxvilleMuseumOfArt, or check www.knoxart.org for updates. Online art activities will be available for no charge.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tu-Sa 10-5, Su 1-5. Information: 865-525-6101, https://knoxart.org/kma_events/summer-art-academy-2020/

While all public activities at the Laurel have been canceled until further notice including dances, concerts and church services, please enjoy videos on their YouTube channel which include concerts, dance lessons, and more! https://www.youtube.com/user/LaurelTheater/videos

The historic Laurel Theater is a regional, community cultural center dedicated to preserving and presenting the traditional arts of the Southern Appalachians. The Laurel Theater is owned and operated by Jubilee Community Arts.

Tune in to 91.9 FM WUOT on Saturdays at 9 PM for "Mountain Jubilee" and 89.9 FM WDVX on Sundays from 5-11 PM for "Sunday Jubilee"!

WE ARE OPEN! See hours listed below. The art and gifts at the Gallery continue to be refreshed with new work. If you are driving through Townsend, stop by our TAG Gallery.

The mission of Townsend Artisan Guild is to connect fine arts and fine crafts and the people of East Tennessee through education of youth and adults, professional development of local artisans, and community development. The membership of the Corporation promotes an active interest in the arts through exhibits, demonstrations, lectures, and education as well as raising standards of professional performance among its working artisans.

7719 E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy. (Hwy. 321), Townsend, TN 37882
Hours: Wed. - Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Sunday - 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
TAG website: https://www.townsendartisanguild.org/

Enjoy the 44 works by regional artists, as juried by Jim Scarsella.

The current exhibition (juried by Jim Scarsella) will be on display from June 10 - October (end date TBA) 2020. View and purchase artworks at https://www.knoxalliance.store/product-category/airport-22. Thank you for your support of our local artists!

The Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville and the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority (McGhee Tyson Airport) present a semi-annual exhibition entitled “Arts in the Airport”. This juried exhibition was developed to allow regional artists to compete and display work in the most visited site in the area. The selected art features contemporary 2- and 3-dimensional artwork and is exhibited in the secured area behind McGhee Tyson Airport’s security gate checkpoint for six months at a time. Approximately 35-40 works comprise each exhibition. Work is normally available for viewing only by visitors flying in or out of the airport.

"I create art through photographic imagery. Inspiration comes from the natural world, specifically colors and patterns. Much of my work starts out as pictures of rocks, minerals, and fossils. I seek a different viewpoint, and many of the images are abstractions, and open to viewer interpretation".

On exhibition Downtown from June 8 to July 7 and at the West location from July 8 to August 7.

Tomato Head, 12 Market Square (865-637-4067) and 7240 Kingston Pike, Suite 172 (865-584-1075), in Knoxville. http://thetomatohead.com

The Arts & Culture Alliance is proud to present a special Summer Members Show featuring new works by local artists in the Greater Knoxville area. The fresh mix of two- and three-dimensional works created within the last two years encompasses a wide variety of media such as oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, mixed media, photography, fine craft, sculpture, ceramics, fiber, and more from artists who are all individual members of the Arts & Culture Alliance, which serves and supports a diverse community of artists, arts organizations, and cultural institutions. Membership is open to all, and information may be found at www.knoxalliance.com/join-renew. Most of the works in the 2020 Members Show are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition.

A reception is tentatively scheduled for First Friday, July 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM to which the public is invited to attend at 100 people at a time. All visitors to the Emporium are asked to follow social distancing guidelines and other recommendations given by the Knox County Health Department, the City of Knoxville, and Knox County.

Individual members of the Alliance participate locally and regionally in gallery exhibitions, art festivals, sculpture trails, weekend shows, studio tours, and public murals. Some of the members are full-time artists, while others have day jobs and create on evenings and weekends. Some Alliance members include art professors with the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Carson-Newman University, Maryville College, Pellissippi State, Roane State, and Walters State. Others are teachers within Knox and surrounding county’s elementary, middle and high schools. Some Alliance members teach classes privately or through community classes with the Appalachian Arts Craft Center Fountain City Art Center, Knoxville Arts & Fine Crafts Center, Knoxville Museum of Art, and Oak Ridge Art Center. Many of the artists have working studios in their own homes, while some are part of studio collectives such as The Emporium Center, The Vacuum Shop, 17th Street Studios, Mighty Mud, Studio 2515, Broadway Studios & Gallery, and Knoxville Community Darkroom.

The Summer Members Show will be on display throughout the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville from June 5 – July 31, 2020. Gallery hours are currently Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed July 6 for the holiday. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

The silhouettes created for the 2020 summer “Dazzling Dogwoods: A Garden Art Exhibit,” are on display at the UT Gardens, Knoxville. All the pieces will be available for purchase at an auction that will be held in the fall. The auction will be the last phase of an art project designed to promote community participation and artist collaboration as well awareness and support for the UT Gardens.

https://tiny.utk.edu/DazzlingDogwoods

37 local amateur and professional artists creatively interpreted this year’s dogwood theme by painting or embellishing large-scale plywood dogwood silhouettes in two sizes. Artists had the option to create either a large or small form or a pair. The works have been installed throughout the UT Gardens and will be on display throughout the summer. In the fall, these beautiful, one-of-a-kind dogwood silhouettes will be sold to the public at auction.

Ijams Nature Center has opened the swimming area at Mead's Quarry in phase two of the City/County reopening plan, which went into effect May 26.

River Sports Outfitters (RSO) began offering paddle rentals on the lake Memorial Day weekend. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Rentals will close due to inclement weather and will be announced on the RSO Facebook page at @RiverSportsOutfitters.

The Ijams Outpost, which offers concessions, beer and other items, will mirror RSO hours. Restrooms at the quarry remain open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Visitor Center restrooms and limited-contact gift shop/concessions purchases continue to be open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All restrooms will close for short periods at set times each day to allow facilities to be cleaned and sanitized. During those times, the front lobby of the Visitor Center also will be closed.

Navitat is open Monday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are by appointment only.

You are encouraged to wear masks when entering the Visitor Center and while passing other people on the grounds. Ijams remains committed to the health and safety of visitors and staff, and will be evaluating reopening policies, procedures and hours; changes may be implemented at any time. www.Ijams.org or call 865-577-4717.