Calendar of Events

Stephen Wicks, Curator of the Knoxville Museum of Art, will be conducting a virtual tour of key works from the KMA’s crown jewel, the Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee exhibition, ranging from early landscapes to impressionist idylls to the modernist visions of Beauford Delaney—and the enormous and once-controversial Marion Greenwood mural.

Apr 29, 2021 06:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Information: 865-525-6101, https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYvd-yhpzorEt0CGdB4U6L87R_iw_WrUuIJ

Apr 29 · 6:30 PM EDT
REWATCH UNTIL MAY 2, 2021 · 11:59PM EDT

Knoxville’s very own 2017 Voice winner Chris Blue will be performing his new single “Moon” for the first time live!! This is THE song he’s been waiting to give you guys AND it’s what fans all over the world have been asking for! Join us for an evening that will make you laugh, dance, and escape the realities of the worlds around you. The goal is simple, by the end of the night you will walk away feeling like you can do and achieve anything great for yourself and for your community and “Change the World” in the process.

Tickets to this virtual concert are available on a sliding scale. Please choose the amount you would like to contribute to support Chris and the Bijou Theatre.
https://bijoutheatre.veeps.com/stream/events/8fd914c7-5366-481b-b7e3-7a34aceae193

Higher Ground
Thursday, April 29 at 6:00 pm on Zoom

Then, on April 29, we’ll welcome our friend Stephen Wicks, Curator of the Knoxville Museum of Art. He’ll be conducting a virtual tour of key works from the KMA’s crown jewel, the "Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee" exhibition, ranging from early landscapes to impressionist idylls to the modernist visions of Beauford Delaney—and the enormous and once-controversial Marion Greenwood mural.

Register for these online programs at: https://knoxvillehistoryproject.org/events/

Digital Exhibitions
UT School of Art Artist in Residence Maryam Hoseini

Join the UT School of Art Thursday, April 29th at 7:30pm EST on Zoom for the final lecture of the semester. Maryam Hoseini (b. 1988, Tehran, Iran) explores the subtle relationship between bodies, physical space, and the politics of narrative. Her work utilizes painting and site-specific installation to investigate the political, social, and personal conditions of identity and gender while examining the concept of ruins, displacement, and fracture.
https://art.utk.edu/air-lecture-maryam-hoseini/

Just in time to snag any last minute Mother's Day gifts or to treat yourself, Kendra Scott Knoxville will be hosting a give back event for MDC this Thursday, April 29.

The event will be held in two different formats:
• April 29 from 11 am-2 pm: In Store Event at Kendra Scott Knoxville (5350 Kingston Pike)
• April 29-30: Virtual Event by shopping online at www.kendrascott.com. You can use the code GIVEBACK-1AHS at checkout

Twenty percent of all proceeds will go back to MDC at either event you participate in! We hope to see you there!

Metro Drug Coalition | 4930 Lyons View Pike | Knoxville TN 37919
Phone: (865) 588-5550
http://metrodrug.org/

THURSDAY AT 7 PM EDT – 9 PM EDT
Free · Online Event

Celebrate the 2021 inductees into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame and the richness and diversity of writing in our area. Get your free ticket and receive a 10% discount at Union Ave Books! 2021 Writers Hall of Fame inductees:
Scott Barker and Jesse Mayshark, Journalism
Shannon Burke, Fiction
Sara Pirkle, Songwriting
Christina Seymour, Poetry
James Glen Stovall, Lifetime Achievement
Chris Wohlwend, Nonfiction
Emerging Writer Award: Darius Stewart

Performances and Readings by:
Lisa Alther
Rhea Carmon
Ellie Cypher
Ernie Freeberg
Rita Quillen
Karen E. Reynolds
Kim Trevathan

For more information, visit https://www.etwriters.org/awards-gala.html

Portraits were the “social media posts” of the American colonial and antebellum periods. Today, social media allows users to not only visually document and share life’s moments but also curate how others see themselves. Early Tennessee portraits afforded the sitter the same duality. “They are,” as one art historian puts it, “the rhetoric–not the record–of self-representation.” As viewers two centuries removed, how are we to understand early portraiture in East Tennessee? Is it history, fiction, or perhaps a bit of both? This exhibition of works by Samuel M. Shaver, East Tennessee’s first native-born artist, provides interesting examples for discussion.

About Samuel M. Shaver (1816-1878)
Samuel Moore Shaver was the youngest or next to youngest child born to David and Catherine Barringer Shaver on Reedy Creek (near present-day Kingsport) in 1816. Little is known about his formative years. He may have studied at Jefferson Academy in Blountville; a Leonidas Shaver is listed as a teacher there, and his older brother David, Jr., operated a tavern nearby. In 1833, William Harrison Scarborough (1812-1871), a traveling portrait painter from Middle Tennessee, visited Sullivan County. What impact did Scarborough’s stay have on 17-year-old Shaver? Did he watch Scarborough paint the portraits of his neighbors? Or did he simply benefit by imitating the works Scarborough left behind? Whether by native talent, with formal instruction, or both, Shaver possessed the skill set to begin producing competently done portraits by the late 1830s.

Shaver: An Artist of Rare Merit traces the artist's maturation through the 19 portraits held by the East Tennessee Historical Society and the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, Knox County Public Library. The exhibition is organized on the occasion of three recent Shaver acquisitions, making the East Tennessee History Center the largest repository of the artist's works.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

April 22 – September 30, 2021
Thursdays, 3 pm – 6 pm

New Harvest Park, 4775 New Harvest Lane, Knoxville, TN 37918

The New Harvest Farmers’ Market is an open-air, producer-only farmers’ market located in east Knox County at New Harvest Park. Everything at the NHFM is grown or raised within a 150-mile radius of Knoxville. Products vary by the season, and include fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, eggs, honey, cut flowers, edible and ornamental plants, prepared foods, baked goods, crafts, and much more! New Harvest Park also features a splash pad and play area, walking trails, and a covered pavilion for patrons to enjoy. https://www.nourishknoxville.org/new-harvest/

For the past twelve years, the Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville and the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority (McGhee Tyson Airport) have partnered to present a biannual 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 will be displayed through October 18, 2021. View works at https://www.knoxalliance.store/product-category/airport-24/.

Exhibiting artists include: Gabrielle Barnhart, Lynda Best, Meredith Boatman, Orel Brodt, Jan Burleson, Nancy S. Campbell, Tina Curry, Barbara Enloe, Casey Field, Brian Horais, David Johnson, Judy Kelley Jorden, Anne Kinggard, Judy Lavoie, Peggy Kretchmar Leland, Ilana Lilienthal, Bill Long, Ling Lu, Siobhan McAuley, Steven McQuilkin, Brian Melton, Amalia Fotini Mermingas, Allen Monsarrat, Chico Osten, Amber Patty, Carrie Pendergrass, Mera Ragsdale, Ted Richards, Adam Rowe, Mary Ruden, Pamela Salyer, Gayla D. Seale, Renee C. Suich, W. James Taylor, Marilyn Avery Turner, Gena Tussey, Rick Whitehead, Carl Whitten, Marcy Wielfaert, Anne Wilkerson, and Marianne Woodside.

Zoo Knoxville’s family-friendly “Craft Bear Nights” featuring craft beers, a food truck and special menu items from their own chef are back by popular demand. Craft Bear Nights will take place from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. each Thursday in April.

Beginning at 5:00 p.m. selected craft beers will be available for purchase, the food truck will be on site, and special menu items exclusively available in the evening will be offered at the zoo’s restaurants. Wine, other beer selections, and non-alcoholic beverages are also available for purchase.

The entire zoo will be open to explore, including the all-new Clayton Family Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Campus (ARC). The state-of-the-art ARC is an $18 million, 2.5-acre expansion featuring 85 species of reptiles and amphibians in indoor and outdoor habitats. It brings 40 new species to Zoo Knoxville, including Cuban crocodiles, King cobras, Lake Titicaca frogs, West African dwarf crocodiles, a Malaysian giant river turtle and a Linne’s two-toed sloth. The Fuzzy-Go-Round Carousel and Zoo Choo Train will also be open, weather permitting.

On Thursday, April 15, Stick in a Box will be the featured food truck. April 22 will feature the Penne for your Thoughts truck and April 29 will feature Gus and Son Greek Grill. Beverage offerings will include a selection of beer, cider, wine and non-alcoholic drinks each evening. Visit the zoo’s website at www.zooknoxville.org or the zoo’s Facebook page @zooknoxville, for updated information on featured food and drinks.

A general admission ticket is required for ages 4 and up. Parking is $5 per vehicle. Zoo Knoxville members get free entry and parking. All food and beverage are an additional purchase and valid I.D. is required for beer and wine purchases. Tickets may be purchased online in advance at www.zooknoxville.org or at the front gate.

Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open every day except Christmas. Information: 865-637-5331

Lori Paul is an East Tennessee mixed media artist who works with found and recycled items, mostly stones and bits of nature to make her wonderful, whimsical creations. See her work in the Ijams Hallway Gallery in April!

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920

We’ve opened our new Clayton Family Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Campus.

We Dare You to Enter! The new, state-of-the-art Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Campus is ready for you! Come explore 12,000 square feet of rare, venomous, beautiful and mysterious snakes, tortoises, frogs, and Cuban crocs. You might see Joe the sloth overhead, too!

The ARC is our commitment to animal conservation, where we will protect 85 species—38 of which are endangered. We can’t wait for you to experience this and help our mission of saving animals from extinction.

Tickets: https://store.zooknoxville.org/WebStore/Shop/ViewItems.aspx

Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open every day except Christmas. Information: 865-637-5331, www.zooknoxville.org