Calendar of Events

7:30 PM Thursday-Sunday, July 8 - August 8
2 PM Matinees: Sunday, July 18th (Twelfth Night) & Sunday, July 25th (The Tempest)
ADMISSION: Reservations & in-person tickets will be $15, with a four-pack for families offered a 15% discount.

The Tennessee Stage Company presents its 31st Summer Shakespeare Festival, now performing at Ijams Nature Center! The natural hillside boasts the space for the audience to spread out & observe proper social distancing while enjoying the outdoor performances, which will feature two of Shakespeare’s most renowned plays: the comedy Twelfth Night & the romance of The Tempest. This season is being produced in cooperation with Ijams Nature Center. Twelfth Night opens the festival on Thursday, July 8th. It continues through August 7th, alternating performances with The Tempest, which opens on Friday, July 9th, & plays through August 8th. There is an indoor space at Ijams Nature Center where performances will move in case of rain. In order to be prepared for the ever-changing landscape of 2021, we will play this season in the open field in front of the Visitors Center of Ijams Nature Center, located at 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920, just a short drive from downtown. The Tennessee Stage Company encourages our audiences to spend an evening at Ijams Nature Center. Walk the splendor of the trails, check out the gift shop, have dinner at a food truck, see the show & enjoy the beverages from the Beer Garden. Come early & sample the many pleasures to be found at Ijams Nature Center.

July 8, 10, 16, 18, 22, 24, 30; August 1, 5, 7 at 7:30 pm; July 18 at 2:00 pm
TWELFTH NIGHT

July 9, 11, 15, 17, 23, 25 29, 31; August 6, 8 at 7:30 PM; July 25 at 2:00 pm
THE TEMPEST

For more information about the Tennessee Stage Company, Shakespeare 'Off' The Square, or its support guild, Buddies of the Bard
(BoB), call 865-546-4280 or e-mail TennesseeStage@Comcast.net. Tickets: www.Ijams.org/shakespeare. Up to three students (K-12) may attend for one penny with paying adult!

The Dogwood Arts Synergy Exhibition showcasing gifted K-12 art students alongside their teachers from across East Tennessee at the Clayton Center for the Arts. See the results of the artistic student-teacher synergy that happens every day in our schools! All student artwork has been generously professionally framed by our friends at ExpressFrame.

• Gallery Hours: 9am-6pm (Monday - Friday)
• Address: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804

A closing reception and awards ceremony will be held at the Clayton Center for the Arts on Thursday, August 5th from 5:30PM-7:30PM. Awards will be presented at 6:30pm.

www.dogwoodarts.com

Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Information: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

Ijams Nature Center hallway gallery featuring local artist Cheri Jorgenson

Blessed Are the Meek - Monochromatic drawings of local wildlife from 5”x7” to 20”x16”. Also includes a bin of discounted pieces from UT Gardens.

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920
https://www.ijams.org

Treat your eyes to an art exhibit with over 100 original paintings by 25 members of the Tennessee Watercolor Society. This 50th Anniversary Celebration includes works by the members of the three eastern regions of the statewide Society: the Knoxville, Chattanooga and Tri-Cities chapters. This show runs from July 5 - August 20, 2021, at The Arts Center in Athens, Tennessee.

Art enthusiasts may mingle with the artists and learn about techniques and processes from the artists themselves at our opening reception to be hosted on Friday, July 16 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. This reception, as well as exhibit attendance during the show at The Arts Center, is free.

Exhibiting artists are Mary Ahern, Claudia Balthrop, Jann Bohnenberger, Mary K. Brown, Sandy Brown, Helen Burton, Linda S. Campbell, Durinda Cheek, Lil Clinard, Mark Cobbe, Don Gotterbarn, Marie Spaeder Haas, Irma Herzog, Harriet S. Howell, Spencer Hudson, Faye Ives, Barbara Brown Jernigan, Linda A. Johnson, Judy Lavoie, Kirsten May, P. Holly Peck, Jean Porter, Richard Rice, Gayla D. Seale, Tom White, and Barbara Wilfon.

This is the second biennial show of the regional Tennessee Watercolor Society artists and one of The Art Center’s largest, favorite, and best attended exhibits. Among the original paintings being displayed are various water media, including watercolor, acrylic, ink, tempera and gouache. See works on paper, canvas, and panels, including scratchboards, in a wide range of sizes and formats. Most of the works are for sale. Tennessee Watercolor Society (TnWS) is the largest and most respected organization in Tennessee dedicated to the exploration and advocacy of water media. This is an exciting year for the TnWS, as the 50th Anniversary of the society’s founding. The society has grown in numbers and significance over the years, with regular showings all over the state and an acclaimed juried Biennial Exhibition. TnWS currently has a statewide membership of more than 250 artists and supporters, representing some of the finest artists in the state. For more information on the Tennessee Watercolor Society, please visit tnws.org.

Athens Area Council for the Arts: 320 North White Street, Athens, TN, 37303. Hours: Mon-Fri 10-5. Info: 423-745-8781, http://www.athensartscouncil.org/exhibitions/

Bliss & Tori Mason Shoes is excited to host local artist Kara Lockmiller for First Friday as Downtown Knoxville starts to return to normalcy amid more reopening activities since the pandemic shutdown.

Kara will be at Bliss & Tori Mason Shoes at 445 S. Gay St. in downtown Knoxville from 6 – 9 PM on Friday, July 2nd for an in person meet and greet where snacks and drinks will be served.

Kara Lockmiller is a Knoxville artist who specializes in painting in shadow hues. She is known as a chromesthete, which means she sees a vast array of real colors in her mind when she listens to music. Kara paints musical artists ranging from Dolly Parton to Billy Joel and accepts custom commissioned requests. She has displayed her work at several venues throughout Knoxville over the years and has received many creative awards.

Bliss & Tori Mason Shoes is a women's clothing and gift store located on Gay St. in downtown Knoxville and has been a downtown Knoxville mainstay since its start in 2003. Bliss prides itself on offering an alternative to the standard retail experience and often carries pieces you won't find anywhere else. Husband and Wife team Scott Schimmel and Lisa Sorensen own Bliss, along with four other Bliss stores throughout TN and KY including another women's boutique in West Town Mall, and three furniture stores (Bliss Home) located in Knoxville and Nashville, TN and Louisville, KY. For more information on Kara Lockmiller, please visit her website at www.klockmillerart.com or follower her on social media @klockmillerart

For more information on Bliss, please visit their website at www.shopinbliss.com or contact Molly Hanley at 865-219-2703 or marketing@shopinbliss.com

First Friday Reception: July 2, 5:30 – 9:00
July Theme: The Love of Travel

Kim Emert Gale, Painter
Kim Emert Gale is a seventh generation East Tennessean and a descendant of Emert's Cove near Gatlinburg, Tn. She specializes in oil, acrylic, pen and ink, and pencil drawing. Her subjects include portraiture, landscape and still life. She has painted for several years and has studied with several widely known and collected painters. Kim attended the University of Tennessee and studied art and psychology. She resides in Knoxville Tennessee where she paints the beauty of the surrounding area and the Smoky Mountains.

Harriet Howell, Hand Painted Silk
Harriet’s painting, whether on paper or silk, uses color and movement to capture the emotional content of nature. “I’ve always loved fabrics, and used to make all of my own clothes. Painting scarves allows me to play with color and natural shapes and then turn the art into something wearable. What fun!” Starting with a stretched silk scarf, Harriet uses brushes to apply successive layers of fabric dyes. Sometimes a resist is used or a hand-cut stencil. Sometimes the dye is applied wet-in-wet. Almost all images are based on elements found in nature. Finished scarves are then steam set, washed, ironed and sewn. Harriet Howell’s painting, whether on paper or silk, uses color and movement to capture the emotional content of nature. “I’ve always loved fabrics and used to make all of my own clothes. Painting scarves allows me to play with color and natural shapes and then turn the art into something wearable. What fun!” Starting with a stretched silk scarf, Harriet uses brushes to apply successive layers of fabric dyes. Sometimes a resist is used or a hand-cut stencil. Sometimes the dye is applied wet-in-wet. Almost all images are based on elements found in nature. Finished scarves are then steam set, washed, ironed, and sewn.

Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tu-Sa 11-6, Su 1-6. Information: 865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net, www.Facebook.com/ArtMarketGallery

The practices of Celia Lesh and Esther Sibiude span disciplines of sculpture, drawing, writing, and music. Although their works are decidedly distinct from one another, they share an affective tenor and intuitive mode of making that honors slowness and emotionality. Esther’s drawings fluctuate between cosmic landscapes and microscopic biologies. Wisps and lines are trusted to wander, swirling in and out of reality. In some, narrative peeks through. In others, the non-drawn space, the paper and the air trapped in the frame, become equally important to the drawn. Celia makes sculptures, often from her bedroom studio. Her techniques range from sewing and soldering to chewing and mushing, arranging and re-arranging. She combines found objects with meticulous methods of adornment. The resulting works vibrate between lightness and weight, embodying the psychological. In situ, they operate like constellations, bound to one another by the heavy space in between.

Celia Lesh is an artist living and working between New York and California.
Esther Sibiude is an artist and harpist living and working in New York.
Colleen Billing is an artist living and working in New York.

BAD WATER, 320 E. Churchwell Ave, Knoxville, TN. Open during receptions & by appointment. Info: writetobadwater@gmail.com, https://instagram.com/bad__water, or https://badwater.gallery/

Award-winning artists, Judi Miller and Barb Pelak, are the Art Guild’s featured artists for July. They will be honored at the Fun and Wine Reception on Friday, July 2nd, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., at the Art Center located at 451 Lakeview Drive in Fairfield Glade. Wearing masks is optional. Wine will be served. This event is free & open to the public.

Judi Miller grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. She moved to New York, married, and raised 3 children. She now lives in Fairfield Glade. Judi Miller’s love for drawing, and art, began soon after she could hold a pencil. As Judi grew older, she experimented with different mediums of paint and discovered her passion for watercolor. Judi loves the transparency of watercolor and the mingling of the paints on the paper. Her favorite subjects are all types of plant life, still lifes and people, especially children. Painting brings Judi a sense of peace. She found it to be really good therapy, especially this past year, with so many unknowns. As a prerequisite for Judi’s paintings, she works hard to capture the best photographs, including precise positioning, light, and shadow. She loves taking pictures of her grandkids.

Barb Pelak was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She married and moved to Naples, Florida in 1980 where she raised her family. Barb has been enjoying summers in the Crossville area since 1975, and has made Fairfield Glade her home. Barb learned to paint in 1985 when she joined a local chapter of the Society of Tole and Decorative Artists. She has painted in oils, acrylics, watercolor, and colored pencils, and loves them all! She also has an interest in paper arts, and loves to make greeting cards, handmade books and journals. Barb has a gift for teaching, and has taught a variety of art classes since 1990. She continues to teach classes at the Art Guild’s Art Center.

Hours: Mon-Sat 9 AM - 4 PM. Art Guild at Fairfield Glade at the Plateau Creative Arts Center, 451 Lakeview Drive, Fairfield Glade, TN 38558. Information: 931-707-7249, www.artguildfairfieldglade.net

On display for month of July
PostModern Spirits, 205 W Jackson, Knoxville
Hours: 4pm-11pm mon- Fri. Sat-Sun 12pm-11pm

Leesa Osburn of Knoxville, TN
I was born and raised on the Oregon Coast. I enlisted in the Army and had the opportunity to travel to Germany. After several years serving my country, I returned to the U.S. and settled in Las Vegas, NV for 14 years. After too many hot summers in 2019, my husband and I moved to Halls, Tennessee with our two rescue dogs. The positive change in environment has reinvigorated my need to put paint to canvas. I have a Bachelors in Studio Art from University of Nevada Las Vegas and paint mostly in Water Soluble Oils. My work, mostly landscapes, have been shown now in several local exhibits and hope to expand my reach to future juried events. I enjoy “rescuing” formerly used canvases and frames. Many canvases only need a tiny amount of work and a neutral base coat in oils to prepare them for a new day of painting. Good quality frames often just need a new coat of paint and the two, canvas and frame, are ready to be joined. I often choose to paint on gallery wrapped canvases which omits the need for a frame all together. To expand my craft, I joined Tuesday Painters, a Plein Air painting group. For ease of portability I have been dabbling on Tuesdays in Watercolor. https://artisticescape.studio/

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at The Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from July 2-30, 2021. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, July 2, from 5:00-8:00 PM. Most of the works will be for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition by visiting in person or the online shop at www.knoxalliance.store. The opening reception features music by Elza Gate, a folk duo (Pat Parr and Bob Cushman) from Oak Ridge performing a wide variety of music, including traditional tunes from the Southern Mountains and British Isles, bluegrass, and country.

In this new exhibition, Michelle Barillaro features paintings on wood with acrylics or oil & cold wax. Each medium lends itself to different techniques for layering and subtracting paint with household tools and brushes until the perfect composition is realized.

Born in Gainesville, FL in 1969, she moved to South Florida and essentially grew up on the beach, which deeply instilled her love for the saturated colors and tranquility of this tropical environment. The built environment also enticed Barillaro, and she moved to Knoxville to attend the University of Tennessee’s School of Architecture. After completing her degree, she stayed in East Tennessee and absorbed its natural beauty. While in college, Barillaro took multiple ceramics courses and honed her sketching and drawing skills related to architecture. Just two years ago, she took an eight-week workshop on mixed media at her local community art center and felt the passion for creating – specifically painting – reignited. Abstracts have always been a constant, whether they feel soft and moody, linear and architectural, or suggest a sea or landscape. She paints the recognizable colors of Florida and the suggestion of the hills of Tennessee. Abstracts allow the viewer to see something related to their own personal experiences and dreams.

www.instagram.com/m.bartist

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, July 5. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at The Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from July 2-30, 2021. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, July 2, from 5:00-8:00 PM. Most of the works will be for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition by visiting in person or the online shop at www.knoxalliance.store. The opening reception features music by Elza Gate, a folk duo (Pat Parr and Bob Cushman) from Oak Ridge performing a wide variety of music, including traditional tunes from the Southern Mountains and British Isles, bluegrass, and country.

In this new exhibition, Vicki Love will feature four distinct arrangements of her functional leather pieces: shades of whites and creams celebrating the freshness of summer events; a collection of black which will traverse the spectrum from sophisticated to whimsical, as well as Victorian with a touch of Goth; ultra girlie to denim baby; and earth tones with emphasis on texture and movement.

My earliest and best memories revolve around my love for nature and its beauty. During childhood most of my free time was spent in the woods playing, fantasizing and meditating. These lasting impressions are reflected in my work today. Since 1977 I have exhibited in fine arts festivals. I spent the first eleven of those years pioneering the way I mold leather to create form and texture. I utilize an extensive technique in which the leather is wetted and heated to mold and then finished by gluing and sewing. This technique is used in my sculptural designs as well, allowing me to create three-dimensional pieces with the leather for my one-of-a-kind handbags. My handbags and garments are adorned with antler, horn, glass beads, vintage pieces, and semi-precious stones. I work exclusively with deerskin because in my experience, it is truly the best leather: soft to the touch yet one of the most durable. My desire is that my work makes people happy. I believe that in using one of my creations, the owner will have more joy and radiate this to those with whom they come in contact; the magic of the deep woods will continue.

www.Facebook.com/VickiLoveDesigns

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, July 5. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at The Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from July 2-30, 2021. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, July 2, from 5:00-8:00 PM. Most of the works will be for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition by visiting in person or the online shop at www.knoxalliance.store. The opening reception features music by Elza Gate, a folk duo (Pat Parr and Bob Cushman) from Oak Ridge performing a wide variety of music, including traditional tunes from the Southern Mountains and British Isles, bluegrass, and country.

Rodney East was born in southern Indiana in 1945. He is a Vietnam Veteran and worked for Chrysler and GM before retiring from Delphi. Over the years, he has painted seascapes, landscapes, florals and various abstracts using primarily oils, watercolors and acrylics. In recent months, his Macular Degeneration has prevented him from painting. This new exhibition features acrylic works.

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, July 5. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.