Calendar of Events

Join us for a First Friday gallery opening on Friday, September 3, from 5pm-8pm.

Houston Vandergriff’s images have been described as “colorful,” “reflective,” and “inspiring.” Through his photographs he shares his love for travel and his eye for beauty. The saying that a picture is worth a thousand words has a special meaning for Houston. Because of the low muscle tone from Down syndrome, sometimes his speech is difficult to understand. By skillfully using his camera Houston is able to share his view of the world without actually saying a word.

When Houston was born every doctor that appeared had worse news: unable to breath, jaundice, low muscle tone, hole in his heart, open heart surgery, Down syndrome. Each specialist cited their own long list of things he might never do. They never imagined by the age of 22 he would travel to all 95 counties in Tennessee, to 48 of the United States, to 6 Canadian provinces, and to 24 countries. Houston’s award-winning photography has been featured in publications, awards shows, and galleries all over the world, including SONDER and Neurobrilliant magazines, “Markings” Publishing in Pakistan, “My Perspective” in England, and the Inspiration Gallery in Scotland. Defying all the doctor’s predictions, Houston is a strong self- advocate and dedicated student behind the camera. He earned his Certificate of Photography in 2019 after completing 160 hours of study through the University of Tennessee Non-Credit and Professional Programs. He also received the Advanced Photography Certificate in June 2020.

Houston inspires others, both inside and outside of the disability community. He pushes for inclusion using the arts and creative world. By sharing his gift of photography he is also sharing the gift of hope. Houston’s life shows that disabilities don’t define the person; the person defines the ability. He expresses his passion for life in the arts. He is a globe-trotting photographer and advocate. Houston’s untarnished love for people shines easily through his Down syndrome, touching people’s hearts in ways few others could. https://www.t21project.com/stories/houston
Instagram: @DOWNSANDTOWNS
DOWNSANDTOWNS.COM

Be sure to practice social distancing as we host this free event. Be sure to mark your calendar! The Knoxville Community Darkroom, 127 Jennings Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. www.theknoxvillecommunitydarkroom.org
Viewing hours by appointment: theknoxvillecommunitydarkroom@gmail.com

Awaken Coffee will host an opening reception for artists Debbie and Marc of Master Repurposers Friday, Sept. 3, from 6-8 pm.

As young kids, Debbie and Marc, learned the importance of finding value in all of the things around them. “This perspective on value has, at its surface, ingrained in us the importance of concepts like recycle, reuse, and repurpose, but at its core, it has taught us to see the intrinsic value in items that have been discarded or are expendable. With this in mind, we focus our creative energies on utilizing all manner of objects in our work, and in many cases, the reused items will drive the design of a given piece.” For example, their Mixed Media pieces contain an endless selection of interesting items, from vintage buttons and antique game pieces to old saw blades and slate roofing tiles.

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

ALABAMA ABSTRACTIONS: PAINTINGS BY BILL DOOLEY AND ALEX MCCLURG

Reception: September 3, 5:00pm - 8:00pm

Join us for a First Friday reception for Alabama Abstractions, paintings by William Dooley and Alex McClurg. Bill Dooley serves as the director of the Moody Gallery at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Alex McClurg received his MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Tennessee in 2013 and is currently head preparator at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

All events at the UT Downtown Gallery are free and open to the public.
Masks are required. Thank you for working to keep our community healthy!

Open Wednesday - Friday 11am - 6pm and Saturdays from 10am - 3pm. UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at The Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from September 3-24, 2021. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, September 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features an outdoor concert by Knoxville Opera musicians. All visitors to the Emporium are required to wear a mask and maintain physical distancing guidelines. 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 Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturdays, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (NEW!). CLOSED Mon Sep 6.

Chroma is a new exhibition featuring work by two local artists who both use intense color.

Diana Ferguson, known to the art community as ‘DiFergi’, is an internationally recognized and awarded visual artist. Graduating with a degree in Fine Art from Stetson University, she taught for eight years in the public school system before she went full time as a studio artist. One of the highlights of her career was being invited to and attending a month-long artist residency in Hungary. She has shown on multiple continents and has had work shown at the United Nations Building in Switzerland. Her work has been featured in national and international shows and in multiple publications, and she is an active advocate for the arts today in East Tennessee. DiFergi’s paintings are whimsical and spiritual. The images are simple yet profound. They are narratives that create small worlds of enigmatic moments. Strong emotional colors imbue the canvas with layered meaning, and combined with a dash of silliness, her work requests that you stop, reflect, and experience her world.

Facebook: DiFergi's
Instagram: difergiart
https://difergi.blogspot.com

A staple in the Knoxville Arts community, Kit Hoefer has shown her work in Knoxville for almost two decades beginning with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Over the years, her paintings have evolved into a rich exploration of color theory and composition. She juxtaposes natural forms with manufactured patterns while considering the delicate balance of loud, expressive colors. Her paintings attempt to nullify the associations attached to the objects depicted, juxtaposing them with fantastical elements and a touch of absurdity. One might recognize the mundanity of everyday life while being swirled into the hypnotic patterns inserted into the composition. This element of escape mirrors the artist’s practice of managing life as a working artist, full time nurse, and single mother.

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. 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 September 3-24, 2021. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, September 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features an outdoor concert by Knoxville Opera musicians. All visitors to the Emporium are required to wear a mask and maintain physical distancing guidelines. 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 Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturdays, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (NEW!). CLOSED Mon Sep 6.

This new exhibition features acrylic paintings, oil paintings, skateboards, custom shoes, and handmade resin figurines.

Cody Swaggerty is a self-taught artist with an interest in art since childhood. In college, he briefly studied multimedia and graphic design. In his mid-20s, he rediscovered more traditional art when he started his first canvas paintings, which then turned into larger paintings, murals in Strong Alley, and other opportunities for paid work for area businesses. Swaggerty has done work for local CrossFit gyms, Knox County Schools, and the City of Knoxville. Recently he has focused on creating works for an online store where he can continue to make and sell art while having more time for his family. In his spare time he enjoys watching sports, seeing his childhood friends, and riding through Knoxville in his vintage VW bug.

The foundation to my work is chasing my curiosity and excitement for art. There is nothing I enjoy more than creating and trying to progress my artwork. I try to be well-rounded, working in murals, molding and casting sculptures, canvas paintings, graphic design, and more. One recurring theme in my work is a plentitude of color; being a child of the 90s, I always seem to be drawn towards a brighter color palette when creating.

Instagram: cswaggerty
https://www.facebook.com/cody.swaggerty

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. 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 September 3-24, 2021. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, September 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features an outdoor concert by Knoxville Opera musicians. All visitors to the Emporium are required to wear a mask and maintain physical distancing guidelines. 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 Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturdays, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (NEW!). CLOSED Mon Sep 6.

In 2019 Lesley Eaton, Melissa Everett and Colleen Thornbrugh formed a brain trust to encourage one another in their work as artists. As things continued to get “out of hand” in 2020, their encouragement provided vital connection with each other and with their own creative expression. This show is a collective exhibit of new projects in acrylic, mixed media, and textiles created from 2020-2021 and features creations by each individual artist as well as works that reflect shared inspiration and materials. While each artist’s voice is uniquely her own, the connectivity of sharing over the past couple of years is evident through the rich layers and tactile expressiveness of each piece.

Lesley Eaton
www.lesleyeaton.com
Instagram: lesleyeatonart

Melissa Everett:
www.MelissaNEverett.com
Instagram: mne_textiles

Colleen Thornbrugh
www.sunfacestudio.com
Instagram: sunfacestudio

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. 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 September 3-24, 2021. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, September 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features an outdoor concert by Knoxville Opera musicians. All visitors to the Emporium are required to wear a mask and maintain physical distancing guidelines. 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 Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturdays, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (NEW!). CLOSED Mon Sep 6.

When I first began research for this group of works about endangered species, I started to realize there was so much more than living species in peril and in danger of extinction. Certain liberties we've fought so hard for are endangered. My work is influenced by discovery through travel geographically or mindfully. I seek the golden thread of sheer existence that binds us all to one another, weaving us together with nature and all of its glorious, dazzling color. I paint about the light that settles in our souls, and the idea that there is a natural touchstone for all of us.

Tracye Burnett Sowders is a prolific painter in various media including watercolor, oils, pen and ink, alcohol inks, and oil pastels. She is also a calligrapher, hand quilter and needle worker, illustrator, and pianist. She studied art and music therapy for children on the autism spectrum at Carson-Newman University. After raising three sons, she returned to her original medium of watercolor and now exhibits regularly throughout Knoxville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Nashville, and parts of New England including Manhattan and Staten Island. Her original watercolors, oils and quilts are in private collections all over the United States, Australia, Canada, Scotland Wales, Ireland, England and New Zealand. She regularly participates in various festivals and exhibitions across the southeast and New England. Currently, Sowders and her husband are working on plans for a mobile art gallery.

www.facebook.com/tracye.sowders
Instagram: TracyeBurnettSowdersArtist

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. 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 September 3-24, 2021. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, September 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features an outdoor concert by Knoxville Opera musicians. All visitors to the Emporium are required to wear a mask and maintain physical distancing guidelines. 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 Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturdays, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (NEW!). CLOSED Mon Sep 6.

The 3 Ring Circus is a phrase that immediately captures the imagination and transports the mind to an ephemeral world in which the impossible is possible, the unimaginable exists, and humans are convincingly what they are not. The circus in 21st century America exists in a form very different from the creature that it once was. It does not travel by night rail to coalesce in a field or parking lot only to vanish just as quickly. Gone are the acts of cruelty to harshly captive animals. The freak shows encouraged by humankind’s unkindness have been replaced by compassion and the respect of science. You can no longer run away to join the circus. And yet, the mystique of the circus survives. The 3 Ring Circus is a new exhibition that features The Dreamweaver (woven works by Judi Gaston), The Painted Lady (painted works by Cynthia Markert), and The Miniaturist (miniatures by Jolie Gaston). These artists were collectively influenced by a Cirque du Soleil performance - a surrealistic experience which could only be expressed by visual conjurings of their own.

Judi Gaston is a self-taught fiber artist, working with fibers for many years. She was declared a State Treasure in 2011 when she was inducted into the Tennessee State Museum Fashion and Textile Institute. In her handwoven studio line of wearables she endeavors to bring the past into the present with the use of vintage embellishments, handwork, buttons, etc.

A Knoxville resident, Jolie Gaston has made her home in places as diverse as Orange County, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Detroit, Michigan; Darwin Australia and Macau, China. A miniaturist since the age of 10, Jolie pursued scale miniatures as an avocation until 1999, when she opened an online and retail show miniatures business. Jolie has been a member of the International Guild of Miniature Artisans since 1999 and has attended IGMA’s Guild School in Castine, Maine for 21 years. Beginning in 2011, Jolie has helped stage a holiday display of contemporary miniatures at the Knoxville Museum of Art in the Thorne Rooms Gallery during the month of December.
Instagram: JPWinx

Cynthia Markert has painted her mixed media portraits on wood for over twenty years, exhibiting in San Francisco, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Charleston. She exhibited and represented a group of artists at the World's Fair in Knoxville and her images were marketed by Images Conscious, San Francisco. She is a Charter Member of the National Museum in Washington, D.C. where her work is represented in the archives. Markert presently exhibits at Kress Emporium in Asheville and RALA and Knoxville Museum of Art gift shop in Knoxville.
www.cynthiamarkert.com

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

Dogwood Arts partnered with the Songbirds Foundation in Chattanooga to give 19 middle & high school students the chance to design and paint guitars provided by Epiphone. Join us next Friday, September 3rd from 5-8PM for the opening reception of the guitar exhibition. Local singer/songwriter Zack Miles will be joining us for live music during the event. The Dogwood Arts Gallery is located at 123 W Jackson Avenue in the Historic Old City. Masks are required, regardless of vaccination status.

• Reception: Friday, September 3rd from 5-8PM (First Friday)
• Exhibition on Display: September 3 - 24
• Gallery Hours: M-F 10AM-5PM

The guitars will be at Dogwood Arts for the month of September before moving to the Songbirds Guitar Museum in Chattanooga, where they will be on display October 1-29th. The online auction will be live September 3rd - October 31st with proceeds benefiting youth art + music programs hosted by Dogwood Arts and the Songbirds Foundation.

https://www.dogwoodarts.com/dogwoodgallery

The University of Tennessee School of Art is hosting Navajo artist and University of Colorado Professor, Melanie Yazzie, September 20– 24, for a series of activities on campus.

Mapping Home / Collecting Truths: Works by Indigenous and International Artists, an exhibition organized by Yazzie with prints by 35 indigenous and international artists, addressing ideas of homeland and its intersection with the environment, climate, or other influences. https://www.colorado.edu/libraries/2018/10/08/mapping-home-collecting-truths-works-indigenous-and-international-artists

About her work Yazzie writes: “The Navajo Paradigm in which we create the world with our thoughts, grounds and motivates my work as an artist, as a teacher, an Indigenous person who is a member of the Navajo Nation, and asPoster for Mapping Home/Collecting Truth Showcase faculty of the University of Colorado. The key themes and processes central to my work include: outreach to rural communities on the local, national, and global level with Indigenous people, colonization, the idea of homeland, nature, the female archetype, and issues relating to health and safety. My intellectual, creative, classroom, and outreach is rooted in the fact that we learn from one another, through our shared experience in the practice of art-making, an ancient, sustainable way of both being in the world, and a way in which to live together, always in a state of learning. Of principal research interest is our diverse yet shared foundational, theoretical, and philosophical bodies of knowledge that express our connections to our homelands.”

On view in the Printmaking Showcase Gallery on the second floor of the Art and Architecture Building
UT Campus
https://art.utk.edu/melanie-yazzie-public-lecture-and-showcase/

Opening reception Wed Sep 1, 2-4 PM

Jennifer Brickey works in pen, ink, acrylic, paper and more. www.jenniferbrickey.com

Omega Gallery at Carson-Newman University, Warren Art Building, corner of Branner & Ken Sparks Way, Jefferson City, TN 37760. Gallery hours: M-F 8-4. Information: 865-471-4985, www.cn.edu

Artist Leesa Osburn
Medium: Water Based Oils

Bio: I enjoy painting with water based oils on canvas. Often times I rescue a canvas to save it from destruction. My painting subjects include pets & wildlife, landscapes & seascapes, and scenes from our nearby Smoky Mountains. Originally from the West Coast, I have lived in Knoxville with my husband and two dogs since 2019. I have a website which is under construction at https://artisticescape.studio/.

Old City MedSpa, 104 W Summit Hill Dr SW, Knoxville