Calendar of Events

The Tennessee Watercolor Society celebrates 50 years of educating, elevating and encouraging watercolor artists in this exhibit of extraordinary works. https://tnws.org/

Join us at the reception on Fri Oct 29, 5-7 PM to view the unique paintings and meet exhibiting artists, many of whom are top award winners. Featuring watermedia paintings of East TN artists!

Due to the recent rapid local spread of COVID-19, masks are now required for all museum visitors, regardless of vaccination status. Visitors are asked to check in HERE before their arrival to ensure that maximum capacity is not exceeded. Admission is ALWAYS FREE!

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, www.knoxart.org

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.

View and purchase artworks at https://www.knoxalliance.store/product-category/airport

www.knoxalliance.com/arts-in-the-airport

OLD TIME JAM, TUESDAYS AT 6.30PM, HOSTED BY SARAH PIRKLE
This strings only* session is the sound of the Appalachian legacy that richly indwells the soul and soil of Knoxville. The musicians sit together and pick and strum familiar tunes on fiddles, guitars, and bass. We play Old Time fiddle tunes mostly, everyone jams at once and there are no breaks. Open to all lovers and players of music. We welcome dancers but please no tap shoes, as it can interfere with the session. No need to build up the courage to join in, just grab an instrument off the wall and take a seat.
*No percussion instruments please.

IRISH SESSION, 1ST AND 3RD THURSDAYS AT 7.15PM
From the low central valleys to the high coastal mountains, music fills the pubs of Ireland. Guitar, harp, bodhran, flute, accordion, and dulcimer are the celtic sounds of old that combine to create a traditional and lively atmosphere every other Thursday night. Musicians play to enjoy and to preserve the cultural heritage that the Scots-Irish brought to America generations ago. Come and listen or join in! (Thanks Jason for the video!)

SCOTTISH SESSION, 2ND AND 4TH THURSDAYS AT 7.15PM
A proud tradition, Scots love nothing more than music and drink. The drink is strong and the music is steeped in the history of the green highlands and rocky cliffs. Whether lyrics or no lyrics, every song tells a story. The hills of East Tennessee are a home away from home for this style. Pull up a chair to listen or play along every other Thursday night.

BLUEGRASS JAM, FIRST AND FOURTH SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH AT 3 P.M., HOSTED BY PERRY COOPER
It’s true that Bluegrass has roots in traditional English, Scottish, and Irish ballads and dance tunes. That’s why the Bluegrass Jam Session is a great fit for the Jig and Reel crowd. Come listen to acoustic string instruments as one or more instruments take their turn playing melody and improvising around it. As one instrument plays melody, the others will perform accompaniment. It’s an improvised jam session for all you pickers and grinners out there.

CELTIC JAM FOR BEGINNERS, SECOND SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH AT 3 P.M., HOSTED BY TIM WORMAN
This session is your chance to enjoy traditional Celtic tunes at a slower pace. Learn as you play alongside host Tim Worman. He is there to guide the group of beginners as they take in the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe. Let yourself get swept up in years of living tradition and hear songs that celebrate life by the sea. All are welcome to Celtic Jam for Beginners. Don’t be afraid to join in on the fun!

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCE, THIRD SUNDAYS AT 3PM, HOSTED BY CYNTHIA WEST
Dancing is just as important as the music in the Scottish tradition, and upbeat rhythms make for great foot-stomping. Those that are more experienced can even present a well-practiced jig or reel! Whether you are watching or dancing, 3rd Sundays at Boyd’s are overflowing with energy and fun.

*Jams/Sessions are currently limited to the number of players, so you must contact the session leader in advance if you are interested in playing. If you need assistance reaching them, you can email us at info@jigandreel.com, and we can connect you.*

101 S Central St, Knoxville, TN 37902, www.jigandreel.com, Phone: (865) 247-7066

In Praise of Gray Space / Jovencio de la Paz & Sandra Salaices
October 18 – December 10, 2021

GEOFFREY A. WOLPERT GALLERY
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, https://www.arrowmont.org/visit/galleries/exhibition-schedule/

Exhibit featuring works by Risa Hricovsky

Artist’s Talk at 11 a.m., Nov. 9 Catron Gallery

Risa Hricovsky is a post-discipline installation artist. Her work pushes the existing boundaries between painting and sculpture, and between art, design and craft. Risa’s artworks punctuate space through pattern, color and her use of the multiple. She received an M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a post-bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.F.A. from Bowling Green State University. Risa has exhibited nationally and internationally and she has attended many prestigious residencies. She is an assistant professor of art at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate.

Walters State Morristown Campus
500 S Davy Crockett Pkwy, Morristown, TN 37813

Attraction and repulsion, innocence and violence, obsession and indifference; in her new body of work, Paris-born artist Angelique Heidler investigates the paradoxical dualities embedded within mainstream depictions of both femininity and romance. In her signature style of adorning the painted canvas with personal objects and images through collage and sublimation printing techniques, Heidler brings together these contrasting forces, highlighting their hybridity through a series of playful compositions.

Touching on themes of childlike fantasy, consumption, and indulgence, Heidler’s wide scope of aesthetic reference speaks to the highly nuanced construction of gender and the self through late-captialism’s endless horizon of media representation and branded products. The exhibition’s title, Piselli, represents Heidler’s tongue-in-cheek humour well, simultaneously referring to the Italian word for green peas as well as children’s slang for male genitalia.

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/

Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church
Free and open to the public

Reception Friday, October 22, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists' talks at 6:30 pm.

Shannon Johnson
Shannon Johnson's work is inspired by nature and the creative process. Her paintings are a balance between harmony and contrast, simplicity and accumulation, and stillness and motion. Johnson studied at the University of Tennessee and received a BA in studio art. She taught high school art for 20 years. She exhibits her work at First Friday events and art shows in a variety of locations around Knoxville and regularly on Instagram (@shannondeanajohnson) and Facebook (Shannon Deana Johnson Art). She is represented by dk Gallery in Marietta, GA.

Elle Colquitt: Discovering the Unusual in the Usual
Photographer Elle Colquitt searches for the artistry that can be found within the layered imagery of window reflections. The surrealism within the reflection creates a double exposure illusion. This altered reality of abstract images produces a unique mix of forms and colors. Colquitt is content manager for OutdoorKnoxville.com, where her images showcase the beautiful naturescapes around East Tennessee. She is a member of the Art Market Gallery, Professional Photographers of East Tennessee, Arts & Culture Alliance, Southern Appalachian Nature Photographers, and the League of Scruffy Photographers. https://www.ellecolquitt.com/

Gallery hours: 10-4 Monday, 10-3 Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Gallery, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919

Stir Fry Café West Hills, 7240 Kingston Pike #128, Knoxville, TN 37919

Bio: My family moved from Las Vegas, Nevada in 2019 to Knoxville to enjoy the four season change of climate. I have a BA from UNLV and enjoy the ability to paint around the East Tennessee area. Mostly I paint landscapes, seascapes, animals, and pet portraits. I belong to Fountain City Art Guild, Tennessee Artist Association, and Tuesday Painters, a Plein Air Group. To see examples of my work, please see website: www.ArtisticEscape.studio

The community is invited to the opening reception on Saturday, October 2 from 7 to 9 PM. The gallery talk will be held at 6:30 PM.

Celebrating visual artists in the area! The 2021 exhibition will be the 53rd show in the series, It is one of the longest running juried exhibitions in East Tennessee. Open Show 2021 will be exhibited from October 2 through November 27 in the Art Center’s galleries at 201 Badger Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Open Show is intended to showcase the diversity and range of excellent work being created by regional artists in a wide variety of media. Awards for this year’s show total $3,200.

Guests viewing Open Show can read the juror comment cards to discover what the juror considered when selecting the work into the exhibition. Here guests at a previous Open Show listen to the gallery talk that precedes the opening reception. It is an opportunity to learn more about the juror’s comments criteria.

Closed Thanksgiving Day
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

New work from the Voodoo Rocket - Institute of Advanced Typographic Research

We will be open every Friday and a few other dates to be determined (check Social Media).

If you stop by the office of Robin Easter next door, they can provide access during the M-F 9-5 work hours, or after hours by appointment.

https://insideofknoxville.com/2021/10/kevin-bradley-presents-voodoo-rocket-in-the-old-city/
132 W Jackson Ave | Knoxville TN 37902 | www.robineaster.com

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 6 – 8 PM

We are excited to announce Mr. Hooper Art as our First Friday artist for the months of October and November! Tim Hooper is a self-trained painter based in Nashville, who takes inspiration from cartoon art, folk art, and pop surrealism. All paintings are one of a kind originals.

Please join us for the show opening. Mr. Hooper's work will be on display October 1st through November 28th.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, we are requiring that masks be worn inside the store. Thank you for helping us stay safe!

https://www.mrhooperart.com/
@mrhooperart on Instagram

Rala: Regional and Local Artisans, 112 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-525-7888, https://shoprala.com. Instagram: @ShopRala

The annual James Agee Conference for Arts and Literature at Pellissippi State Community College will be held as the James Agee Online Reading Series this fall, after having been canceled due to COVID-19 in 2020.

“By rethinking the conference as an online reading series that will be available on YouTube throughout the academic year, we can reach a wider audience,” said conference founder Charles Dodd White, an author and associate professor of English at Pellissippi State. “We are encouraging instructors to use it in their classrooms, but the entire series is free and open to the public as well.”

White, whose 2020 novel “How Fire Runs” won a 2021 Independent Publishers gold medal for Best Regional Fiction – South, created the James Agee Conference six years ago to give Pellissippi State students an opportunity to attend a scholarly conference while also celebrating the literature, culture and arts of Appalachia.

While the online reading series continues in the spirit of the James Agee Conference, White noted that an online reading series allows Pellissippi State to expand the featured writers beyond Appalachia to the general Southeast. Their readings will be recorded, not live, and will include the authors’ thoughts on writing and publishing in addition to sharing from their books.

The three authors on tap this fall include:

• Crystal Wilkinson, Kentucky’s Poet Laureate and the award-winning author of “Perfect Black,” “The Birds of Opulence,” “Water Street” and “Blackberries, Blackberries.” Her reading will premiere Sept. 30.
• Ravi Howard, author of two books of fiction, “Driving the King” and “Like Trees, Walking,” which won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. His reading will premiere Oct. 30.
• Jim Minick, author of five books, including “The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family,” winner of the SIBA Best Nonfiction Book of the Year Award. His reading will premiere Nov. 30.

For more about each featured author and the link to their readings, please visit www.pstcc.edu/events/ageeconference/.