Calendar of Events

THE UNUSUAL TALE OF MARY & JOSEPH’S BABY – meant for the virgin-believing and non-virgin-believing alike, this musical dares to take the nativity story at its word with whimsy, humor, and humanity. There really was a pregnant virgin. There really are shepherds and angels and foreign dignitaries (a.k.a. wise men). There’s a ratty extra room/stable at the inn, and a maniacal, bloodthirsty dictator whose menacing shadow hangs over everything. And obviously, it’s a comedy. When people engage this over-told story on a sincere human level, it bursts with imagination and wonder.

Previews: Dec. 8-9
Performances: Dec. 10-12; Dec. 15-19; Dec. 21-23

River & Rail Theatre, 111 State Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-407-0727, www.riverandrailtheatre.com

Tri-Star Arts announces a special exhibition in their gallery at the historic Candoro Marble Building. A solo show, Graft, featuring work by artist Edra Soto of Chicago, Illinois opens on Tuesday, December 7, 2021 and will run through Saturday, February 12, 2022. Public receptions will be held on Friday, December 10, 2021 from 4:00- 8:00 pm and Friday, February 4, 2022 from 5:00- 8:00 pm (artist in attendance on February 4).

This exhibition will coincide with the unveiling of a permanent, outdoor sculpture by Edra Soto, Graft Knoxville, in early February 2022 at the UT GATOP Arboretum & Education Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. This site-specific sculpture initiative has been organized and curated by Tri-Star Arts in partnership with the UT Department of Plant Sciences, UT School of Art/ Sculpture Department, UT College of Architecture + Design/ FabLab, Sanders Pace Architecture, Johnson & Galyon Construction, Mallia Engineering Company, and Tennessee Marble Company. Graft Knoxville is in its final stages of production with more information and related public events forthcoming.

The Graft exhibition at the Candoro Marble Building features sculpture and prints by Edra Soto alongside a visual exploration of her design process, including scale models, a real-scale block module, and project renderings by Knoxville-based firm Sanders Pace Architecture.

Candoro Marble Building, 4450 Candora Drive, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Tue-Sat 11-5. Information: https://tristararts.org/visit
The use of masks and social distancing is encouraged.

Follow Tri-Star Arts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
#TRISTARARTS

Head out to Safety City for family fun under the Holiday lights during the following public hours:

Evening times:
Dec. 7th 4pm-7:30pm
Dec. 8th 4pm-7:30pm
Dec. 9th 4pm-7:30pm
Dec. 14th 4pm-7:30pm
Dec. 15th 4pm-7:30pm
Dec. 16th 4pm-7:30pm

Day times:
Dec. 20th 10am-2pm
Dec. 21st 10am-2pm

165 S Concord St, Knoxville, TN 37919

You must have a helmet to ride your scooter or bike and nothing motorized! Contact this number 865-215-7103 for any questions.

https://www.facebook.com/SafetyCityKnoxville/

Gallery of Holiday Shops is open and waiting for you to join us. Wonderful original creations fill every booth for you to peruse and enjoy! We hope your holiday season is off to a great start and that you will join us to finish (or start) your shopping. It is a beautiful show! Come by any, or every, day between 9 Am and 4 PM from December 4 through 11. Hope to see you here!

There is no admission fee, and proceeds from the artists’ sales will benefit both the artists and the Art Center.

Exhibitors in 2021 represent a wide variety of unique items to beautify one’s own space or for gifting in the holiday season. We are fortunate to have several returning favorites (Capshaw, Prince, Loosli, Redd, Ferrara, Zucker, Lankford, etc.) as well as newer vendors (Bills, Fisher, Edkins, Sullentrup, etc.) to titillate your mind and add new flair to your gifting ideas. For those who are looking for truly one-of-a-kind options, this is your opportunity to find beautiful items for holiday gifts and shop in relative safety since we are limiting the number of individuals in the building at any one time, requesting masks, practicing social distancing, and cleaning often touched communal objects frequently.

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

On display from December through the end of January.

Michelle Barillaro is an abstract painter based in Knoxville, TN. She works with a wide variety of mediums and enjoys discovering new ways to bring her work to life. https://www.michellebarillaroart.com/about

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

Rala is excited to announce a First Friday Double Feature show for the months of December and January! We will have a new series of Castles and Cathedrals by local artist and architect Brian Pittman, along with a curated show of tiny artworks from 20 different local and regional artists. The opening reception will be from 6-8 on December 3rd. Both shows will remain on display from December 3rd through the end of January.

Facebook Event: https://fb.me/e/1v7UW8jBz

Rala, 112 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902
PH: (865) 525-7888
Instagram: @ShopRala

December 3, 2021 - January 8, 2022

The UT Downtown Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of work by former University of Tennessee Head of Design for Theatre, Marianne Custer, and Clarence Brown Theatre Head Draper, Kyle Schellinger.

In this exhibit, two artists blur the line between costume craft and art. Their work is born in theatre practice and emerges as sculpture. The impulse to make hats transforms leather into sculptural expressions from nature. The impulse to make historical gowns becomes a sculptural exploration of material and scale.

Join us Friday, December 3 for an opening reception from 5-8pm and stay downtown for the WIVK Christmas Parade. All events are free and open to the public. Masks are required. Thank you for helping 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

Friday 12/3 - We are doing our first First Friday art showing here with the staff at Jerry's Artarama Staff Showing! We will be showcasing their work on Friday 12/3 and will have their artwork up all month long! Look forward to seeing you here!

Albright Grove Brewing Company, 2924 Sutherland Ave, KNOXVILLE, TN, 37919
https://www.albrightgrovebrewing.com/

Tue-Wed 4pm - 9pm
Thu-Fri 4pm - 10pm
Sat 2pm - 10pm
Sun 2pm - 8pm

Bennett is proud to present Culinary Excess, an exhibition of new works by Denise Stewart-Sanabria that will be on show from December 3rd to December 30th, 2021. Denise is a Knoxville-based painter and mixed-media visual artist. She earned her BFA in painting from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and relocated to Knoxville in 1986. This is Denise’s first show with Bennett. Denise’s hyper-realistic paintings draw upon imagery from art history, particularly the Baroque and Rococo periods. Her themes of memory, excess, gluttony, and the human figure are present in many of the works in her oeuvre.

Many of Denise’s paintings hearken back to the still lives of Ruysch and Peeters, with flowers, fruit, and food having just gone past the point of freshness. Denise was the 2019 recipient of the Tennessee Arts Commission State Fellowship for her work in wood. Her work is included in various museums, private, and corporate collections including: The Tennessee State Museum, The Evansville Museum of Art in Indiana, The Knoxville Museum of Art, The Huntsville Museum of Art, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Firstbank TN, Pinnacle Banks, Omni and Opryland Hotels, Scripps Networks, Knoxville Botanical Gardens, Jewelry Television, TriStar Energy, the Atlanta Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank/Nashville office, the Aslan Foundation, The Ayers Foundation, and the corporate offices of McGhee Tyson Airport.

Bennett is a Knoxville institution founded in 1976 that operates at the intersection of fine art and interior design. Bennett is committed to the integration of art and life, and to the art world of East Tennessee. For further information, press, or sales inquiries please contact the Managing Director, Robert Shipley, at roberts@bennettgalleries.com, or the Gallery Associate, Clara Souvignier, at claras@bennettgalleries.com.

Bennett: 5308 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-Sa 10-5:30. Information: 865-584-6791, https://bennetthome.com/

A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, December 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM. The 48th Annual WIVK Christmas Parade starts at 7:00 PM along Gay Street and passes in front of the Emporium.

The Arts & Culture Alliance proudly presents its 2021 Members Show, the largest annual exhibition of 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 regional 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.

“This exhibition is traditionally a highlight, and for us, represents a culmination of a year’s productivity on the part of Knoxville’s diverse and enthralling artist community,” says Liza Zenni, Executive Director for the Arts & Culture Alliance.

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, Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, Fountain City Art Center, Knoxville Arts & Fine Crafts Center, Knoxville Museum of Art, Mighty Mud, 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, 17th Street Studios, Mighty Mud, Broadway Studios & Gallery, Knoxville Community Darkroom, West Fifth Studios, and Relay Ridge.

The 2021 Members Show will be on display throughout the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville from December 3-23, 2021. 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 Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed December 24 – January 2 for the holidays. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

The play will be performed Thursdays at 7 PM, Fridays at 7 PM, Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM, and Sundays at 3 PM.

Annie Jr. follows the story of an orphan named Annie living a “hard-knock life” at The New York City Municipal Orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. Annie dreams of being reunited with her parents and takes action to find them. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations, befriends President Franklin Roosevelt and finds a new family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

The play is performed by twenty talented young actors from ages 8 to 16.

The show is directed by Student Directing Intern: Campbell Ella. The play is designed by young student designers from ages 12 to 16.

Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-208-3677, www.knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com

By Jones, Hope, and Wooten
Directed by Candace Moore

Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM

In this outrageously funny comedy, it’s Christmas-time in the newest—and tiniest—town in Texas. And it’s beginning to look a lot like trouble in Doublewide. Not only are the trailer park residents dealing with the stress of the holiday season, but they’ve just discovered that Doublewide is being double-crossed by the County. With their official incorporation papers in jeopardy, this band of eccentric Texans throw themselves into taking on the “Big Guys.” Determined to bolster their legitimacy, they first set their sights on the County-wide “Battle of The Mangers” competition. They conspire to win this smackdown with their “Nativity At The Alamo” entry…by any means possible.

In addition to that shaky undertaking and trying almost single-handedly to keep the new town afloat, Mayor Joveeta Crumpler has to wrangle her celebrity-obsessed mother, her beleaguered brother who’s being bullied by a pack of vengeful raccoons, and her demoralized best friend who’s at the end of her rope from dating every loser this side of the Rio Grande. To make matters worse, Joveeta finds herself increasingly wary of the newest resident, Patsy Price. Patsy, fresh out of the local mental institution, clearly has her own devious agenda and the County competition over in Fayro is just the place for her to settle an old score.

By the time this full-tilt rocket ride of lunacy climaxes in a what-else-can-go-wrong live television presentation, you’ll have doubled your Christmas spirit. So spend the Yuletide in Doublewide and let this hilarious Jones Hope Wooten Comedy make your Christmas merry and bright…because there’s no place like a good ol’ Texas-sized mobile home for the holidays!

Theatre Knoxville Downtown, 800 S. Central Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information & tickets: 865-544-1999, www.theatreknoxville.com