Calendar of Events

Mon Jan 17, 4:30-8 PM

The show will be directed by KCT Alum Derrick Washington. Detailed instructions for what to prepare will be included with audition confirmation. There are great parts for both boys and girls of all ages and there will be roles for new KCT actors. The play is written by acclaimed playwright Steven Dietz, and the production will run just before the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball (April 15, 1947). Rehearsals run Mon Jan 31 – Thu Mar 24 (except spring break). 14 performances Thursday-Sundays (March 25-April 10). No calls for appointments, please. https://knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com/register-for-an-audition

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

Shane Pickett: Djinong Djina Boodja (Look at the Land That I Have Travelled)
January 14 - May 7, 2022

During his lifetime, Shane Pickett (1957–2010) was acclaimed as one of Western Australia’s most significant contemporary Aboriginal artists.

Featuring 29 works from the most radical and significant phase of his career, Djinong Djina Boodja (Look at the Land that I Have Traveled) is the first major exhibition of Pickett’s work in the US. Pickett’s paintings capture the transformations of the country near Perth in the south-west of Australia in ever-changing and innovative ways. Over the course of his three-decade career, Pickett developed a new visual language to represent the cornerstones of the culture of his Nyoongar people: the pathways of ancestors, traditional healing practices and places, and especially the six seasons used by the Nyoongar to divide the year.

Djinong Djina Boodja (Look at the Land that I Have Traveled) shows the developments in the last decade of Pickett’s career, as his work transformed from figurative landscape painting into a ground breaking and expressive form of gestural abstraction. It was during this period that Pickett achieved his greatest acclaim, with his works being exhibited across Australia and acquired by major institutions such as the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria. The 29 works in the exhibition present a snapshot of these experiments, as Pickett explores the complex connections between the earth, creation, and spirituality that are united in the Aboriginal concept of “Dreaming.”

Pickett described his paintings as ‘windows into the Dreaming’, and the strength of his culture is delivered through his work with breathtaking lyrical intensity. His paintings show the persistence and adaptability of Aboriginal ways of seeing the country in the face of colonisation. Shane Pickett’s Nyoongar name, Meeyakba, or ‘soft light of the moon,’ captures the spirit of an artist who set a beacon for those who follow him. One of the great innovators of Australian landscape painting, he is remembered as one of the pre-eminent Aboriginal Australian artists of his time.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-2144

Available through Facebook, via a link from our website under “Events”, or by calling the Art Center with your bids.

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

More info: www.MLKKnoxville.com
Please make plans to join us in 2022 for another year of celebration and commemoration honoring the life and legacy of the Dream and the Dreamer.

Wednesday, January 12, 12:00pm – 1:00pm
• INTERFAITH PRAYER SERVICE
Location to be determined
The major opening of the MLK Celebration is traditionally an interfaith prayer service to bring people of our community from all faiths together in worship.

Thursday, January 13
8:30am – 11:30am
• LEADERSHIP EDUCATIONAL SYMPOSIUM at University of Tennessee, Student Union
A highlight of the MLK Celebration is the annual leadership symposium providing a forum for dialogue and exchange of information about social justice issues.
12:00pm – 2:00pm
• LEADERSHIP/AWARDS LUNCHEON at University of Tennessee, Student Union
The business leadership awards luncheon will bring businesses from all segments of Knoxville together to honor special people who have made a difference in our community and will feature a special Keynote Speaker.

Friday, January 14
7:00pm – 8:30pm • COMMUNITY FORUM – OAK RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL PEACE ALLIANCE at Beck Cultural Exchange Center
An especially important element in the MLK Celebration activities is a Community Forum with our partners of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance.

Saturday, January 15
• JACK AND JILL ORATORICAL CONTEST, Virtual Event
The MLK Jr. Commemorative Commission Youth Symposium team has again partnered with the Knoxville Chapter of Jack & Jill of America to provide opportunities for students to enhance their oratorical and public speaking skills. The contest is comprised of students from local middle and high schools with the Knox County School district.

Monday, January 17
8:30am (Line-Up)
10:00am – 11:30am
• MEMORIAL MARCH PARADE
The purpose of the parade is to offer the community a visual and audible display in tribute to the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Parade route will stretch from Chilhowee Park – Midway Entrance on N. Beaman Street to the Overcoming Believers Church on Harriet Tubman Street.

12:00pm – 2:00pm
• MEMORIAL TRIBUTE SERVICE at Overcoming Believers Church
The MLK Memorial Tribute Service culminates the MLK Memorial Parade and will feature a special Keynote Speaker.

Ahoy, readers! Mayor Glenn Jacobs is inviting you to set sail on our 2022 reading challenge, Oceans of Possibilities, with a goal to read ONE MILLION HOURS! This year, we've broken our million-hour goal into three nautical challenges. You can participate in any one of the challenges, or all three.

Anchors aweigh! Set sail with us. By reading and logging your hours, you'll be part of Read City's quest to be the best-read community in America. It's more than a feel-good slogan. In an effort to support our schools, we are encouraging our children and their families to make reading a top priority. Currently, only 40% of Knox County students are reading on grade level at the end of third grade. Our community can help.

Got a Beanstack tracker app account? It's simple to join the next challenge--just click on Anchors Aweigh.

Don't have a Beanstack account yet? Also simple. With your library card, you can register for a free account and get started logging.

You can also drop by any library and pick up a navigation map with activities or try out our sailor hat craft.

It's 2022 and time for another reading adventure. I'm excited to set sail on our Anchors Aweigh challenge, and I hope you'll join us. When we read together, we're sending a strong message to our community that we value reading. If you can read with a child, that's even better, but all reading counts. It's easy to be a part of Read City. Just download the Beanstack tracker app or drop by any Knox County Public Library location to pick up a tracker map. Earn great prizes. Read and log 45 hours (that's about 20 minutes a day) to earn sea-worthy prizes! https://www.knoxlib.org/calendar-programs/read-city-oceans-possibilities

Exhibition on Display: January 10th - February 25th

"Close to Home" featuring work by Michelle Barillaro & Vickie Bradshaw. Stop by M-F from 10AM-5PM to see the show! 123 W Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902. The First Friday reception will be Friday, February 4th from 5-8PM.

Regular Gallery Hours: M-F 10AM-5PM

About the Artists:
Vickie J Bradshaw is a Southern Appalachian based artist who has been making art for the last thirty years across a variety of mediums. As a teacher at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN, she is currently teaching metals classes as well as working with torched fired enamels. She is especially interested in mixed-media art and the functionality of found objects. She received her BFA from Memphis College of Arts.

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.

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com

The artists represented in this exhibit are:
o Paige Braddock (BFA ’85)
o Peter Cotroneo (MFA ’16)
o Brandon McBath (BFA ’16)
o Alex Cline (BFA ’13)
o Mary Climes (MFA ‘21)
o Joel Trussell (BFA ’98)
o Emmy Lingscheit (MFA ’12)
o Guen Montgomery (MFA ’12)
o Marshall Ramsey (HCB ’91)
o Ed Gamble 1971-72
o James Greene (MFA ‘06)
o Danny Wilson (BFA '84)

The Student Union Gallery is located on the first floor of UT's Student Union. Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. There is no admission charge.

Would you like to learn a new language? Why not try Cherokee? The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum is offering a beginner Cherokee language class on the following Mondays in January 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The cost of the class is $60 for all four evenings. The class will be taught by Lou Jackson and Joel Turner who are enrolled members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian.

Anyone interested in taking this class should contact the museum at 423-884-6246 or seqmus@tds.net to register. The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum is located at 576 Hwy. 360, Vonore, TN, 37885.
http://www.sequoyahmuseum.org/

Blackberry Farm Gallery 502 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN

Art by MC alumnus Minh Hoang ’16. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10am-5pm. A reception will be held in the gallery on Jan. 28 from 6-8 p.m.

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

JANUARY 9 – MARCH 4, 2022 | GEOFFREY A. WOLPERT GALLERY
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is proud to feature works by this year’s Winter Pentaculum Studio Coordinators; Adam Atkinson, Suzi Banks Baum, Brandon Donahue, Jason Schneider, Max Seinfeld, and Rena Wood. Also included in this exhibition is slide show featuring the work of participating invited artists, and a collection of writers’ short stories, poems, and essays. This colorful exhibition represents the spectrum of work created in a variety of media supported in the studios at here at Arrowmont.

https://www.arrowmont.org/pentaculum-winter_2022/
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, https://www.arrowmont.org

133 S Gay St, Unit C, Knoxville, TN 37902
Hours: Mon-Thurs 9:00 to 5pm
Friday 9:00 to 6:pm
Sat-Sun 9:00 to 5pm

The display for the show at Jacks coffee shop will be a variety of work to include: landscapes, animals, and pet portraits.

I paint in water-based oils. The subject matter I choose to paint is a variety of subjects from animals to landscapes to people’s pets. I search copyright free materials for anything new and challenging. Knoxville will be home for my family for almost three years in the Spring. You can see my work at my website on the internet at www.ArtisticEscape.studio.

116 S Central St, Knoxville, TN 37902
Hours: M-TH 12:00 to 8pm, Fr-Sat 12:00 to 9pm, Sun 1pm to 7pm

The display for the show at Corks will center around different beverage glasses and their contents. Some paintings will have a dramatic background setting while other paintings will show off liquid splashing from within the glass.

Leesa is fairly recently a transplant for the West Coast. Her painting medium is water-based oils. You can see her work at www.ArtisticEscape.studio. Knoxville is quickly becoming home to herself, husband, and two rescue dogs. Leesa is also learning to paint in the Plein Air Style when time and weather permits.