Calendar of Events

Global Asias: Contemporary Asian and Asian American Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation

Drawn from the exceptional and diverse collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his family foundation, Global Asias examines the cosmopolitan, playful, and subtly subversive characteristics of contemporary Asian and Asian American art. The exhibition highlights the work of fifteen artists of Asian heritage who draw on a rich array of motifs, techniques, and cultural motivations to construct diverse “Asias” in a modern global context.

Organized by the Palmer Museum of Art in conjunction with the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, the exhibition is divided into three thematic sections. “Exuberant Forms” features work that has the potential to reshape conventional views of abstract art—its composition, palette, materiality as well as its cultural implications, expanding and complicating the canonical narrative of abstraction. “Moving Stories” brings together powerful prints and mixed-media works that reflect on the experiences of migration, both within Asia and beyond. The artists in this section map their own diasporic trajectories, literally and metaphorically, and the art compels the viewer to move and to respond to the shifting socio-political realities of time and place. “Asias Reinvented” highlights two- and three-dimensional works that transform styles and techniques of traditional Asian arts in alignment with the vibes of the contemporary and the cosmopolitan. Combined, the works in Global Asias suggest the plurality and fluidity of “Asia” as cultural construct and creative practice. The exhibition is guest curated by Chang Tan, Assistant Professor of Art History and Asian Studies at Penn State.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Tuesday-Saturday 10 am-5pm, Sunday 1-5 pm, closed Mondays. Information: 865-525-6101, https://knoxart.org/

Ewing Gallery of Art + Architecture, UT Campus

The Ewing Gallery at the Art and Architecture Building is hosting, A Serious Look at the Funnies: 100 Years of Comics beginning January 24 through February 28, 2022. The exhibit examines 100 years of comics and comic history in America. Showcasing political cartoons, underground comics, graphic novels, and daily strips, this exhibition borrows from the collection of Denis Kitchen, cartoonist, publisher, and founder of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and from the University of Tennessee Special Collections.

These examples span 100+ years of comic history with the earliest work dating from 1906 and the most recent work dating from 2019. Noted artists from Denis Kitchen’s collection are Robert Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman, Peter Poplaski, Trina Robbins, Al Capp, Will Eisner, Richard “Grass” Green, and Ernie Bushmiller. Additional artists include Stacey Robinson, John Jennings, Brad Kahlhamer, Paolo Rivera, and Joseph Delaney as well as artists whose work is being shown at the other two galleries.

The Ewing Gallery is located at 1715 Volunteer Boulevard on the UT Campus. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, 10 a.m.-7:30pm Wednesday and Thursday, and 1-4pm on Sundays There is no admission charge. Visit the gallery’s web site (https://ewing-gallery.utk.edu/) or on Facebook for more information. The gallery can be reached directly at 865-974-3200.

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

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

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

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

Central Filling Station is Tennessee's first full-service food truck park! We are a family-friendly, dog-friendly neighborhood hangout featuring a daily rotation of the city’s best food trucks and craft beverages. Welcome to Knoxville’s most unique outdoor dining experience!

Wednesday & Thursday 5-9p
Friday & Saturday 11a-10p
Sunday 11a-9p

900 N. Central Street | Knoxville, TN
https://www.knoxfoodpark.com/
https://www.facebook.com/knoxfoodpark/

We’re excited to be bringing back our keeper chats, which gives you the opportunity to get to know more about the animals and meet the keepers who care for them. It’s a great way to learn more about the conservation work being done at Zoo Knoxville and learn how you can be part of the mission to save animals from extinction. Currently offered throughout the zoo each Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Schedule subject to change.

Explore Keeper Chats: https://www.zooknoxville.org/keeper-chats/

Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open every day except Christmas. Information: 865-637-5331, www.zooknoxville.org

Details TBA

Gallery 1010, 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 114, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Reception Fri 5-7 PM, Sat 10 AM – 1 PM, or by appointment. Information: https://gallery1010.utk.edu/

Spring is the perfect time to enjoy Farragut’s unique history while strolling through the heart of town. Pick up a Farragut History Walk map from the brochure holder on the Heritage Trail sign located at the turnaround at Founders Park at Campbell Station and learn more about the town’s interesting past. A PDF version of the map is available at https://visitfarragut.org/attractions/

The walk includes four educational sites: the Heritage Trail with interpretive signage at Founders Park, the Campbell Station Inn and Mayor Ralph McGill Plaza, the Farragut Museum/Admiral Farragut Plaza and Pleasant Forest Cemetery. Parking along the trail is available at Founders Park, the Farragut Community Center or Farragut Town Hall.

Incorporated in 1980, the Town of Farragut has top schools, safe neighborhoods and high development standards, making it one of the best places to live in the Southeast. More info: 865-966-7057

Experience an unparalleled view of Knoxville during our public cruises! Enjoy a delightful lunch, brunch, or dinner cruise. We offer a range of public cruises for your friends and family on Knoxville’s only luxury yacht! From sunset dinner cruises to sailgates in Big Orange Country, Volunteer Princess Cruises is truly special for any event. Browse through our cruise offerings to begin your jaunt along Knoxville, Tennessee’s beautiful riverfront! Public, seasonal, and other cruises available.
https://volunteerprincess.com/