Calendar of Events

March 18-April 1st, Plant Pick Up and Onsite Shopping Friday, April 8

Spring is almost here, and it will soon be time to plant your yard. If you want to buy plants to enhance your garden this spring, visit the UT Arboretum Society’s Annual Spring Plant Sale which will be held online with catalog sales from March 18 through April 1st. Plant pickup is on Friday, April 8 and vendors will have some plants available for in person shopping that day at the UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge. Our plant sales are some of our biggest fundraisers of the year and help support the UT Arboretum’s community education, trail improvements such as our Nature Book Trail, and children’s programs.

For two weeks online you can browse the selection of perennials, trees, and shrubs available from our vendors Tennessee Naturescapes, Riverdale Nursery and East Fork Nursery of Sevierville. The three vendors offer a wonderful selection of plants including unique conifers, both evergreen and native azaleas, hydrangeas, beautyberry, and a wide variety of native pollinator plants to name just a few. Beginning March 18th at 10 am, log on to https://utas-plant-sale.square.site/ to shop and make payment. Online sales will end on April 1st at 5 pm. Payments must be made by credit card online in advance for online purchases. There will be limited sales on site on pickup day but for best selection shop the online sale and then go to visit our vendors to shop onsite after you pick up your order on April 8.

For online orders, you will be provided a link to choose a pick-up time between 9 am and 6 pm on Friday, April 8th at the UT Arboretum, 901 S. Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge. You must schedule a pick-up time Friday April 8. We are not able to hold orders for other pickup dates. Arboretum Society members will have your plant orders ready for pick-up. This is a no contact pick-up system. When you arrive at your scheduled time, you be directed to designated pick up spots and your order will be brought to your car. If you want to check out the onsite sale you will be able to go up to that location after you pick up your order. This is an amazing opportunity which allows the public to shop from your own home.

Though many of our normal day-to-day activities were curtailed for the past two years, one consistent activity has been working in our yards and enjoying the healing qualities of nature. The UT Arboretum Society is grateful to our vendors for making this opportunity possible.

www.utarboretumsociety.org

March 18-27
Tickets are now on sale for this newly revised version of the compelling story of a family in hiding during WWII.

For nearly two years, a young Jewish girl, her parents, and sister hid with another family in a secret attic space, as the Nazis deported the Jews of Holland to their deaths. Anne Frank's luminous spirit shines through in the real-life diary she kept while in seclusion, allowing us to share in the complexities of adolescence - laughing and playing, fighting with her mother, falling in love for the first time - as she comes of age. Transcending the oppressive circumstances and horrors that surround her, she voices her belief, “in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” Her story of resilience continues to resonate deeply, making her story as vital today as when her diary first was published.

Seating may become limited due to social distancing requirements, so get your tickets early. Order online today by clicking the button below (or by phone or in person at the Playhouse box office Tuesday-Friday, noon-5:30 PM).

As an added safety measure for our patrons and volunteers, masks will be required at all times while in the building.
SUITABLE FOR GENERAL AUDIENCES

Oak Ridge Playhouse, 227 Broadway, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Information and tickets: 865-482-9999, www.orplayhouse.com

In a year like no other, Arrowmont's 2021-2022 Artists-in-Residents lived and worked together in the intimate environment of shared housing and adjoining studios. Their 11-month residency culminates in a group exhibition, now on display in the Sandra J. Blain Galleries at Arrowmont.

Please join Elizabeth Belz, Horacio Casillas, Kyle Cottier, Naomi David Russo, and Lena Schmid at the closing reception for their exhibition, "Party of Five." The reception is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!
May 13, 2022, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Sandra J. Blain Galleries
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, https://www.arrowmont.org/visit/galleries/exhibition-schedule/

Flying Anvil Theatre presents the dark comedy Loot, by Joe Orton

This outrageous farce combines a bank heist, a murder, and one very mobile corpse in a show that takes nothing seriously, not even death. The show is sponsored by Bill Cherry and directed by Artistic Director Jayne Morgan.

Joe Orton’s gleefully anarchic satire of British hypocrisy caused a scandal when it premiered in 1965. Loot concerns the events surrounding the death and subsequent burial of the McLeavy family matriarch. A bank robbery has been committed by her son Hal and his friend/sometime boyfriend, Dennis; they need to find somewhere to stash the stolen money and decide her coffin is the best place to put it. This means that they need to find somewhere else to hide the body, and her corpse is dragged around the stage throughout the play. Mrs. McLeavy’s corpse is hidden in a cupboard, her former nurse, Fay proposes marriage to the newly widowed Mr. McLeavy and Inspector Truscott arrives on the hunt for the money while claiming to be from the City Water Board. As the preparations for the funeral proceed, Dennis professes love for Fay. Mr. McLeavy is savaged by a crazed Afghan hound and Truscott discovers he can’t pin a crime on anyone. Bribes are negotiated and everyone agrees that “We must keep up appearances”.

Dennis and Hal are portrayed by Malik Baines and Eric Walker with Kara Van Veghel as the nurse, Fay. Greg Congleton and Jacques Durand are Mr. McLeavy and Truscott. Tim Coleman plays Meadows and Lisa Silverman plays the physically demanding role of the Corpse. (Van Veghel and Durand were last seen in Flying Anvil’s beloved Christmas show, Scrooge in Rouge.)

The show opens with a Pay What You Can preview on Thursday, March 17 and runs through Sunday, April 3. Tickets are $27 and $28, $13 for students. Flying Anvil Theatre, 1300 Rocky Hill Road, Knoxville. Information: 865-357-1309, www.flyinganviltheatre.com. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram, @flyinganviltheatre

Pellissippi State Community College’s art gallery shifts its focus from fabric to sculpture as the Arts at Pellissippi State presents Hunter Stamps and Jessica Wilson: Ceramics.

The works of these two artists will be on display through April 1 in the Bagwell Center for Media Art Gallery on the college’s Hardin Valley Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville. The gallery is free and open to the public 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Hunter Stamps is an artist and associate professor of Ceramic Sculpture at the University of Kentucky. He received his Master of Fine Arts from Indiana University in Bloomington and creates mixed media sculptures incorporating ceramics, fabricated metal, molds, encaustics, rubbers and resins. Stamps’ work has been exhibited in more than 100 juried, invitational and solo exhibitions in galleries across the nation as well as in China, Germany, Austria, Croatia and Spain. His work also has been published in Ceramics Art and Perception, Ceramics Monthly and other scholarly journals.

Jessica Wilson is an assistant professor of Ceramics at Tennessee Tech University. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design and has served as a studio technician at The Penland School for Crafts, The Brambleton Center, The Long Beach Island Foundation of Arts and Main Line Arts Center. Wilson completed residencies at both Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts and St. Petersburg Clay Company and has had her work included in more than 50 exhibits across the nation.

Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

Visit the Ijams Hallway Gallery in March to experience the work of Todd Eldridge Photography! According to Todd, “Capturing life in a single frame and reliving that moment forever is magic. Beauty is everywhere and sometimes it just takes freezing it in place to see it. Loved ones, special times, new journeys, favorite places, visions and shapes.” https://toddethridgephotography.com/

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

Bennett is proud to present our March Ceramics and Sculpture Show, featuring the work of Josh Copus, Sally Brogden, Marga Hayes McBride, Johan Hagaman, and Kat West. The Ceramics and Sculpture exhibition focuses on 3-D work by new and existing sculptors and ceramicists in Bennett’s catalogue.

Josh Copus is a Floyd, Virginia native working out of Asheville, North Carolina. Josh’s vessels show a high knowledge of ceramics, as he experiments with firing times, vessel size, and glaze reactions. Josh’s work references historical forms and processes while remaining relevant to the contemporary art world of our age.

Sally Brogden is currently a professor of art at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Sally was an invited Speaker at the 7th Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale, Icheon, S. Korea; an invited Presenter at the Shui-Li International Ceramic Symposium, Shui-Li, Taiwan. Sally had been included in many exclusive exhibitions across the world. Sally is an active member of the National Council for Education in The Ceramic Arts (NCECA) for which she founded the long running Graduate Student Image Forum. This is her first show with Bennett.

Johan Hagaman is a Nashville-based sculptor who focuses on themes of nature and femininity. She is inspired by patterns in nature, poetic words, and current events. She uses birds, vines and clover as metaphors for paying attention– how what we are paying attention to determines how we shape ourselves and our world, how we are shaped by it, and what seeks to emerge. Johan has exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States and has work in public and private collections–including the Tennessee State Museum and the Evansville Museum of Arts and Sciences. She has lived and worked in Nashville since 1977.

Marga Hayes McBride is a Knoxville-based artist who has exhibited with Bennett many times before. Her mediums include painting, drawing, ceramic sculpture, and bronze sculpture. Marga studied painting, printmaking and graphic design at the University of Tennessee and drawing and painting at the Mesa Community College in Arizona. She was taught how to work with clay through a friend and colleague and combined the two mediums to create her work. Marga’s work is “a reflection of both my art background and my spiritual studies”.

Kat West is a ceramicist based in Newport Beach, California. The themes present in her work reflect her Philippine heritage and her role as an immigrant in the United States. Kat was based in Brooklyn, New York for several years before moving to Newport Beach and beginning ceramics classes as a new creative outlet. Kat’s ceramic pieces are both sculptural and functional with each piece displaying its own unique presence. Her inspiration comes from the connection to humanity Kat feels, along with her personal experiences as an immigrant, a mother, and a creator. Themes of tradition and heritage drive Kat’s vision for her pieces, as well as finding ways to reduce the environmental impact of creating art. This is Kat’s first show with Bennett.

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

Learn the basics!
$200
4-Week Class
Saturday, March 5-26
2:00pm- 6:00pm
Instructor: Madilynn Eldridge
Registration Deadline: February 26th

In this comprehensive 4-week class, Madi will start and the beginning and discuss the history of woodburning, the styles of woodburning and all of the basics. Students will learn the elements of Art and joined together with their wood burning skills, create and execute a project from start to finish. Beginners welcome. A materials list will be provided.

https://registration.knoxvilletn.gov/ViewCourseActivityDetails.aspx?id=C13274

“Transferring Knowledge: Ceramics from a Collaborative Community Workshop” showcases the work created by members of The Bottom and Mighty Mud during a month-long workshop taught by Maggie Connolly and Jake Ingram. The exhibition will be on view at The Bottom, March 4th - 31st, with an opening exhibition on Friday, March 4th, 5-9 PM.

The goal of this workshop was to foster sustainable and meaningful connections between communities with the purpose of growing the arts culture and knowledge in the greater Knoxville area, by providing instruction on lithographic ceramic decals. Students from this workshop learned a deeper understanding of both ceramic and lithographic techniques and processes and created their own work. A collective project was made by all the participants and will be installed at the Bottom's new building. Funding for the workshop was made possible through Tri-Star Arts and the Current Art Fund.

Featuring work by:
Brandy Allen
Jordan Butzine
George Habeib
Vanessa Hartman
Ty Murray
Jeremy Myles
Natalie Ward

The Bottom, 2340 E Magnolia Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: thebottomknox@gmail.com, 865-444-5915 or https://www.thebottomknox.com/

The show will be at Crafty Bastard Brewery West from March 4 - March 31.
9937 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37922

I create multicolor portraits with a current focus on combining watercolor and colored pencil. As I deal with mental illness, art has been a beautiful way for me to communicate what I can’t explain otherwise. Since viewers often say they feel an emotional connection to my work, I feel comfortable expressing openly to let others know they aren’t struggling alone.

https://ginlizzyartist.blogspot.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ginlizzyartist/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtByGinLizzy

We are excited to have Kara Lockmiller as our featured artist for the month of March! All paintings are one of a kind originals. Kara paints portraits of musicians to convey what she sees when she listens to music as a chromesthete.

Please join us for the show opening from 6 to 8pm. Kara's work will be on display through March 29th.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, we prefer that masks be worn inside the store. Thank you for helping us stay safe!

Facebook Event: https://fb.me/e/1JrruPwy8

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

“The BSG Spring Roll” features new works by the 13 BSG artists:

Chloe Melton, Vincent Drake, Lauren Kelley, Brandon Woods, Mandy Lynn Carris, Jeremy Logan, Jessica Gregory, Sam Stapleton, Katie Carrillo, Pat O’Neil, Nancy Rowland-Engle, Anne Freels, Larry Blount

Opening First Friday March 4th 5:00 – 9:00
Open every Tues & Wed. 4:00 – 7:00 Friday 12:00-4:00 Sunday 12:00-6:00 and anytime the OPEN sign is flashing!

Broadway Studios and Gallery, 1127 Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-556-8676, www.BroadwayStudiosAndGallery.com and https://www.facebook.com/broadwaystudiosandgallery/