Calendar of Events

Celebration of the pieces at a reception on Sunday, April 3 from 2 to 4 PM.

The show is intended to answer the question: “What do you love?” We have asked our members to lend us up to six of their favorite pieces to share with the community to show a range of what speaks to and moves each of the individuals. In essence, it will be curated by the larger group, rather than a single person and, therefore, we are hoping it will be both diverse and dynamic.

There are all sorts of reasons people collect art. In most cases, artwork is displayed in our homes or work spaces, but in others it may not be. Most people buy art because they love the imagery and want to live with it to create a feeling or mood in their living space. The work may echo feelings, emotions, or memories they cherish. They may offer a range of emotions from comforting and soothing to exciting or invigorating. Work may also titillate the imagination, beckon stories, or challenge viewers to define or describe their subject matter. These may inspire ever changing reactions or a sense of renewal and inspire different feelings as one looks at the work over the long term. Some of us own pieces that have familial ties or generational importance. These items may involve references to one’s heritage or aspects from the culture or cultures from which they hail. Still others invest in artwork, hoping it will rise in value and that they will see a large return on that investment. While I concede this happens, I believe these individuals are in the minority. What we choose to love and live with says a lot about each of us—who we are and how we live. For this reason, we are asking our member collectors to select what they would like to show. We want your/their choices to make sure we do not slant the exhibition through a single individual’s filter.

One collector has offered to show a series of 13 Dali works that Dali created as illustrations for Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland. The set is delightfully colorful and depicts the chapters of the book. These should be as enchanting to view as the book was to read! We are looking forward to sharing in the joy these pieces will bring to everyone who sees them. Other items that will be exhibited include a piece or pieces that were purchased while traveling. For one of the owners, her work takes them back to that experience, the newness and freedom the trip inspired. In addition it was a new type of work that has inspired her own thinking and creations since. It is those anticipated experiences that prompt us to offer this exhibition. To share these works our members are opening their experiences to others and allowing our viewers to make that journey with them. That communication should be as interesting or thought – provoking as the works themselves.

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

Mon Mar 28, 6-7:30 PM (doors at 5:30 PM)

Please join us at the Tennessee Theatre for a Community Conversation about our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness. The goal of this meeting is to get a better understanding of what each service provider offers and how we can support efforts in our community. The meeting will be moderated by Nikki Elliott with panelist from various service providers, social workers, and the City. Masks encouraged. www.downtownknoxville.org

Lost and Found, a SMSA Concert for World Storytelling Day, March 28, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.
Tellers : Susan Fulbright, Jennifer Alldredge, Jean Davidson
Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIldeurrTopHdV4-JBwZt55arT9eTwzlboT

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

http://www.smokymountaintellers.org/upcoming-events.html

Saxophonist and composer Gregory Tardy, a member of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, will bring together top musicians from the jazz and classical worlds to perform an epic musical journey based on “The Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan on March 30 at the East Tennessee PBS Studio (sold out).

Originally published as “The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come” in 1678, the work is considered one of the most significant religious allegories in the English language. “This story is important, especially now, during a pandemic,” Tardy said. “I feel that we need compassion for one another as we move through life, and ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ helps illustrate the human struggle. I wanted to capture that in music. I once heard an older musician say, ‘It is better to be felt than to be heard.’ I never forgot that. That is my approach to playing any style of music.” The assembled group features trombonist Michael Dease; trumpeter Alex Norris; flutist Maria Castillo; clarinetist Tom Johnson; violinists Kimberly Simpkins and Bethany Hankins; pianist Taber Gable; bassist Sean Conly; and drummer Dave Potter. The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra also is involved.

Tardy teaches jazz saxophone at the University of Tennessee. He received a South Arts/Jazz Road Creative Residencies grant to compose and perform this suite. The performances are made possible with the support of Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts, which is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

An open rehearsal will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 28, at West Park Baptist Church located at 8833 Middlebrook Pike in Knoxville. https://www.smliv.com/blog/church-to-host-%E2%80%98epic%E2%80%99-jazz-performance/

By Qui Nguyen, Directed by Casey Sams
Carousel Theatre

After the death of her teenage sister Tilly, Agnes discovers an untouched “Dungeons and Dragons” campaign in Tilly’s room. In an effort to connect with her sister one last time, Agnes enters the imaginary “Dungeons and Dragons” world she once mocked. She uncovers levels of her sister that she didn’t know existed in an action-packed adventure filled with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and ‘90s pop culture.

The Pay What You Can Preview performance, where patrons can name their own price, will be held Wednesday, March 23rd. Half of the proceeds from PWYW tickets will benefit Girls Inc. of Tennessee Valley. Behind the Scenes Sunday will take place following the Sunday, March 27 matinee. A Designer Talk Back will take place Sunday, April 3rd following the matinee. And, an Actor Talk Back will take place following the April 10th 2:00 pm matinee. The Open Captioned performance also is Sunday, April 10th at 2:00 pm.

Free and convenient parking is available in the Upper Parking of McClung Tower Garage (G2) on Volunteer Boulevard. This show addresses themes of bullying and homophobia and contains depictions of violence, mild sexual content, and mild profanity. Those with auditory and visual sensitivities should be aware loud noises, theatrical haze and flashing lights occur at times in this production.

https://clarencebrowntheatre.com/plays/she-kills-monsters/

Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Artist-of-the-Year: Alex Foster
March 21 – May 1, 2022

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/

Meet the artist Mon Mar 21, 7-9 PM

At Barrelhouse, it’s important to us to support local artists of all kinds, so every six weeks we have a new visual artist on our taproom wall! Meet the artist, Lauren Kelley, and see her bold, colorful paintings as well as have the chance to purchase. https://www.facebook.com/events/s/meet-the-artist-lauren-kelley/698915158144022/
https://www.instagram.com/laurentheabstractartist/

Barrelhouse – Gypsy Circus Cider, 621 Lamar St, Knoxville, TN 37917
https://gypsycircuscider.com/barrelhouse-by-gypsy-circus-knoxville/

Please join us for this landmark anniversary exhibition of the University of Tennessee Ewing Gallery’s Annual Student Art Competition. This long-standing university event will be on display from March 21 until 2pm on March 30.

Tom Holmes and Shelby Rinke selected the fine art and graphic design selections on exhibition in the gallery.

Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the 1982 World's Fair, the Museum of East Tennessee History announces the opening of a new, one-of-a-kind exhibition, "You Should've Been There!," in the Rogers-Claussen Feature Gallery from March 19 to October 9, 2022.

The exhibition’s theme is not only a nod to the international exposition’s marketing catchphrase, “You Have Got to Be There! The 1982 World’s Fair!,” but also an acknowledgement that four decades removed, there is a generation of East Tennesseans who were not alive to experience the historic event.

Organized by the East Tennessee Historical Society and the Knox County Public Library, “You Should've Been There!” traces the fair’s development from conception to the pivotal moment when The Wall Street Journal referred to Knoxville as a “scruffy little city” and questioned its ability to host an international event. More than 11,000,000 visitors from around the world were informed and entertained in the various pavilions, exhibitions, and attractions put on by 22 countries and some 50 private organizations. Popular souvenirs were shirts and buttons proclaiming, “The Scruffy Little City Did It!”

The fair’s theme, “Energy Turns the World,” played to the region’s reputation as a technology and science center. For example, it was at the 1982 World’s Fair that users were able to try out a touchscreen for the first time. Elo, a Knoxville-based company, debuted the touchscreen technology, then known as "talk back" computers, in the United States Pavilion. To honor this spirit of innovation, “You Should've Been There!” incorporates engaging touchscreens alongside displays of original fair materials from pickle pins to deely bobbers and everything in between.

To learn more about the exhibition, please visit: https://www.easttnhistory.org/1982worldsfair

"You Should've Been There!" is an official event of the 40th Anniversary of the 1982 World's Fair. To learn more about upcoming commemorative events, please visit: http://www.knoxvilleworldsfair.com.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

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

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