Calendar of Events

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at The Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from May 6-28, 2022. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, May 6, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features music inside the Emporium by Variego3 and Knoxville Gay Men’s Chorus. Most of the artworks 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.

This new exhibition features a collection of scarves, pillows, jewelry, and apparel all of which are based on traditional quilt patterns reimagined in a contemporary way. Sewing techniques include Mexican smocking, satin stitching, sprigging, and applique to create pieces that are all one-of-a-kind.

I have been sewing since childhood, and I am fascinated by the way intricate detail can combine with color and pattern to create new forms grounded in tradition. Whimsy, fun, and a tongue in cheek attitude that is nevertheless a bit sophisticated are always a part of creativity for me. “Everything old is new again.”

Timothy Bridges studied at the University of Tennessee, Tennessee Technological University, and The School of Fashion Design of Boston. He worked as a visual merchandising coordinator for several major department stores and spent several years designing costumes and sets for theater productions in Florida and Tennessee. He also designed wedding dresses and formal party wear. Bridges now devotes his time and skills to creating wearable art and home accessories in his inimitable style. He is a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and will be participating in an upcoming exhibit at the Appalachian Regional Commission in Washington. He will also participate in two other exhibitions sponsored by the Guild at the Folk Art Center in Asheville in 2022.

Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Hours: M-F 9-5, Sat 10-1. CLOSED MON MAY 30. Info: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at The Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from May 6-28, 2022. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, May 6, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features music inside the Emporium by Variego3 and Knoxville Gay Men’s Chorus. Most of the artworks 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.

I have photographed flowers persistently for more than a decade, always in search of some new aspect or insight I’ve previously overlooked. I’ve frozen them, pulled them out of the neighbors’ trash, buried them in sand, and pulled them apart petal by petal to reconstruct them into imaginary new creations, all in search of some revelation about the source of their continual beauty. This exhibit reflects my quest for new dimensions within individual flowers using the power of digital processing to reimagine their original portraits.

Sam Stapleton’s photographic journey has been almost 50 years in the making, beginning with the purchase of his first 35mm SLR in 1974. He is largely self-taught in that he has no university degree or formal certification pertaining to photography, or even the arts in general. Instead, he has learned his craft through years of dedicated workshops, professional magazine assignments with his author wife and lots of hands-on practice and experimentation. Most important, he studies the work of other photographic artists, always asking himself “what are they doing”, “why are they doing it this way” and “how can I learn from it”.

www.samstapletonphotography.com
www.facebook.com/Sam.Stapleton51

Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Hours: M-F 9-5, Sat 10-1. CLOSED MON MAY 30. Info: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at The Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from May 6-28, 2022. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, May 6, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features music inside the Emporium by Variego3 and Knoxville Gay Men’s Chorus. Most of the artworks 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 pleasure taken from natural landscapes serves as an impetus for the four Tennessee-based artists Mike Martino, Emily McGrew, Susan McGrew and Randy Purcell. The group that came to be the Four Artist TN met when all exhibited work in a holiday show in December 2012. Although each member of the group worked in a unique medium, they found there was an overlapping tendency towards degrees of abstraction of the subject matter as well as in the subject matter itself: natural elements and subjective color. This allowed their work to display cohesively. Common ground was found in a variety of topics relating to the visual artist and the profession. They began meeting on a regular basis to discuss current work and professional outlook and had their first Four Artist TN show in 2017. The beginning of the pandemic in early 2020 forced some changes and the group decided to use that time to grow. Organically, the discussion eventually touched on the idea of designating assignments that might give the work even more cohesion when presented together. From This Point the meetings provided additional focus, loose deadlines, and a different kind of purpose in the studio practice of each artist as they created specific pieces for critique by the group. In this, their fourth group exhibition, they will show for the first time group projects developed over the past two years as well as individual artworks.

We pursue the dilemma of realism in different ways. Landscapes, some stark and sad with evidence of human industrial impulse reminiscent of the Ashcan School, are depicted in acrylic by Emily McGrew. Randy Purcell may start with a similar overlying view, which he transforms with his own unique process compromising ink transfer on beeswax base, creating a mosaic like surface in the process. In contrast, Susan McGrew’s contemporary oil and cold wax landscapes and focused close-ups, teeming with lush vegetation and wildlife reflect an optimism reminiscent of the Hudson River School. The printmaking process used by Mike Martino pushes the print medium with a more painterly effect, but conveys the same softer view of the natural world. While we pursue the dilemma of realism in different ways with different media, we have an affinity for each other’s work based on our interest in the landscape as a vehicle for our expression. Like a camera taking pictures from different perspectives, our work shown together provides a more multidimensional model of the world we inhabit.

www.facebook.com/fourartisttn
www.instagram.com/fourartisttn
Mike Martino: www.bluefigeditions.com
Emily McGrew: www.emilymcgrewart.com
Susan McGrew: https://susanmcgrew.artspan.com
Randy Purcell: www.randylpurcell.com

Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Hours: M-F 9-5, Sat 10-1. CLOSED MON MAY 30. Info: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at The Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from May 6-28, 2022. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, May 6, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features music inside the Emporium by Variego3 and Knoxville Gay Men’s Chorus. Most of the artworks 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.

Motion, Time & Light is a two-person exhibition of new works by Knoxville artists Denise K. Cumming and Mike C. Berry and includes long exposure photography, paintings and drawings that expressively highlight the surrounding landscape, cityscape and skies.

Denise K. Cumming is a self-taught artist whose work includes original paintings, large-scale pole carvings and experimental photography. Her images in this exhibition result from an experimental approach to the photographic medium; they could be called “light paintings”. The artist uses camera movement and long exposure times to "paint" unique images with the Sun, various lights and fire. The photographs are ‘one shot’ images created in camera without use of Photoshop or composites. Many of the images were taken from the window seat of airplanes capturing light reflecting off of clouds and objects on the ground. Some images feature extremely lengthy exposures called solargraphy. With DIY pinhole cameras made from coffee cans, the images track the path of the Sun over long periods of time – usually the six months between Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice. The resulting images are colorful, abstractly ethereal and challenge the viewers perceptions.

www.dkccreative.com
www.instagram.com/denisecumming

Mike C. Berry’s works include new compositions highlighting the urban landscape; they are created in pastel and charcoal, emphasizing movement and light within the cityscape. Berry’s works have featured Knoxville and surrounding areas for the past 20 years, and he is represented by River Gallery in Chattanooga and The District Gallery in Knoxville. Prints and cards of his work are available at Rala: Regional and Local Artisans and the Knoxville Museum of Art gift shop in Knoxville.

www.instagram.com/mikecberry
www.mikecberry.com

Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Hours: M-F 9-5, Sat 10-1. CLOSED MON MAY 30. Info: 865-523-7543, www.knoxalliance.com

Join us on Friday May 6th as we start our First Friday events back up! This month we are happy to announce that local artist, Sarah Eileen, will be displaying her art in our taproom for the month of May. Join us on this First Friday for the release of her artwork, food trucks, craft beer, and good company. Cheers!

1532 Island Home Ave Knoxville, TN 37920

RED Gallery announces the opening of Untamed Beauty, a new exhibition of oil paintings and watercolors by Jackie Langford. The show will open at 5 pm on Friday, May 6, 2022 (First Friday) and run through May 27. Work on display will include portraits and landscapes.

When asked what inspires her, Langford says, “It begins with a smile—the smile of a woman whose portrait I am painting, or my own joy when I look at the rugged backcountry, fierce whitewater, and smoke-blue mountains of East Tennessee.” The portraits on display at RED Gallery took shape in the log home Langford shares with her husband, Tom, on a ridge off the Cherohala Skyway, a Scenic Byway that straddles the Tennessee–North Carolina border. Along that ridge, old friends and new—from Atlanta, Clarkesville, Knoxville, and Nashville—have raised cabins and formed close bonds. During the pandemic, Langford says she felt moved to paint the women, from all walks of life, who share her passion for the wilderness.

After years of working in oils and acrylics, Langford expanded into watercolor. As the pandemic continued, masking her friends’ expressions, she says, “I needed to see their smiles.” She sketched, then painted, using background washes to reflect the individual personalities and portray each person’s essence. “I thought of all the challenges they’ve lived through,” says Langford, “yet they still express such joy and effervescence.” Langford says a good portraitist sees into her subjects’ interior landscape. In these women, Langford perceives strength and love of life that support their families and friendships. She captures the women’s natural exuberance, which mirrors the untamed beauty of the surrounding wilderness. As for her landscapes, Langford also works from photographs she and her husband have taken in the southeast and on their travels, from the National Parks to Alaska and Southern Cypress Swamps.

A graduate of Austin Peay State University, Jackie took studio art classes with T. Max Hochstetler, who painted the murals at the Opryland Hotel. She also studied with award-winning portraitist Daniel E. Greene, and learned from the techniques of John Howard Sanden, first recipient of the John Singer Sargent Award for Lifetime Achievement. Her paintings are part of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Collection and the Permanent Army Military Art Collection, and are owned by prominent military, political and civic leaders. In 2018 she placed First with a watercolor in the Booth Western Art Museum member fall show in Cartersville, Georgia. Her paintings won First and Second place in the Clarksville, Tennessee 2017 Riverfest art show. Current work can be seen at the Downtown Artists’ Co-op in Clarksville. Jackie is a member of the Portrait Society of America, the Booth Western Art Museum, and the Downtown Artists Co-op of Clarksville.

Starting May 6, Untamed Beauty can be viewed at RED Gallery on Fridays 5-9pm, Saturdays 1-5pm and Sundays 1-5pm, and by appointment through the week, until May 27.

RED Gallery, at 130 E Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN. Info: 865-524-0146 or email robin@robineaster.com

Reception: Friday, May 6, 2022, 5 - 9 p.m.

Come see the many entertaining artistic interpretations of our theme: Wild Life! From 6-8pm, DJ Catty Swamp Puss & Friends
will be playing music & any time they play a song with "Wild" in the title, we all dance in the gallery!

An A1LabArts Members' Show: https://www.a1labarts.com

Broadway Studios and Gallery, 1127 Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37917. From May 7 - May 25, BSG is open at various times. Please knock or call to arrange an appointment or to inquire about purchasing artwork. Information: 865-556-8676, www.BroadwayStudiosAndGallery.com and www.facebook.com/broadwaystudiosandgallery/

The public is invited to a special exhibit by the Knoxville Watercolor Society at the Art Center from May 6 to June 1 in addition to art exhibited by the Art Guild’s members. The show opening is May 5, 5:00-7:00 pm at the Art Center, which is always free and open to the public.

Formed in 1963, the Knoxville Watercolor Society has a long history of gathering artists to learn, develop, show and teach this beautiful art form to the community. Their work has been displayed in various venues throughout Tennessee, including Nashville, Morristown, Fountain City, and of course, multiple venues in Knoxville. Several members have exhibited in other watercolor shows as well, consistently winning regional, state and national awards.

Watercolor painting has a fascinating history, with its roots in cave drawings dating back to paleolithic Europe, with color being extracted from plants and accented with the charcoal tips of burnt wood. Upon the development of papyrus (paper), watercolor was used to create exquisite highlighting in manuscripts from early Egypt. For centuries, artists made their own paints and closely guarded their formulas and techniques . The Renaissance period saw a large surge in watercolor art. Mass manufacturing of simple watercolors started in the 1800’s and was often one of the early art forms taught to school children. Many of us can recall the Prang brand sets of watercolors that children coveted. Today, many people still think of watercolor as pastel and soft edged, but it can also be more hard edged and vibrant, eliciting a variety of emotional responses and appealing to a wide range of art appreciators.

Art Guild at Fairfield Glade at the Plateau Creative Arts Center, 451 Lakeview Drive, Fairfield Glade, TN 38558. Hours: M-Sa 9-4. Information: 931-707-7249, www.artguildfairfieldglade.net

Paintings by Michelle Barillaro and Jewelry by Charles Osten

Westminister Presbyterian Church, 6500 S Northshore Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-R 9-4, Fri 9-12. Information: (865) 584-3957 or www.wpcknox.org

For the past thirteen 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 by:

Cosima Aryee, Kate Aubrey, Sally Brogden, Jan Burleson, Gino Castellanos, Elle Colquitt, Barbara Bolton Cornett, Denise Cumming, Yvonne Dalschen, Vincent Drake, Melissa N. Everett, Diana Ferguson, Alan Finch, Elena Ganusova, Carl Gombert, Brian Horais, Anthony TungNing Huang, Kathleen A. Janke, Siobian Jones, Gretchen Kaplan, Anne W. Kinggard, Andreas Koschan, Judy Lavoie, William M. Long, Allison Meriwether, Anders V. Nienstaedt, Tom Owens, Dennis Sabo, Phil Savage, Baxter Stults, Kelli L. Thompson, Chloe Wack, Carl Whitten, Douglas Wielfaert, Marianne Woodside, and Museum of Infinite Outcomes.

View and purchase artworks at https://www.knoxalliance.store/product-category/airport

www.knoxalliance.com/arts-in-the-airport

Reception: Friday, April 29, 2022, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Artists’ Talks: 6:30 p.m.

"THE PROMISE OF THE HEART" in Exhibition Hall B
I believe that the power of art can inspire and affect change in one's self and others. This exhibit is an expression of a joyful heart that flows from a spirit that is nourished by understanding one's emotions, character, and passions. It features thirty-six original works of art by Suzanne Jack.

Photography by David Liles Exhibition Hall A
I seek to create art through photographic imagery. Inspiration often comes from the natural world. Great material is everywhere & seeing it is limited only by opportunity and imagination. My eyes are trained to look for textures, patterns, contrasts, and plays of color in everything I experience on a daily basis. My imagery is often an abstraction, a departure from the normal “snapshot” type photograph. I use mostly digital photography with cropping and image enhancements of color saturation, tone, and contrast, but no additions. The computer is my darkroom, via software tools of digital manipulation.

Gallery Hours: Mondays 10 am - 4 pm, Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10 am - 3 pm. Other times are by appointment only. Sign-in and masks are required. At Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Information: 865-523-4176 x101, www.tvuuc.org

Sat Apr 9, 11 AM - 4 PM - champagne opening and meet the artists (1-3 PM)

In conjunction with the premier of the concerto Cycle of Life, created in celebration of Richard Jolley’s monumental Cycle of Life: Within the Power of Dreams and the Wonder of Infinity permanently installed in the Ann and Steve Bailey Hall at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Bennett is proud to be mounting a gallery-wide exhibition of Richard Jolley’s work focusing on both large scale hot formed glass sculpture, smaller blown pieces, and acrylic paintings from the last 20 years. The work of his partner, Tommie Rush, will be displayed alongside Richard’s work.

The progression of work during Richard’s 4-decade career will include glass pieces, works on paper, and paintings. Bennett has partnered with Richard and the KMA to present a truly spectacular reflection of Richard’s career and growth as a glass artist, and as a Knoxville art icon. Cycle of Life is a violin concerto composed by Michael Schachter that was jointly commissioned by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Knoxville Museum of Art, and their supporters. GRAMMY nominated violinist Tessa Lark will return to Knoxville to take perform this long-awaited concerto.

Richard’s art falls into distinct series, each serving as a stage in his evolution toward increasingly evocative and technically challenging forms. Jolley spent much of his childhood in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and became fascinated with sculpting glass as a student at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee. Since 1975, he has maintained a studio in West Knoxville, where he continues to create glass sculpture notable for its inventiveness and sophistication. He is represented in public and private collections across the country.

For more information contact claras@bennettgalleries.com or roberts@bennettgalleries.com. Bennett, 5308 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-Sa 10-5:30. Information: 865-584-6791, https://bennetthome.com/