Calendar of Events

Eleventh Annual Circus Extravaganza to Benefit Circus Programs for Knoxville Youth

The circus is coming to town, and you’re invited! Young and old alike will enjoy Knoxville’s Eleventh Annual Circus Extravaganza, which benefits programming for Knoxville youth in the community. During the last ten years, over 10,000 audience members have gasped and cheered for Knoxville’s hometown circus--Dragonfly Aerial and Circus Arts Studio (DFAAS)--as local talent perform daring and entertaining acts in the air and on the ground.

“This year’s circus really speaks to my heart as a native East Tennessean,” says Bethany Love, the show’s artistic director. “Being able to share the magic of Appalachian music and culture, while also benefiting the youth in our community is incredibly rewarding!” Over the past 11 years, Dragonfly has had the opportunity to provide circus classes on scholarship to over 200 local children from the funds raised annually through this event.

The Extravaganza includes four performances at Dragonfly Aerial and Circus Arts Studio outside under a large tent. CDC guidelines are continuously monitored and recommendations at the time of the showings will be followed. You can catch a show at two different times across three days:

● Friday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m.
● Saturday, May 21 at 2:00 p.m. *Spanish interpreter provided
● Saturday, May 21 at 7:30 p.m. *ASL interpreter provided
● Sunday, May 22 at 2:00 p.m. *ASL interpreter provided

Tickets are $12 per adult, $10 per child. They are available for purchase at www.dragonflyaerialartsstudio.com/circus-extravaganza.
865-609-2012 or dfaas11@gmail.com

Free Spirit Theatre presents: PROOF by David Auburn
May 19-21 @ 7:30 PM; May 22 @ 2:30 PM
Old City Performing Arts Center, 111 State Street, Knoxville, TN
Contact: www.freespirittheatre.org

All tickets $20 (available from www.oldcitypac.com and at the door)

On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father’s madness—or genius—has she inherited?

Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play.

“When we think of the great American playwrights, we think of Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill and Lillian Hellman, in earlier generations; Wendy Wasserstein and Tony Kushner, Jon Robin Baitz and Donald Margulies today: They are always writing about big ideas and wrapping them in family squabbles that get us where we live. Welcome David Auburn to the club.” —NY Magazine.

“…combines elements of mystery and surprise with old-fashioned storytelling to provide a compelling evening of theatre…[PROOF is a] smart and compassionate play of ideas.” NY Daily News.

“PROOF surprises us with its aliveness…Mr. Auburn takes pleasure in knowledge…At the same time, he is unshowily fresh and humane, and he has written a lovely play.” —NY Observer.

“[A] wonderfully funny…ambitiously constructed work…” —Variety.

Tickets are available for the play at https://www.simpletix.com/e/free-spirit-theatre-presents-proof-by-davi-tickets-104984. For more information contact freespirittheatre@mail.com

Initiated by the Ewing’s Director Emeritus Sam Yates over 30 years ago, this exhibition recognizes outstanding students graduating from The University of Tennessee’s School of Art and College of Architecture and Design.
Selected by a School of Art Faculty Scholarship committee, three art students were chosen for this year’s exhibition.

These students are:

Tammy Castany
Jace Hermanto
Thais Lloyd

The College of Architecture and Design participants were selected by the faculty-at-large, and by outside review teams.

Those exhibiting students are:
Marilyn Reish
Kristin Pitts
Riley Doty
Madeleine Smith
Phillip Minton
Raven Carrier

The Honors Exhibition will be open Monday - Friday from 10am - 5pm and Sunday, May 22 from 1-4pm.

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

For artists who work in any medium. We invite artists to interpret this theme as they see it—heavenly, outer space or stellar formations, angels, mythic beings, otherworldly imagery or any others.

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

The Knoxville Museum of Art, in conjunction with the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, showcases what two important Tennessee cultural organizations are doing to support and empower women artists. Women Artists: Highlights from the Hunter Museum of American Art is on view at the KMA April 22-July 24, 2022, and Currents: Women Artists from the KMA Collection is on view May 13-August 14, 2022. Both exhibitions pay tribute to contemporary women artists represented in each museum’s respective collections.

Since 2000, the Hunter Museum of American Art has prioritized the acquisition of works by women artists from around the United States, who have long lagged behind their male counterparts when it comes to museum-level recognition. Highlights of the Hunter exhibition include an installation by Lesley Dill featuring floor-to-ceiling banners and hand-embroidered text, a silhouette pop-up book by Kara Walker examining the history of American race relations, a textile by Vadis Turner questioning inherited gender roles, and a mixed media installation by Beverly Semmes inspired by composer John Cage’s minimalist music.

Like the Hunter, the Knoxville Museum of Art has actively sought to acquire outstanding works by women for its collection. The selection on view reflects women’s broad technical and aesthetic range found in contemporary art. A mixed media painting on wooden sections by Alison Moritsugu conveys a monumental landscape, expansive yet incomplete. Nancy Rubins elevates graphite drawing into a large sculptural construction apparently shaped by violent forces. British artist Marilène Oliver constructs provocative portraits of her family in the form of acrylic sheets imprinted with digital medical scans. Patty Chang uses water and mirrors to transform her own image taken in a Belgian church into a complex photographic work fragmented by harsh angles and provocative reflections. In her video Joan of Arc, Alex McQuilkin responds to Maria Falconetti’s memorable lead role in the legendary 1928 French silent film by Carl Dreyer and the film’s themes of adolescent desire, faith, and suffering. These and other selected works call overdue attention to women’s significant role in reshaping the contemporary art landscape.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tu-Sa 10-5, Su 1-5. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org. Admission and parking are free.

Reception May 13, 6:30-8 PM
Food, fine art & friends! Free and open to public.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/thefountaincityartguild

Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Hours: Tu 9:30-3:30, W-R 9:30-4:30 or by appointment. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartcenter.com

Visit the Ijams Hallway Gallery in May to view the work of Knoxville native Alex Rifwald! This collection, entitled "Revival," celebrates her return to photography after a 10-year hiatus. After running a commercial photography business, Alex had lost her joy for the medium and put her camera down, but she has rediscovered herself and her love for this art form. You'll be inspired!

https://www.instagram.com/alexbeephoto/

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

Opening May 8, 2-4 PM - meet the artist, refreshments
Exhibition hours M-F 9-4

Ted Richards lives in Loudon, TN. www.tedart.com

The Gallery at Rarity Bay Community Activity Center (second building on right as you enter Rarity Bay), 150 Rarity Bay Pkwy, Vonore, TN 37885.

Make plans to join us at the Appalachian Arts Craft Center (AACC) on Saturday, May 7 to kick off their Spring Plant & Garden Art Sale. Throughout the day (10AM-4PM) there will be live artist demonstrations. The live demonstrations include mosaic glass, wood whittling, weaving, tying flies and more! Beautiful garden-themed artwork by local artists, such as garden markers, garden décor, and nature photography, will also be featured. In addition, the Spring Plant & Garden Art Sale features a variety of donated plants: perennials, annuals, and native varieties – with proceeds directly benefiting the Appalachian Arts Craft Center. Guests can grab lunch while they are there! FATS BBQ Food Truck will be on site from 11AM-2PM. Can’t make it on May 7? The Plant & Garden Art Sale runs from May 7 – May 21.

Appalachian Arts Craft Center, 2716 Andersonville Highway, Clinton, TN. Hours: M-Sa 10-6, Su 1-5. Information: 865-494-9854, www.appalachianarts.net

Tri-Star Arts is pleased to announce the next exhibition in their main gallery at the historic Candoro Marble Building: a solo show, The Dangers We Swallow, by artist Vanessa Mayoraz of Johnson City.

Public receptions will be held on Friday, May 6, 2022 from 5:00- 8:00 pm (artist in attendance) and Friday, July 1, 2022 from 5:00- 8:00 pm. Mayoraz will give a public artist talk prior to the opening reception on Friday, May 6 at 3:30pm in the main gallery.

Since 2015, Vanessa Mayoraz has been a Professor of Extended Media at East Tennessee State University. She received a BFA from the Haute Ecole d'Art et Design in Geneva, Switzerland, and an MFA in Art and Public Spaces and New Artistic Strategies at the Bauhaus University Weimar in Germany. Mayoraz’s interest centers on observing the paradoxical relations built between humanity, social landscape and the natural world. One could say that her work is the result of an analytical and unromantic examination of nature with which she warns us on how economy (understood as a motivating power of extraction, production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services to meet our human needs) subjugates these relationships.

She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including Qui Vive! Young Artist Moscow Biennial, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Belgrade, Le Commun at the Building of Contemporary Art in Geneva, Switzerland, Gleisdreieck Parc, Berlin, Germany, Chashama Gallery in New York City, the DC Art Center in Washington DC, and ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, MI. In 2019 in conjunction with ArtBo Fin de Semana, she presented a solo exhibition at Sketchroom Gallery in Bogotà, Colombia. She has been performing workshops and lectures on subjects such as "artist as archivist" and "contemporary art practices." She received a Pro-Helvetia national Swiss grant three times for her work, as well as a Swiss Cultural Program in the Western Balkan grant. Mayoraz also serves on the executive board of the Johnson City Public Art Committee.

Tri-Star Arts at Candoro Marble Building, 4450 Candora Drive, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Tu-Sa 11-5. Information: https://tristararts.org/visit

Tri-Star Arts is pleased to announce a new exhibition in their Golden Chain Gallery project space located at the historic Candoro Marble Building: même pas, pourtant proche | not even, yet close by Quynh Lâm of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

This show has been installed within the unique architectural space of a steep wooden stairwell. Public receptions will be held on Friday, May 6, 2022 from 5:00- 8:00 pm and Friday, July 1, 2022 from 5:00- 8:00 pm.

Quynh Lâm is an interdisciplinary artist and Fulbright scholar with a background in architecture, working on conceptual and archival projects, Quynh has created a diverse body of work in performance, video, painting, and installation, that highlights the tensions between personal and collective memory, particularly the experiences of herself as a Vietnamese woman both in Vietnam and abroad. She is a winner of The 2021 American Austrian Foundation Seebacher Prize for Fine Arts; a recipient of Special Jury Prize – 2019 Art Future Prize in Taiwan; a presenter at the international conference “ReVIEWING Black Mountain College 11”; and artist fellow at Ragdale Foundation (Illinois, USA), Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences (Georgia, USA); and Oak Spring Garden Foundation (Virginia, USA).

Quynh has exhibited work in Vietnam and abroad; some highlights include The Factory Contemporary Arts Center (Ho Chi Minh City), Art Formosa (Taipei), The Vincom Center for Contemporary (Hanoi), Richard Koh Fine Art Gallery (Singapore), Gallery ONKAF (New Delhi), Mana Contemporary (New Jersey, Chicago, Miami) – in partnership with CADAF (Contemporary & Digital Art Fair), Stamford Arts Center (Singapore), Museum of Contemporary Art Nashville (MOCAN), Palazzo Costanzi Museum (Trieste), Moggio Udinese (Udine), and A.I. Gallery (London). Her works have been featured in many publications: Imago Mundi–Vietnam: New Winds (Luciano Benetton Collection, 2015), Saigon Artbook (edition 6, 2016), Frame to Focus: Vietnamese American Women Artists (sponsored by The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery, 2020), Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center Journal (Volume 12: Expanding the Canon, 2021), Reconnexions, la Photographie en Transition (Textuel éditions, 2022), and have been accessioned to several libraries, e.g. the MoMA, Yamamoto Gendai, Bay Library, Salon Saigon, Dia Project, UCLA library, UTK John C. Hodges Library (Special Collections), and other art hubs.

Tri-Star Arts at Candoro Marble Building, 4450 Candora Drive, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Tu-Sa 11-5. Information: https://tristararts.org/visit

Join us on Friday, May 6th from 5-8PM for the First Friday opening reception of the "2022 Epiphone Student Art Guitar Exhibition + Auction." The exhibition includes 20 guitars designed by youth artists from across East Tennessee. Professional artist Curtis Glover also designed and painted a guitar for the fundraiser this year!

The First Friday opening reception will include live music featuring Brooks Coker & Alex Carter.

The guitars were on display at the Songbirds Guitar Museum in Chattanooga during the month of April and are moving to the Dogwood Arts Gallery in Knoxville during the month of May. Each guitar is available for auction online with proceeds benefitting Dogwood Arts and the Songbirds Foundation’s youth art programs.

The exhibition will be on display at Dogwood Arts from May 6-31st. Several of the guitars will also be on display at the Southern Skies Music Festival on Saturday, May 14th in World's Fair Park.

Bid online through May 31st here: https://bit.ly/3OxpYbL

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