Calendar of Events

World War II's "Merrill's Marauders" - Who Were They, and Why Do They Matter?
A Brown Bag Lecture with John M. Jones, Jr.
May 23, 2022, at 12 pm

Register on Eventbrite for this event streamed on Zoom.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/world-war-iis-merrills-marauders-tickets-333658229747
(Or visit the ETHS Facebook Page at the start of the program to watch this on Facebook Live.)

John M. Jones, Jr. will discuss who the "Merrill's Marauders" were and why their World War II regiment is being presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, a very high honor, by Congress on May 25, 2022. While Allied forces in Europe were preparing for what would become known as "Operation Overlord"—the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944—half a world away in Asia, a top-secret, all-volunteer U.S. Army regiment was fighting deep in the jungles of Burma against a crack Japanese force several times its size. The regiment's mission was to help drive the occupying Japanese force out of Burma and thus make it possible to reopen a vital Allied lifeline from India to China known as "The Burma Road."

Officially, the secret American regiment was the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional). Unexpectedly, however, the unit soon became known to the nation, and eventually the world, by the nickname given it by an American war correspondent: Merrill's Marauders.

The nickname was a reference to the commanding officer, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill. The 5307th was formally dissolved in early August 1944. In 2021, 77 years after the unit's mission in the spring and summer of 1944 and 76 years after the end of World War II, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to present "Merrill's Marauders" with the Congressional Gold Medal. The U.S. Senate voted the previous year to take corresponding action. Only three of the original regiment of approximately 2,700 volunteers remain alive. Two of the last five died in late April 2022.

About the Speaker:
John M. Jones, Jr., a resident of Greeneville, earned an undergraduate degree in history from Princeton University and a graduate degree in Journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Mr. Jones served as a Reserve Officer, Military Intelligence and Security branch, in the U.S. Army, with his rank at completion of active duty as Captain. He served as reporter, Associate Editor, and Editor for The Greeneville Sun, 1968-1978. Mr. Jones's relationship to "Merrill's Marauders" is through his father, the late John M. Jones, a former U.S. Army Infantry Captain and member of the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), better known as "Merrill's Marauders." Mr. Jones learned about the unit and its mission primarily through his father and also by reading, watching documentaries relating to the unit, and talking over the years with several other Marauders and knowledgeable members of their families.

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

On May 21, the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the 1982 World’s Fair kicks off with a variety of events across the city. To add to the festivities, we're planning to promote ALL THINGS 80s in Downtown Knoxville. Starting Saturday, May 21 and running for 40 days (through June 29), enjoy 80s-themed menus, music, merchandise, and events. Details coming soon! www.downtownknoxville.org

The sixth annual Tennessee Pirate Fest invites you to go back in time to the Age of Piracy. This outdoor daytime entertainment-oriented festival will be held the last two weekends in May plus Memorial Day at the Tennessee Medieval Faire site in Harriman--just 30 miles west of Turkey Creek. Patrons will be transported to the pirate haven of Barataria, Louisiana, circa 1814.

“Get Yer Pirate On! with pirate Captain Jean Lafitte before the Battle of New Orleans. Enjoy his French hospitality as he entertains British Red Coats, New Orleans’ socialites, pirates of Barataria, and even supernaturals. Escape on a pirate adventure for the whole family,” said Barrie Paulson, VP/Director.

Rotating on several stages will be professional touring and local talent. Pirate music will be brought to you by Tom Mason and the Blue Buccaneers, The CrossJacks, Ship Shape (May 21-22), and Kris Colt (May 28-29-30). Interactive danger shows will be performed by The Flaming Ginger and The Lords of Adventure. For the young at heart, there will be the slapstick puppet show, Punch and Judy; Pirattitude by Roane Children’s Theatre; and classical youth musicians with Bravura Music Academy on Saturdays. Interactive costumed street characters will seek to entertain in Kombat Kroquet, Lafitte’s Follies, Secrets of Barataria, and Throw Me A Line. For those who like slightly spooky entertainment, Captain Davy Jones and Calypso will guide those willing on the Trail of Doom (PG)--a pirate version of A Christmas Carol. Entertainment schedules will be available online and at the entrance.

Patrons are encouraged to dress in pirate or Regency era costumes and enter the Costume Contest. All can learn to be a pirate in Pirate School and compete in yard games in Pirate Olympics. Patrons are encouraged to share their talents on stage in the Gong Shows and play characters in classic Fairytales. All are invited to be part of the mid-day parade, where the Bucketeers will be featured on Saturdays. Other free activities will include corn hole, volleyball, the stocks, giant chess, and steel drum. There will also be games to play for a fee, including Sword Master’s Challenge and Adventures by Torchlight. Donations will be encouraged for photos with the mermaids; Captain Redbeard and his pyRAT, Chumley; and goats in the petting zoo.

The merchants of Barataria will be selling their custom wares such as costumes, leather pouches, chainmaille, drinking horns, goat soaps, blacksmith items, gaming accessories, custom wooden signs, and unique jewelry. A variety of food will be available, including Caribbean-styled BBQ, grilled chicken wraps and salads, seafood skewers and sandwiches, sweet baked goods, and shaved ice. Beverages will also be available, including water, soda, sweet tea, and beer. Vendors are independent entities and accept cash and credit; and a list of vendors and their wares can be found at www.TNPirateFest.com.

The Tennessee Pirate Fest will be open rain or shine on May 21-22, 28-29-30, from 11am-6pm ET. The festival is located at 550 Fiske Road, Harriman, TN. Free parking is provided in rough-cut fields, and handicap parking is available. Entrance tickets can be purchased online now at www.TNPirateFest.com and will be available for purchase on festival days at the ticket house for cash or credit. Entrance ticket prices include all taxes and fees and are $19 for ages 13+, $9 for ages 5 to 12; and admission is free for ages 4 and under. Festival beverage tickets (in $1 increments) are available online, will be available at the gate, or patrons can use exact change. There will be no ATM onsite, so patrons are encouraged to bring cash for purchases, tips, and convenience.

Festival rules include the following: costumes and behavior should be family-friendly, footwear is required, no loaded or sharp weapons, bladed weapons must be sheathed, all weapons must be peace/zip-tied, service animals only, no outside food or drink, enter at your own risk. Festival grounds are primarily grass with small hills. Portable benches will be available at the stages and patrons can bring their own seating. To purchase beer, one must be 21+ years of age with valid photo ID. There will be no onsite public camping; however, motel discounts are available at the Baymont Inn and Travelodge in Harriman (call 865-882-5340 with promo code LKDE). For more information, please visit www.TNPirateFest.com, “like” and “follow” the Tennessee Medieval Faire | Tennessee Pirate Fest on Facebook, or call 865-376-0319.

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

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.

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

First Friday Reception: May 6, 5:30 – 9:00 pm

Lil Clinard, Painting
Known as a traditional watercolorist, Lil discovered the joy and excitement of painting with acrylics during the pandemic isolation. With a touch of the familiar, Lil’s new paintings emphasize color and form and exude a vibrancy that reflects the spectrum of color and movement in water and rhythm of flowers in a landscape. With a closer look, they almost appear abstract. She hopes the viewer is drawn to the bright and cheery colors and glints of light while creating a narrative of their own.

Cathie Fitzjohn, Glass
Cathie Fitzjohn began her journey with glass in 1980. Initially working with stained glass, she created custom windows for private residences. In 2002 Cathie took a weekend workshop in glass fusing or kiln-formed glass and fell in love with the process. Now she works exclusively in this medium, drawing inspiration from nature and wildlife.

Art Market Gallery, 422 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tu-Sa 11-6, Su 1-6. Information: 865-525-5265, www.artmarketgallery.net, www.Facebook.com/ArtMarketGallery