Calendar of Events

Sisavanh Phouthavong Houghton will be displaying her paintings and installation work

Sisavanh Phouthavong Houghton is a Lao American mixed media visual artist born in Vientiane, Laos. Her artworks have been exhibited nationally at venues including Gadsden Museum of Art, Minnesota Museum of American Art, Asian Arts Initiative, Hunter Museum of American Art, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Huntsville Museum of Art, The Reece Museum, and upcoming exhibitions at Knoxville Museum of Art. As a refugee and immigrant from the post-Vietnam War era, these experiences are the driving force behind her body of work. Her work has been featured in The New Art Examiner, The Wall Street International, Houston Voyager, ShoutoutHTX, Click_Bait, Create Magazine, Studio Visit Magazine, The Tennessean, The Pinch Journal Publication, Voices of America, and The Next Door Neighbor. She has been a guest on Art Fight Podcast, The Art of Outreach, and Drawing South. Permanent collections include Hunter Museum of American Art, American Embassy, Paramaribo, Suriname; Legacies of War Office, Washington, D.C.; Tennessee State Museum; and Pinnacle Bank Headquarter, Nashville, TN. Houghton earned her BFA from the University of Kansas and MFA at Southern Illinois University of Carbondale, IL. She was nominated for the Joan Mitchell Foundation Arts Award 2020, a 2019 Artfields' Painting Award, and the 2017 Tennessee Arts Individual Artist Fellowship recipient. Sisavanh lives and works at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and a Professor of Painting at Middle Tennessee State University. Houghton has won a MTSU’s Teacher of the Year Award and her research has been funded numerous times by the Tennessee Arts Commission and the generous support of MTSU grants. She has lead community art projects with non-profit organizations such as SEAD (South East Asian Diaspora), Legacies of War, The Frist Art Museum, Oasis Center, and CRIT, Center for Refugees+Immigrants of Tennessee. She is represented by Tinney Contemporary gallery in Nashville, and more information can be found on her website: https://www.sisavanhphouthavong.com.

Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Bagwell Center Gallery hours: M-F 9-5. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

NEKO CASE

WITH DISQ
Monday, August 29 | 7:30PM

Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information/tickets: 865-522-0832, https://knoxbijou.org/

MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2022 AT 6:30 PM – 8 PM
at Church Street United Methodist Church

Calling all tenors and basses! Auditions for new members will be held on Monday, August 29! No appointment is necessary, you can arrive any time between 6:30-8:00. Use the entrance to the church on the corner of Henley and Cumberland. Park in the lot at the top of the hill.

Prepare a one minute excerpt of any song that shows off your best vocal ability, or you can do a series of vocal exercises with the artistic staff.

Rehearsals take place every Monday from 6:30-9:00.

Questions about auditions? Email director@knoxgmc.org
https://www.facebook.com/events/600626718302135

August 26–December 11, 2022

For the first time in its exhibition history, the McClung Museum is celebrating the deeply rooted traditions and colorful spirit of the Day of the Dead. The Spirit of Día de los Muertos (The Spirit of Day of the Dead) is the museum's first community collaboration exhibit created with guidance from Latino/a/x community members. The exhibition will open to the public on August 26 and be on view through December 11, 2022.

With displays in Spanish and English, The Spirit of Día de los Muertos highlights the rich history of the Mexican celebration that remembers loved ones passed. The exhibition opens with a traditional ofrenda (or altar) installation displaying an array of materials dedicated to deceased friends or family members. Familiar sights include colorful cempazúchitl (marigolds), ofrendas (altars) with food offerings, papel picados (decorative banners), and smartly dressed calaveras (skeletons).

https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/2022/08/03/mcclung-museum-collaborates-with-community-to-present-fall-2022-exhibition-celebrating-day-of-the-dead/

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-2144

The artistry of quilting is the focus of the fall exhibit at the Catron Art Gallery. The gallery is located inside the R. Jack Fishman Library on the Walters State Morristown Campus.

“The Modern Bee” celebrates the quilts of Emily Doane, Melissa Everett and Michelle Bolt. The quilts were created during a decade of the trio’s friendship, challenge and artistic growth. The artists take a modern approach to the historically significant quilting bee, social gatherings of quilters dating back to the 1800s.

“Each quilt in this room has its own story, and each quilt’s stitches hold grief, rage, heartache, compassion, joy, and beauty in tension,” the artists said in a written statement. “Through their creation, we three women have grown closer over a decade of deep friendship shared creating quilts and honing our artistic perspectives. The techniques used to design and create the quilts are timeless, but the designs are distinctly modern, influenced by improvisation, careful use of negative space, solid colors, and bold graphic statements.”

Artists will be on campus to discuss their work during an artist talk at 1 p.m. Oct. 5 in the Catron Gallery.

The Catron Gallery is open during the library’s regular hours, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Admission is free.

Walters State Community College, 500 South Davy Crockett Parkway Morristown, TN 37813
423-585-2600 or https://www.ws.edu/news/current/art-article.aspx?story=21975

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

Come play music with us on August 18th! If you play guitar or ukulele, consider joining the fun! Participation in the KCG ensemble is open to the public, and all skill levels are welcome. The Knoxville Classical Guitar Ensemble will meet weekly at 7 PM at the Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Road, in Knoxville.

For more information, contact Andy LeGrand at info@knoxvilleclassicalguitar.com

Information: 865-686-2067, https://knoxvilleclassicalguitar.com

From Then to Now will open at 2pm on Wednesday, August 17. The Ewing Gallery will operate under Summer hours (M-F 10am - 5pm) until Wednesday, August 24. Then we will resume full operating hours. (M-F 10am - 5pm, TR 10am - 7:30pm, and Sundays 1-4pm)

FROM THEN TO NOW is a retrospective that includes work from the past twenty plus years as well as present explorations. All these works utilize change as a thematic thread. The most recent work is influenced by frequent travel where rich and varied observations of the natural world are recorded. The oldest works consist of clay sculptures that are weathered, narrative and psychological, while the present work. especially the photographs, looks at the idea of finding beauty in the deciduous, the dying, the changing.

Diane Solomon Kempler was a professor at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia where she taught ceramic sculpture for many years. She has been a practicing artist for over thirty years, has had major exhibitions and received many awards. She has also created public art works in the United States and Bosnia. Her ceramic work focuses on the ideas of transition and transformation in the natural world as well as in humans. She has traveled extensively to such places as Mali, Turkey, Indonesia, Peru, and Nepal. Her travels to Asia, especially Burma and India, allowed her to pursue one of her research interests, observing hand building pottery techniques that exist in rural villages. She was awarded a Fulbright Research Scholar grant to pursue this research in India and created several films from this research. She has participated in ceramic studio residencies in Hungary, France, India, and Denmark where she has spent time developing her ceramic and photography work.

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

GEOFFREY A. WOLPERT GALLERY

2022-2023 Kenneth R. Trapp Craft Assistant/Curatorial Intern Kelli Fisher explores the early history of Arrowcraft, an important facet of Gatlinburg’s history and the history of Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Building on the knowledge of Arrowmont friend Frances Fox, historian and past apprentice to the Master Weaver for Arrowcraft, she has curated materials from Arrowmont’s collection and archives. Kelli will also be presenting her research at the Tennessee State Museum’s Lunch and Learn program, telling the stories of some notable Appalachian women who worked and shaped Arrowcraft and, in turn, Arrowmont as it exists today.

Opened in 1926, the Arrowcraft Shop continued the project established by the Pi Beta Phi Settlement School of meeting the needs of those who lived in the Smoky Mountains. The shop also allowed Appalachian makers the opportunity to make and sell their crafts for more equitable prices than they could find on their own. Their wares – including handmade baskets, coverlets, and chairs – were incredibly popular, in part due to the revival of the American Arts and Crafts movement, which prized high-quality workmanship.

While Arrowcraft employed diverse craft makers, its main focus was weaving. Partially, this decision had to do with storage – only so many baskets and chairs could be stored in the Arrowcraft shop, while weavings of different sizes and complexities (and varying prices) could be more economically stored. Weaving also allowed for both the designer and the weaver to earn credit, as is seen in the small selection of textiles on view in this gallery. Gatlinburg’s weaving women were highly skilled, and between 1935 and 1945 242 different women wove for Arrowcraft. Within Arrowmont’s permanent collection is a sizeable collection of coverlets, hand towels, window tapestries, aprons, handbags, wallets, purses, coats, and more, collected from the early days of Arrowcraft and lasting until its dissolution in the 1990s. Arrowcraft’s success came from the high quality of the items, as Pi Beta Phi alumnae and tourists for the national park sought to buy from the accomplished women makers.

The success of Arrowcraft’s weaving program encouraged the Pi Beta Phis to expand their craft classes, which in turn led to Arrowmont’s workshops that celebrate craft’s histories, its present, and its many futures. Arrowcraft was instrumental in making both Arrowmont and Gatlinburg the spaces they are today.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, https://www.arrowmont.org

Free and open to the public
Reception Friday, August 19, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.
Gallery hours: 10-3, Monday and 10-4, Tuesday through Thursday

Terri Swaggerty began a career in Art at Expo 82 as a sidewalk portrait artist. She then became a self-employed photo retouch artist, specializing in photo restoration and photo enhancement utilizing airbrush, pencil and dye work, and oils for hand coloring. As a member of the Tennessee Professional Photographers association, she received many First-Place awards in photo retouching and received the Artisan Degree in 1997. She also received First Place awards in national PPA competition. Beginning in 1998 she transitioned to a photography career. In 1999, competing as a photographer, she received TPPA First Place honors in Portrait and received First Place in Wedding the following year. Her wedding photography business, Terri Swaggerty Portraiture, flourished in Knoxville for 15 years. Terri now works part time for Little Log Wedding Chapel in Gatlinburg. Terri began taking oil painting workshops in 2014. and is now a member of the Art Market Gallery in both photography and painting. She has previously shown at TVUUC, Tomato Head, Artemis Gallery in Apalachicola Florida, Post Modern Spirits, and Crafty Bastard Brewery.

For me the process of creating Art, whether through a lens or with a paint brush, is where soul meets body. I am always looking for and discovering Art in the changing environments of daily life. Finding it is so exciting! ~ Terri Swaggerty


Kenneth M. Moffett is retired from a career in architecture, having been design director at the Knoxville/Nashville firm Bullock Smith Architecture and Planning since joining in the formation of the firm in 1984. The firm has received numerous design awards with projects nationwide and abroad. Moffett has also worked as an artist throughout his life. His works in watercolor and acrylics on canvas have been widely exhibited, including at TVUUC. In recent years he has become involved in writing about architecture and urbanism, having a book on foundational issues published in 2017 with two further books published earlier this year by ORO Editions, publishers of architecture, art, and design. As an amateur musician he is a long-standing member of the Tennessee Wind Symphony and a member of the Knoxville Music Study Club. Moffett is presently co-chair of the TVUUC Art Gallery Committee.

These works are selected from the many I produced during a year of travel and study abroad in 1969-’70, under the auspices of the Lloyd Warren Fellowship (“Paris Prize”). Works on paper in pencil, ink, or watercolor, they represent varied approaches to capturing qualities of the architectural, urbanistic, or cultural subject matter, ranging from realistic rendition to mannered sketch techniques. These and others were produced “en plein air” in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Norway, and England, and they initiated a long tradition of sketching on trips abroad. Unearthed from the flat files, this is their first gallery showing. Some of the works in Venice are featured in my new book Urban Lessons of the Venetian Squares.

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org

An ART EXHIBITION of oil & watercolor works: www.cosimaaryee.net

Reception on Sun Aug 7, 2-4 PM
Join us in the Edith Davis Gallery for a fun afternoon of art, mingling and light refreshments

The Rose Center, 442 West Second North St, Morristown, TN, 37814. Hours: M-F 9-5. Information: 423-581-4330, www.rosecenter.org

First Friday August 5th

“Rooms,” will be a solo show presenting a breadth of work by Ilana Lilienthal. A “room” is a space we create in order to be in, that we design to evoke certain feelings and emotions. When we create space, the goal is to influence both ourselves and others around us. In a conversation with a “room” we live or work in, there is a dance between forms, colors, and objects – creating a distinct energy field. This show encompasses three rooms, each inspired by a different palette. Red, Black & White, and Amber, each representing a color field working as a unique spiritual, psychological, and emotional experience.

Public Gallery Hours
Thursday - Saturday 12pm - 6pm
or by Appointment

23 Emory Place, Knoxville, TN 37917
865.200.4401
lilienthalgallery@gmail.com
https://lilienthalgallery.com