Calendar of Events

Friday, August 5
4pm - 7pm
Ribbon Cutting at 5:30 p.m.

Come see the new "Small & Mighty" art gallery A1LabArts created inside Scruffy's Cafe. A1's show will be displayed through September 27. Scruffy's Cafe will receive a 20% commission on all art sold. Artists may also use this gallery for future shows, beginning in October.

At 5:30 pm, Talisa Cantrell, a Scruffy's Cafe co-owner, will cut the ribbon on the new gallery.

All First Friday guests will receive free access into the cat room after signing a waiver. Snacks and non-alcoholic beverages will be for sale.

1015 N Broadway, Knoxville, TN 37917
https://www.a1labarts.com/

The #FirstFriday reception will take place Friday, August 5th from 5-8PM at 123 W. Jackson Avenue in the Historic Old City.

Exhibition on Display: August 5th - September 16th
Regular Gallery Hours: M-F 10AM-5PM

Carl Gombert was born in Brimfield, Ohio in 1959. He started taking painting lessons at the age of 14 with money he earned delivering newspapers. He earned a BFA in Drawing from the University of Akron and an MFA in Painting from Kent State University. He worked as a stagehand before pursuing a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts at Texas Tech University. He has exhibited widely and his work is in numerous public and corporate collections. Since 1993 has taught painting, drawing and art history at Maryville College in Tennessee.

"There are two sides to my work. I am committed to the techniques of large scale, unflinching realism. But I also am strongly compelled by the mathematical complexities and opportunity for play in decorative, patterned works. For years I was torn between the two sides, vacillating between them in a fool’s game of trying to guess what work was best suited for which venue, and trying to decide which was my “true” practice. I am old enough now to know that both are authentic parts of my voice. I love pattern, I love decoration, and I love sparkle. I also love to draw. For years I have wrestled with the false expectation that artists must be unfailingly committed to a single consistent path.

I think of the realistic images as plausible fictions. They use the techniques of realism to create impossibly large or artificially colored portraits “as if” those sitters actually exist.

The hand-stamped works, on the other hand, rely on radial structure and repetition to explore complexity arising from the application of simple rules. Taking the forms of mandalas and quilts, they attempt to balance opposites, relying equally on dark and light and on positive and negative shapes. Although they appear highly planned, the work results from a largely improvisational approach. Combinations of images are not generally selected beforehand; rather the images begin in the center and evolve intuitively as they grow larger. The interaction of smaller pop culture icons and images allows for endless free association and for exploring multiple chains of connection between the parts, while at the same time coalescing into larger complex patterns. In this little world there is symmetry and balance and order, but neither rhyme nor reason." -Carl Gombert

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

Come enjoy our extended After-Hours from 5 PM – 8 PM every Thursday! These evenings are free for members or with a general admission ticket. The Splash Pad is open all day and evening! The carousel and train will also be open and providing free rides! NEW, every After-Hours Thursday we will now have a DJ in the Plaza! Come out and dance to the beats! Each month will feature a special menu and local draft beer.

Thursdays 5-8 PM
Member Admission - Free
General Admission - Free with Zoo Ticket
https://zooknoxville.org/event/zoo-after-hours-2/

Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Information: 865-637-5331, www.zooknoxville.org

2022 MARKET SQUARE FARMERS’ MARKET (WEDNESDAYS & SATURDAYS)
Every Wednesday (10 am – 1 pm), May 4 through November 16, 2022
Every Saturday (9 am – 1 pm), May 7 through November 19, 2022
Market Square in downtown Knoxville

The Market Square Farmers’ Market is an open-air farmers’ market located on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. Everything at the MSFM is grown or made by our vendors in the East Tennessee region. Products vary by the seasons and include produce, eggs, honey, herbs, pasture-raised meat, plants, bread, baked goods, salsas, coffee, artisan crafts, and more!
https://www.nourishknoxville.org/market-square-farmers-market/

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

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

No BPS will occur Jan 25-29 - please come back Feb 1 for more great music!

The WDVX Blue Plate Special® is a live performance radio show held at noon, with your host Red Hickey, Monday through Thursday at the Knoxville Visitor Center. On Fridays WDVX takes the Blue Plate Special to Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria for “The Big Plate”, then back to the Visitor Center on Saturday with your host Evie Andrus.

It’s always free to join in, so please don’t be shy. Make yourself at home as part of the WDVX family. From blues to bluegrass, country to Celtic, folk to funk, rockabilly to hillbilly, local to international, it all part of the live music experience on the WDVX Blue Plate Special. You’re welcome to bring your lunch.

Just like at your favorite meat n’ three, the WDVX Blue Plate Special® is served up piping hot. This fresh and free daily helping of live music during the lunchtime hour that features performers from all over the world and right here in Knoxville has put WDVX on the map as East Tennessee’s Own community supported radio.

Previous performing artists include Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, The Avett Brothers, Old Crowe Medicine Show, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Jim Lauderdale, Marty Stuart, Nickel Creek, Red Stick Ramblers, Rodney Crowell, String Cheese Incident, The Del McCoury Band, Tim O’Brien, Yonder Mountain String Band, David Grisman, Claire Lynch Band, Brett Dennen, Tommy Emmanuel, Uncle Earl, The Infamous Stringdusters, the Jerry Douglas Band, Joan Osborne, John Oats, Mary Gauthier, Darrell Scott, and many many more! There’s plenty of great music to go around! http://wdvx.com/program/blue-plate-special/

Free 2-hour visitor parking located next door to the Knoxville Visitor Center. One Vision Plaza, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Info: 865-544-1029, http://www.wdvx.com

Central Filling Station is Tennessee's first full-service food truck park! We are a family-friendly, dog-friendly neighborhood hangout featuring a daily rotation of the city’s best food trucks and craft beverages. Welcome to Knoxville’s most unique outdoor dining experience!

Wednesday & Thursday 5-9p
Friday & Saturday 11a-10p
Sunday 11a-9p

900 N. Central Street | Knoxville, TN
https://www.knoxfoodpark.com/
https://www.facebook.com/knoxfoodpark/

HOURS: MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAYS, ​10 A.M. TO 2 P.M.

All local handmade handcrafted goods from local artisans! The goods include wood products, knitted and crocheted items, handmade musical instruments, purses and totes, jewelry, rag rugs, painted signs and original works of art, etc. We have converted the former Postmasters Office to become our Shop.

Postmark LaFollette is a collaborative creative place making project to establish and maintain and Arts, Culture and History Center within an historic structure in order to strengthen social and economic opportunities for the public through the arts: https://postmarklafollette.weebly.com/

Our Postmark LaFollette, Homemade ArtShine Arts & Crafts Co-Op is in our Center at 119 S. Tennessee Avenue, LaFollette, TN. https://www.facebook.com/PostmarkLaFollette

Spring is the perfect time to enjoy Farragut’s unique history while strolling through the heart of town. Pick up a Farragut History Walk map from the brochure holder on the Heritage Trail sign located at the turnaround at Founders Park at Campbell Station and learn more about the town’s interesting past. A PDF version of the map is available at https://visitfarragut.org/attractions/

The walk includes four educational sites: the Heritage Trail with interpretive signage at Founders Park, the Campbell Station Inn and Mayor Ralph McGill Plaza, the Farragut Museum/Admiral Farragut Plaza and Pleasant Forest Cemetery. Parking along the trail is available at Founders Park, the Farragut Community Center or Farragut Town Hall.

Incorporated in 1980, the Town of Farragut has top schools, safe neighborhoods and high development standards, making it one of the best places to live in the Southeast. More info: 865-966-7057

Experience an unparalleled view of Knoxville during our public cruises! Enjoy a delightful lunch, brunch, or dinner cruise. We offer a range of public cruises for your friends and family on Knoxville’s only luxury yacht! From sunset dinner cruises to sailgates in Big Orange Country, Volunteer Princess Cruises is truly special for any event. Browse through our cruise offerings to begin your jaunt along Knoxville, Tennessee’s beautiful riverfront! Public, seasonal, and other cruises available.
https://volunteerprincess.com/

Create some memories on our authentic paddlewheeler - the Star of Knoxville. We offer a variety of lunch and dinner cruises along with sightseeing-only tickets.

This authentic paddlewheeler is United States Coast Guard approved for 235 passengers. The main deck seats 144 passengers and is fully enclosed, air conditioned, and heated for year round comfort. The vessel is equipped with two (2) bars, a dance floor, band stage, and is exquisitely decorated for the most elegant dinner and entertainment available. From black tie events like weddings and receptions to a casual event like a football charter the atmosphere is right for any occasion.

https://tnriverboat.com/