Calendar of Events

Opening: Friday, November 4, 5-9pm
Reception: Friday, December 2, 5-9pm

Figures is a two-person exhibition of work by Birmingham-based artist, Amy Pleasant, and Alfred University associate professor, Katarina Riesing. Using repetition and hard-edged shapes in paint and clay, Pleasant meditates on fragmented silhouettes of the human form. In contrast, Riesing illustrates the patterns of textiles over the contours of the human body, marks on skin left by clothing or people, and skin’s natural blemishes with dye and embroidery.

The exhibition will run from November 4 - December 15, 2022. The UT Downtown Gallery will close November 24 + 25 for Thanksgiving.

All UT Downtown Gallery events are free and open to the public. Masking is strongly encouraged. UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: W-F 11-6, Sa 10-3. Information: 865-673-0802, https://downtown.utk.edu

The show opening will be from 6-8pm on November 4

We are excited to announce local artist Brian Pittman as our artist for the month of November! His elaborate Cathedral and Castle drawings have become a Knoxville staple. Please join us at Rala in the Old City!

Due to the ongoing pandemic, we prefer that masks be worn inside the store. Thank you for helping us stay safe!
Event Page Here: https://shoprala.com/blogs/blog/november-first-friday-with-brian-pittman

Rala: Regional and Local Artisans, 112 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Tu-Sa 11-6, Su 11-5. Information: 865-525-7888, https://shoprala.com or www.instagram.com/ShopRala

First Friday Reception: November 4th, 5:30 – 9:00 pm

Dennis Sabo, Photography
Autumn in Tennessee
“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas, and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.” -Vincent van Gogh
“Autumn foliage, streams, and forest scenes are a magical time for nature, a seasonal fairytale experience of color, light, textures, and patterns.” - Dennis Sabo
Dennis Sabo is an internationally award winning photographer specializing in contemporary fine art abstract, landscape, and seascape photography. His painterly and emotionally charged photographs are reminiscent of the best works of art by the legendary Impressionists while capturing light and its effect on the landscape with a contemporary vibrancy and energy. Most of his nature imagery is a microcosm of a subject so that collectors can relate to the artwork regardless if they are from Tennessee or elsewhere. Dennis's fine art has been included in solo and group gallery exhibitions, commercial installations and private home collections throughout the United States and internationally, and also in books, magazines, and in multimedia worldwide including NOVA, PBS, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Portfolio Magazine Florida, and Blue Planet.

Janis Proffitt, Wood
Janis is a native Knoxvillian. Her roots run deep in the Smoky Mountains. Her Great Great Grandfather owned a sawmill in the Greenbrier area of the National Park. For over 25 years, she along with her sister ran their Dad’s woodshop in Pittman Center, TN. With her rich Southern Appalachian Heritage, she creates both traditional and contemporary wood turnings. In the 1980’s she taught herself wood burning that she incorporates on to her pieces. Her work comes from the Head, the Heart, and Hands.

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

Show name: My Muses
Collage art by Sara Barrett

Opening reception 6-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4
10% of sales opening night benefits The Humane Society of The Tennessee Valley.
Artwork will be on display throughout November.

Info: Instagram, @freelance.muse

Awaken Coffee, 125 W Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Open daily. Information: 865-951-0427, www.instagram.com/awaken_coffee or www.facebook.com/awakencoffeeoldcity/

Awaken Coffee will host an opening reception for artist Sara Barrett Friday, November 4, from 6-8 pm.

East Tennessee native and mixed media collage artist Sara Barrett lives at the foothills of the Smokies with her husband of 14 years, their 12-year-old daughter, and two cats. A full-time creative thinker, Barrett repurposes used and discarded materials of all types in her artwork. She combines everything as digital collage or collage on canvas.

Barrett’s artwork has been exhibited at both The Emporium and The District Gallery in Knoxville, and at The Ford Studios in Marion, Va. Her work has also been published in print and online in The Tatterhood Review, Wild Roof Journal, Halcyone/Black Mountain Press, Button Eye Review and Tempered Runes Press.

Barrett is a 2022 recipient of The Bailey Opportunity Grant through The Arts and Culture Alliance of Knoxville.
You can see more of her work on Instagram @freelance.muse

Please join us for some amazing art, light refreshments, and of course great coffee!

Awaken Coffee, 125 W Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Open daily. Information: 865-951-0427, www.instagram.com/awaken_coffee or www.facebook.com/awakencoffeeoldcity/

Including work by Scott Duce, Brad Aldridge, Margaret Scanlan, Cheryl Warrick, Stephen Bach, Kris Rehring, and others

Bennett, 5308 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-Sa 10-5:30. Information: 865-584-6791, https://bennetthome.com/

Where: Printmaking Showcase Gallery, UTK Art and Architecture Building, second floor
Curator: Sydney Juhl, Art History Major

Byron McKeeby (1936-1984) was an American printmaker known for his lithographs. Aside from being a widely acknowledged and exhibited artist, McKeeby taught printmaking at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville from the fall of 1965 until 1984. He laid the foundations for the printmaking program at the university and his legacy lives on today.

UT School of Art: 1715 Volunteer Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-3200, https://art.utk.edu/

Begun in 1947 by C. Kermit "Buck" Ewing, the School of Art at the University of Tennessee is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Curated by Ewing Gallery staff members, this exhibition features ephemera and artwork from the Ewing's permanent collection spotlighting important moments and historic individuals in the history of the School of Art.

Join us for a reception on Thursday, November 10 from 5-7pm.

The Ewing Gallery will close November 23 - 27 for the Thanksgiving break.
UT School of Art: 1715 Volunteer Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-3200, https://art.utk.edu/

SELECTIONS FROM ARROWMONT SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS’ PERMANENT COLLECTION
OCTOBER 24, 2022 – JANUARY 9, 2023 | SANDRA J. BLAIN GALLERIES

Beginning with its founding in 1912, Arrowmont has always provided fertile grounds for growth. As the Pi Beta Phi Settlement School, Gatlinburg’s community came together to teach one another different handicraft techniques and traditions. This practice of knowledge sharing laid the foundation for the craft school that exists today. Never static, Arrowmont continues to evolve to better facilitate artistic exchange. It first developed its signature summer workshop program in 1945, which opened Arrowmont’s doors to artists and makers who resided outside Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and later creating Arrowmont’s Artists-in-Residence Program in 1991. This Artist-in-Residence Program offered early career artists with studio space, facilities, and access to the constantly shifting environment of artists, craftspeople, makers, and enthusiasts that comprises the Arrowmont community. Initially conceptualized around bringing together artists working in distinct craft categories, the Artist-in-Residence Program has recently expanded to promote multi- and interdisciplinary craft regardless of medium, thereby widening the perspectives, experiences, and creative explorations brought to Arrowmont’s campus.

The works in this exhibition highlight Arrowmont’s two distinct but interconnected goals: the promotion of individual artistic exploration and the development of community through collective, creative expression. For over a century, artists have converged in this specific place to practice, to make, to experiment, to play. Relatedly, the works on display range from donated workshop demonstrations and projects to works from professional artists who have connections to Arrowmont—past instructors, students, and staff. Arrowmont’s campus has proven to be the epicenter of a specific development of artistic exchange. Arrowmont is site-specific, a historic and cultural landmark nestled in the wooded hillside; Arrowmont is also conceptual, shaped by individual experiences and the legacies of its storied past. Diverse communities have shaped Arrowmont as Arrowmont—as site, as concept—has, in turn, shaped communities. Together, across time and medium, Arrowmont has carved its own body of principles, rules, standards, and norms, crafting past negotiations that continue in the present and will last into the future.

Curated by Kelli Fisher, the 2022-23 Kenneth R. Trapp Craft Assistant/Curatorial Fellow.

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

OCTOBER 24 – DECEMBER 16, 2022 | GEOFFREY A. WOLPERT GALLERY

Whether gentle or destructive, wind has the power to create change. Windsocks, whirligigs, and weathervanes were once vital sources of information, measuring wind direction and speed. Now these formerly functional objects accumulate in antique malls and roadside souvenir shops, their utility relinquished for kitsch and nostalgic value. While these adornments are steeped in history and collective meaning, they are also outward expressions of an individual’s relationship to our past. Domestic scenes, normally relegated to interior spaces, are translated through weatherproof materials like steel and wood and projected outwards into public viewing spaces. The front yard becomes a gallery where the nuances of regional and personal identity are expressed through layers of symbols.

In Prevailing Winds, Kaleena Stasiak continues her exploration into the performative reproduction of formerly functional objects as a method for interpreting history and re-envisioning the future. In a moment of disillusionment with institutional knowledge, by hearkening back to human rituals of survival, these weather predictors point to the cyclical nature of time, and offer hope for the future. For Stasiak, making becomes an act of historical role playing as she invokes the generations of makers who came before her, and translates these objects for a contemporary art context.

Kaleena Stasiak is an interdisciplinary artist who uses an assortment of haptic media to explore collective mythmaking, and its relevance to the present day. Digging through a lexicon of symbols and imagery evoking American colonial times, folk art, and quilts, she reframes the dominant ideologies surrounding early history and domestic labor. Her graphic cyphers denote the power and breadth of traditional women’s work, functional handicraft, and the impulse to create. Decoration and ornamentation become expressions of desire, signifiers of identity, and autobiographical documentation of lives omitted from text-based historical narratives and artistic discourse. Originally from Ontario, Canada, Stasiak holds a BFA in Printmaking from the Ontario College of Art and Design and an MFA in Printmaking & Book Arts from the University of Georgia. Recent shows include Tournament of Lies at Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY, Ancient Art Objects at Whitespace in Atlanta, GA, and Identity Measures at the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans, LA. In 2017 Stasiak founded the South East Women Wrestlers, a performance troupe based in Athens, GA, that uses the spectacle of wrestling to reframe stereotypes and representations of femininity. She currently teaches Printmaking & Foundations at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia.

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

We are excited to announce our first Guest Artist Show featuring Knoxville based artist Suzanne Jack. We offered a guest artist show to two winners selected from the annual TN Artist Association Annual Show. In addition to our award, one of her pieces earned "Best in Show"! Her art is worth seeing (and owning)!

Please join us for the Show Opening Thursday, Oct. 20 from 5 - 7pm.

Pivot Point Gallery, 15 Emory Place, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-248-0050, www.pivotpointgallery.com

The family of John F. Richardson has generously donated 31 paintings to the Clayton Center for the Arts and Maryville College. Sales of the artwork will benefit the CCA and MC Fine Arts Division,

John Richardson had a long career painting landscapes in many styles and mediums and in many places from Tennessee to Arizona to Washington State. He lived in Tennessee and Illinois. He studied at Vanderbilt University, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the University of Chicago. Exhibition venues included the Pennsylvania Academy, Art Institute of Chicago and Vanderbilt University. Richardson taught at Watkins Institute in Nashville from 1938 to 1942 and from 1949 to 1969 at the University of Illinois in Chicago Circle. Richardson and wife Margaret, moved to Nashville and became active in the local art scene. His paintings have a very distinctive personal style, strongly representing elements of mid to late 20th Century artistic trends and movements.

Paintings may be viewed in the DENSO and La Dolce Vita Galleries Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm and during events.

Clayton Center for the Arts, 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Information/tickets: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com