Calendar of Events

"Abstracts on Display" will host a rotating series of abstract artists from around the country. Jen Sterling is the inaugural artist!

Artist's Statement: I can feel an entire shift in my thinking and my emotions when viewing a strikingly bold and colorful piece of art. The goal of my work is to inspire energy and excitement from within. These images are meant to make you feel strong and powerful — to burst into your morning with a zing, to prod you into action when you reach your midday lull, and/or to invigorate your senses after a long day. Ideally, my art evokes a reaction and reminds you that life is for feeling and stretching, and living.

JEN STERLING is an abstract painter based in Annapolis, MD. Her work inspires energy and excitement in homes and workspaces. She works large and small and adores commissions. For more info visit www.jensterling.com and follow @jensterlingart on Instagram.

555 W Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902
Our pop-up gallery is hosted by the marketing agency Morris Creative Group in their lovely downtown building. The gallery is accessible during business hours Monday through Friday. At all other times, work can be viewed through the large front windows. Access to brokers and the design trade can also be arranged by appointment.

https://www.abstractsondisplay.com/

The Professional Photographers of East Tennessee is exhibiting fine art photography at The Gallery in Rarity Bay. The Photo Expo features the works of some of East Tennessee’s best known fine art photographers and a few lesser known emerging photo artists. The Expo includes the work 18 different photographers and over 50 fine art prints. The theme, “Show Us Your Best” has resulted in an exhibit that includes a wide range of photographic styles, image sizes and topics.

The Photo Expo opened November 4 and will continue until January 7, 2023. The Artists’ Reception takes place is on December 4 from 2 PM to 4 PM. The reception is free and open to the public.

The Gallery in Rarity Bay is located in the Community Activity Center (CAC) in Rarity Bay . The CAC is the 2nd building on the right as you drive into Rarity Bay (before you reach the Gate). The Address for Rarity Bay is 150 Rarity Bay Blvd., Vonore, TN 37885.

Take 1-75 south or Route 11 south to Route 72 and turn left onto Route 72. Continue on Route 72 past the Tellico Village sign. A couple miles past the Tellico Village sign, on your left will be the Rarity Bay entrance. Turn left onto Rarity Bay Blvd.

https://www.facebook.com/PPETN/

The Tennessee Artists Association will have an all-members show at the Rose Center for the Arts in Morristown. Over 30 members of the Tennessee Artists Association will have works on exhibit.

An opening reception will be held on Friday, November 4th, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The wine and hors d’oeuvres reception and exhibit are free and open to the public.

The Rose Center for the Arts is located at 442 W Second North St., Morristown, TN., and is maintained by the Rose Council for the Arts. It is a non-profit organization and is a Designated Agency of the Tennessee Arts Commission. Built in 1892, the Late Victorian style building was used as a school until 1975. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

More on the Tennessee Artist’s Association can be found on the web at https://tnartists.org, on Instagram at @tn_artists, and on Facebook at TNArtistsAssociation.

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

Join us this First Friday as @benfoxmccord presents, Horror Vacui. This term from Latin literally translates to “fear of empty spaces.” It is used to describe artworks in which the entire surface is covered in detailed imagery. This exhibit features works made in a similar spirit.

Artist+Illustrator: www.benfoxmccord.com

RED Gallery, 130 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-524-0146 or https://www.facebook.com/REDgalleryKNOX/

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

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

Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church - Free and open to the public
2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918

Reception Friday, October 14, 6:00 to 7:30 pm.
Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.

Gallery hours: 9:30-4:30 Monday through Thursday and 9:00-1:00 Sunday

In 1963 a group of Knoxville artists was invited by the late Kermit (Buck) Ewing, Head of the University of TN Art Department, to participate in an exhibition of watercolor paintings at the University’s McClung Museum. During the opening reception Mr. Ewing noted the Knoxville area did not have an organization for artists to share the common interest of painting in aqueous media. He suggested that those artists exhibiting in the McClung show could be the nucleus for such an association. Thus, was the formation of the Knoxville Watercolor Society with Laura Bagwell serving as the first President.

The purpose of this organization is to educate the members as well as the community to the understanding of watercolor as a significant art form. Active membership is juried by the members and consists of Knoxville area artists who are currently active in the serious pursuit of aqueous painting. Annually, the organization provides a scholarship for the University of Tennessee student who is majoring in watercolor painting, donates to the University Ewing Gallery and maintains a membership in the Arts and Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville. Additionally, grants have been made to the Arts Council of Greater Knoxville, the Knoxville Museum of Art, The Tennessee Resource Center, The Tennessee Art Association High School Scholarship Program.

http://www.knxvillewatercolorsociety.com/

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