Calendar of Events

The Clarence Brown Theatre will close its 2022/2023 Season with the Grammy and Tony-award winning “Hair,” April 19 – May 7. UT Faculty/Staff receive 15% off ticket prices. UT Students previews and Tuesday night performances for FREE and the rest of the performances for $5, excluding Opening Night. The production contains adult content. Tickets at: https://clarencebrowntheatre.com/plays/hair/.

A celebration of life, a love letter to freedom, and a passionate cry for hope and change, “Hair” defined one generation and continues to inspire today. The first great rock musical, it has some of the most rousing and soulful songs ever written for the stage, including "Let the Sunshine In," "Good Morning Starshine," "Aquarius," and the infectious title song, "Hair."

The Pay What You Can performance, where patrons can name their own price, will be held Wednesday, April 19th. Behind the Scenes Sunday will take place Sunday, April 23rd after the 2:00 pm matinee. A Talk Back will take place Sunday, April 30th following the matinee. The Open Captioned performance is Sunday, May 7th at 2:00 pm.

Free and convenient parking is available in the Upper Parking of McClung Tower Garage (G2) on Volunteer Boulevard. Clarence Brown Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information/tickets: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com

JUDAH & THE LION, Wednesday, April 19, at the Mill & Mine.

Get ready for a party at The Mill & Mine. Judah & The Lion are returning for a night packed full of great music. Their latest album, Revival, serves as a moment of rejuvenation and evolution for the band. Act fast! Judah & The Lion sold out two shows the last time they were here. We can guarantee you'll be movin' and groovin' all night long.

The Mill & Mine, 227 W. Depot Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Tickets/information: 865-343-6000 or https://themillandmine.com

The District Gallery will be hosting a national show and weeklong art event. We are honored to present this national exhibition by the American Impressionist Society’s Signature and Master Members. This 7th annual small works showcase will feature 174 juried paintings by some of the top contemporary impressionist painters in the country. Awards will be judged and presented by longtime Nashville artist Anne Blair Brown.

Friday, April 14, 5-8 pm: Opening Reception & Awards Ceremony of Impressions
174 juried paintings by some of the top contemporary impressionist painters in the country will be judged with a top prize of $4000. We'll have over 60 artists from around the country, including judge Anne Blair Brown from Nashville, at this prestigious event.

During the week of April 11-15, there will be several art events and workshops that require registration. For a full calendar of events and our show catalog, please go to https://www.thedistrictgallery.com/impressions/.

Saturday, April 15, 5-7 pm: Wet Works Exhibit and Awards
The impressionist painters will be in Knoxville painting at various locations the week of April 11-15, this exhibit is a culmination of their freshly painted works that will be on display for one day only.

The District Gallery, 5113 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-F 10-5:30, Sa 10-4. Information: 865-200-4452, www.TheDistrictGallery.com

Reception: Friday, April 14, 6-8pm
Free and open to the public

In partial fulfillment of their graduation requirements, students pursuing the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree are required to mount a solo exhibition of work, and to defend their work during an oral examination in front of a faculty committee. Due to the number of graduate students enrolled in the UT School of Art, these exhibitions generally take the form of small groups of students presenting concurrent solo exhibitions in the gallery space.

Sean Latif Heiser: Discretionary Monuments
Discretionary Monuments explores ideas of world-building, personal histories, time, and the pathways between reality and fantasy.

Noah Lagle: Raised on Replicas
Raised on Replicas is an installation of structural prints and plaster multiples that explores the gap between commemoration and conservation. Envelopes that evoke architectural spaces and imitations of common shipping materials construct interconnected provisional enclosures that address facets of identity and communication through a historical lens.

Emily Rice: Gleaning the Spirit
From intimate scales to monumental immersion, their work embodies storytelling and belief sourced through archival research and memory. These generative fictions make way for imagined narratives that explore collaboration with living and non-living things and consider the transmutation and transcendence of materials and witnesses.

Gallery Hours:
Mon-Wed and Fri 10am-5pm
Thursday 10am-7:30pm
Sunday 1pm-4pm

Art and Architecture Building, Ewing Gallery of Art + Architecture
1715 Volunteer Boulevard, Knoxville, TN 37996
http://ewing-gallery.utk.edu or 865-974-3200

River & Rail’s White Rabbit/Red Rabbit Features A Different Actor Every Night
by Nassim Soleimanpour

No director. No set. No rehearsal. This one-person show is written to be handed to its performer on the night of their performance, in front of a live audience. Called “playful, enigmatic and haunting”, “a tense, entrancing piece of theatre” and “unpredictable, and completely unforgettable”, White Rabbit/Red Rabbit experiments with new ways of making and understanding theatre.

Barred from leaving his country after refusing military service under Iran’s brutal dictatorship, playwright Nassim Soleimanpour sent a play out into the world instead. The result is a thrilling, experimental allegory which has been performed in over 30 languages since its premiere in 2011, and which is different every night. Performed live at River & Rail's Old City Performing Arts Center by nationally-recognized artists like pulitzer-nominated playwright Octavio Solis, Tony-nominated actor, Andy Grotelueschen, the Book of Queer's Marlon Meikle, Pokemon’s Martha Harms, Kenneth Herring and Emily Ernst of River and Rail, and Knoxville’s own Jed Diamond, Jonathan Clark, and Dale Mackey! Tickets are $25 for General Admission, $40 for premium seating, and $10 for students with ID:
https://tinyurl.com/3mdt4zxb. Stay tuned for a full list of performers.

Kenneth Herring - Performing April 11th at 7:30pm
Dale Mackey - Performing April 13th at 7:30pm
Marlon Meikle - Performing April 14th at 7:30pm
Martha Harms (Performing April 15 at 2:30pm)
Octavio Solis (Performing April 18 at 7:30pm)
Andy Grotelueschen (Performing April 21 at 7:30pm)

River & Rail Theatre, 111 State Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-407-0727, www.riverandrailtheatre.com

Rala is pleased to present Cynthia Markert as our featured artist for April and May. "Tallulah Dearest and Her Coterie" continues Cynthia's unique and recognizable style of oil painting on wood. Please join us for the show opening from 6 to 8pm on Friday, April 7.

Artist Cynthia Markert has been creating her mixed media portraits on wood for over four decades. She finds inspiration in historical icons such as The Odd Woman, The New Woman, The Flapper, and The Free Thinking Woman from the 1890s to the 1930s, and the Belle Époque to the jazz age. Her paintings infuse these inspirations with personal expression of spiritual bonding.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1815062672203536/

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

April 7 - May 18, 2023
First Fridays: April 7 + May 5, 5-9pm

For more than a decade, Art Source, the exhibition dedicated solely to Knox County art educators, has given these same teachers an opportunity to nourish and showcase their own artistic talents. Exhibition awards will be announced at 6:30pm during the May First Friday reception. Join us in recognizing the work of our area art teachers and interns!

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 Art Guild at Fairfield Glade will host a Fun and Wine Opening Reception for the Members’ Judged Art Show on Friday, April 7 from 5 - 7 p.m.

Art Guild members Al Hansen, Beverly Olin and Kay Wode will serve as a judges panel and will determine the winning entries. Winners will be announced to the public during the April 7 reception. This event is free and open to the public! Browse through eye-catching displays of artwork in our gallery, available for purchase. Unique gifts can also be found in our retail space, “Endless Possibilities, Fine Arts and Crafts.”

Gallery: Mon-Sat 9-4. Art Guild at Fairfield Glade at the Plateau Creative Arts Center, 451 Lakeview Drive, Fairfield Glade, TN 38558. Information: 931-707-7249, www.artguildfairfieldglade.net

A First Friday opening reception for the exhibits is planned from 5:30 pm - 9 pm, April 7th, with complimentary refreshments and music.

Roger Kroll has been working in the jewelry business for over 50 years. After receiving an MFA degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology, majoring in metal and jewelry arts, he taught special education for four years in upstate New York. He then joined the faculty at East Tennessee State University where he helped build the MFA program in metal arts. He then left the university to pursue his own career producing jewelry in Sarasota, Florida, where he opened a small jewelry shop and manufacturing business. After a successful nineteen years of business in Florida, he returned to East Tennessee where he continued his love of creating beautiful expressive jewelry using traditional techniques in a contemporary fashion. He cuts and polishes unique stones in addition to fusing dichroic glass, which he then sets in sterling silver. He has exhibited in many juried shows throughout the country and is a former member of the Foothills Craft Guild in Knoxville and also a long-time member of the Art Market Gallery.

Born and raised near Chicago, Cindy Marrazzo is an international painter and engineer living in Jacksboro, TN. Her art education began as a child with private oil painting lessons and continued throughout her high school years, receiving multiple awards and support from her teachers for art scholarships. Shortly after her graduation from high school at 16, Cindy enlisted in the US Marine Corps. She then chose a path in the sciences which included instruction in anatomy, light & reflection, fluid mechanics (water, cloud, & wind movement), the color spectrum and other physics & architectural classes that could be applied to her art. Although passionate about art, she instead worked with math and science for most of her adult life. After losing her engineering job in a down economy, Marrazzo took a friend’s suggestion and took up her paint brushes to rekindle her love of painting. “I apply my physics and math to my art & I use my Marine Corps discipline to finish many paintings that require a lot of time and patience.” Many of Marrazzo’s pieces are painted in a traditional realism style. She uses math & science to deliver realistic details to every scene, while her use of darks and lights provide amazing light to her paintings. Marrazzo artwork can be found throughout the US, Canada and Europe.

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

Terra Madre: Women in Clay announces their upcoming Exhibition to be held at Mighty Mud located at 126 Jennings Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917.

The exhibition includes a First Friday evening opening reception on April 7 from 6 pm – 9 pm. The exhibit is free and open to the public and refreshments will be provided at the opening reception.

This show will feature the handmade pottery and clay art of several members of the group. Terra Madre is an eclectic group of female artists with diverse approaches to clay. Unique additions to the home and distinctive gifts for the season will be featured including functional, sculptural, traditional, contemporary and whimsical works of clay art. Some of the Madres whose work will be included in the upcoming exhibit are: Donna Beshore, Ellie Kotsianas Christner, Pat Clapsaddle, Debbie Corley, Emily Burgess, Amy Evans, Annamarie Gundlach, Lynn Fisher, Pat Herzog, Lynne Johnson, Lisa Kurtz, Karen Kyte, Patty Lewis, Wendy Mosca, Diahn Ott, Linda Sullivan and Debbie Whalen.

https://www.terramadrewomeninclay.com/

Awaken Coffee will host an opening reception for artist Liz Osborne Friday, April 7, from 6-8 pm.

Liz Osborne is an abstract painter based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her work is a combination of layering acrylic paint, textiles, and sparkle. She channels her emotions and music to create individualistic pieces that depict both light and darkness.

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/

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from April 7-29, 2023. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, April 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features live music inside the Emporium by Nicholas Horner, Cullen Kehoe, and Renee Maggart. Most of the works will be for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition by visiting in person or the online shop at https://www.knoxalliance.store.

Cody Swaggerty is a self-taught artist whose had an interest in art since a child. In college, he briefly studied multimedia and graphic design. Later in his mid-20s he rediscovered his interest in more traditional art when he started his first canvas paintings. From there he began doing larger paintings and murals in Strong Alley which gave him the opportunities to start doing paid work for area businesses. Cody has done work for local CrossFit gyms, Knox County Schools, City of Knoxville, and other businesses wanting to spruce up their spaces. Recently he’s been focused on creating works for an online store where he can continue to make and sell art while having more time for his family. In Cody’s spare time he enjoys watching sports, seeing his childhood friends, and riding through Knoxville in his vintage VW bug.

The foundation to my work is chasing my curiosity and excitement for art. There’s nothing I enjoy more than creating and trying to progress my artwork. I try to be well rounded and jump from murals, to molding and casting sculptures, canvas paintings, graphic design, and more. One reoccurring theme in my work is lots of color. I’ve always been fascinated with colors, lights, etc., and being a child of the 90s, I always seem to be drawn towards a brighter color palette when creating. Overall, I want to continue to explore different mediums and find unique ways to blend what I’ve learned to become best artist I can be. I like to work in a variety of different mediums to keep myself interested and challenged; these pieces are a representation of that. Instagram @cswaggerty | https://www.facebook.com/cody.swaggerty

The exhibitions will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Friday 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM, and Saturday 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, April 10. For more information, please see https://www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.