Calendar of Events

Dogwood Arts and the Songbirds Foundation are proud to announce the 2023 Epiphone Guitar Design Contest. The contest is open to all high school and middle school students living in East Tennessee. Several guitar designs created by youth artists will be selected for implementation and exhibition. The art guitars will be displayed at the Dogwood Arts Gallery in Knoxville and at the Songbirds Guitar Museum, a one-of-a-kind guitar museum located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The guitars will be auctioned to benefit Dogwood Arts’ youth art programs & the Songbirds Foundation’s Guitars for Kids initiative.

Winning designers will each receive $50 for art supplies and complimentary tickets to Southern Skies Music Festival (May 20-21, 2023); additional cash prizes will be awarded to select artists at the exhibition reception.

The online auction will be live from April 3 - May 26, 2023
Guitars will be displayed at the Songbirds Guitar Museum (Chattanooga) during the month of April 2023.
Guitars will be displayed in the Dogwood Arts Gallery (Knoxville) during the month of May 2023
An exhibition reception and awards ceremony will take place on Friday, May 5th at the Dogwood Arts Gallery from 5-8PM (Awards at 6PM)
Select guitars will also be on display at the Southern Skies Music Festival (May 20-21, 2023)
Auction will conclude on May 26, 2023

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

A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, May 5, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features live music inside the Emporium by Vance Thompson Quartet. 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.

This new exhibition includes watercolor and oil paintings.

Melancholy’s Epiphany is about infractions, labels, assumptions.
It's about a stand.
It's about her, and all of her almost-epiphanies.
It's about a fragmented chain of her.
It's not about then.
It's not about when.
It's about now.

The golden thread of sheer existence that binds us to one another and with the universe pulls me further onward through this exploration of color, light, trickery and enchantment. I am inspired to create pieces that convey freedom of spirit. I paint about the light that settles in our souls and the idea that there is a natural touchstone for all of us as humans.

Tracye Burnett Sowders (b. 1965) is a prolific painter in various media including watercolor, oils, pen and ink, and alcohol inks. She is also a calligrapher, hand quilter and needleworker, illustrator, portrait artist and pianist. She exhibits regularly throughout Knoxville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Nashville, and parts of New England including Manhattan and Staten Island. Her original watercolors, oils and quilts are in private collections all over the United States, Australia, Canada, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, England and New Zealand. She regularly participates in various festivals and exhibitions across the southeast and New England. Locally, her works may be found at Smoky Mountain Art in Gatlinburg, Knoxville Visitors Center, Tea & Treasures, Knoxville Soap Candle and Gifts, Ijams Nature Center, Alice in Appalachia, Mystical Beginnings, and The Holistic Connection in Knoxville.

https://www.facebook.com/Tracye.Sowders
Instagram @tracyeburnettsowdersartist

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-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, with additional hours on Friday, May 12, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM and Saturdays, May 6 & 13 only, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. For more information, please see https://www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, May 5, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features live music inside the Emporium by Vance Thompson Quartet. 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.

I am more than a decade into developing my representational painting skills. I have honed my methodology for how I develop a painting by breaking it into manageable steps: first, I choose a subject with personal meaning based on my travels or a subject close to home in East Tennessee. The image must be a strong composition and contain a range of tonal values from darks to lights, which I manage by completing an underpainting using only burnt sienna. I then concentrate on colors and brush application, determining whether to make brush strokes apparent. By slowly edging away from my original tendency toward photorealism, some of my new works have a more painterly feel while still retaining detail as a photograph would.

Creating a painting is always an exciting journey, as I am never quite sure whether it will be as successful as I have envisioned it in my mind.

In college, Allen Monsarrat first studied architecture and then graduated with a BFA concentrating in pottery. His first art career was as a studio potter in Friendsville, TN for 25 years, followed by a career in decorative wall finishes, faux painting, cabinetry finishing and the occasional mural project. He began working in pastels in 2018 to counter his tendency towards too much realism.
www.monsarratart.com

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-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, with additional hours on Friday, May 12, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM and Saturdays, May 6 & 13 only, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. For more information, please see https://www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, May 5, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features live music inside the Emporium by Vance Thompson Quartet. 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.

Lynda Best is an original impressionistic, contemporary artist of nature spirits. She was born in Wichita, Kansas and has lived all over the southern U.S. When she discovered the clear, clean waters of Tennessee, she knew she had to make it her home. She earned a degree in Arts Education from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College and later received an Ed.S. in Leadership while working in the public schools. During that time, she also taught art classes for the Tennessee Arts Commission. Throughout her career as an educator, she always used art to reach children. After teaching 36 years, she retired in May 2014, and has used her time to focus on nature, family, gardening, and her art. Her paintings are a form of meditation as she creates calming images.

She also sculpts in stone when inspiration calls to her. She developed her own style for showing the “frozen moment”: when time stops, we’re a witness to nature, and it fills us with a sense of wonder and awe. Our spirit is found and often rediscovered in nature, and it is this spiritual connection that nourishes and inspires her art. Best captures this “moment” with acrylic in a modern impressionistic style, using entrancing outlines and colors to “freeze” the continual, everchanging movement of nature.
www.LyndaBestArtist.com
https://www.facebook.com/LyndaBestArtist

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-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, with additional hours on Friday, May 12, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM and Saturdays, May 6 & 13 only, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. For more information, please see https://www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, May 5, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features live music inside the Emporium by Vance Thompson Quartet. 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.

This new exhibition, associated with the state-wide Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art, features a group of artists offering a variety of responses to the theme "Re-Pair/Re-Connect." This theme can be interpreted broadly to reference ideas such as ongoing post-pandemic renewal of public interaction and community events; interpersonal relationships and communication; individual renewal of creative vision, values, sense of self, and role in society; and relationships with the environment.

The exhibiting artists are members of A1LabArts, a nonprofit, Knoxville-based arts organization founded in 1995.
www.a1labarts.com

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-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, with additional hours on Friday, May 12, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM and Saturdays, May 6 & 13 only, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. For more information, please see https://www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, May 5, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features live music inside the Emporium by Vance Thompson Quartet. 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.

The inspiration for this exhibition came during early morning walks through dew-covered pastures which provide the spiritual experience of nature. Our friendship developed as we participated in a community of artists called Art Group 21. Since we both live in Lenoir City, we began walking together three times a week which has continued to this day.

On our year-round walks which cover 80 acres of farmland, we watch the seasonal changes in weather conditions and vegetation. There is abundant evidence of wildlife in the fields, woods and along the gravel roads. We pass farm animals, plants and trees, new and deteriorating structures, and regularly used or abandoned farm equipment, elements we express in our artworks.

Barb Rybolt Johnson graduated with a teaching degree in Art Education from Indiana State University. In 2013, after years of teaching, she gave time to creating art, beginning with acrylic painting. Since then, she has been an active member of the Arts & Culture Alliance and Art Group 21. Her paintings have received awards in exhibitions at the Emporium, McGhee Tyson Airport, Oak Ridge Art Center, and the Plateau Creative Arts Center in Fairfield Glade.

Susan B. Miller received her BFA from the University of Tennessee in drawing. She has painted in watercolor since 2010. She is a signature member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society and Art Group 21, and she has received awards in local and national competitions.

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-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, with additional hours on Friday, May 12, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM and Saturdays, May 6 & 13 only, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. For more information, please see https://www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

Opens Fri May 5, 5-9 PM
Cinco de Mayo celebration featuring Leonardo Romero, Manuel Carreon, and La Familia Mejia.

HoLa Hora Latina, 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 112, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-335-3358, www.holahoralatina.org

Paintings by Barbara Thomas and Glass Art by Cathie Fitzjohn

In Westminster Presbyterian Church's Schilling Gallery
6500 Northshore Dr.
(865-584-3957)
www.wpcknox.org
Hours: Monday thru Thursday, 9 AM to 4 PM, Friday 9 AM to noon

The Tennessee Artists Association has a member art show now at the Rarity Bay Gallery. Please stop in and view these beautiful pieces, now through June 30th.

You are invited to an artist's reception on Sunday April 23rd from 2-4 pm for an artist's reception. Meet and greet the artist behind each masterpiece.

The Gallery in Rarity Bay is located in the Community Activity Center (CAC) at 150 Rarity Bay Blvd., Vonore, TN, which is the second building on the right as you approach the gates. CAC hours: 9 AM - 4 PM Monday - Friday except Tuesday when it is open 9 AM - 1 PM. Call ahead 423-884-3800 to confirm there isn't an activity in the room at the time you want to visit. https://tnartists.org/

Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church
Free and open to the public
When: Reception Friday, April 21, 2023, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Artists’ talks at 6:30 p.m.

Layered Barriers by LaKesha Y. Lee
“Layered Barriers” addresses the obstacles blacks faced in the past and what African Americans still encounter today due to the color of their skin. These images, created in mixed media collage on paper, evoke the fear and lack of self-worth many African Americans experience today. Lee says, “When someone looks at my work, I want them to feel the figure’s essence without knowing the person’s identity. I want to ask the question, ‘Do we have to know someone’s identity to sympathize or show respect?’”

LaKesha Y. Lee is a first-year MFA student in Painting and Drawing at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In 2019, she received her Bachelor of Fine Art from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Since then, she has been in many group exhibitions throughout the south. Lee uses her work to provide a positive outlook on black identity within the black community and to create new, positive narratives.

Hidden Dimensions by Sam Stapleton
Stapleton has photographed flowers for more than a decade, always searching for new aspects or insight. This exhibit uses the power of digital processing to reimagine original portraits.

Sam Stapleton’s photographic journey began with the purchase of his first 35mm SLR in 1974. He learned his craft through workshops, professional magazine assignments with his author wife and lots of hands-on practice and experimentation. He says, “Most important, I study the work of other photographic artists, always asking myself ‘what are they doing,’ ‘why are they doing it this way’ and ‘how can I learn from this.’”

Gallery hours: 9:30-4:30 Monday through Thursday, 9:00-1:00 Sunday
2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918

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

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