Calendar of Events

Relay Ridge has an open artist studios + opening gallery reception for solo exhibition of Vincent Drake at our gallery (My 5-june 9th) and we'll be doing printmaking demos in the printshop on Friday. we also have 2 open studios available starting in June with applications due May 15th...we have other events coming up too....

We'll be open 6-9pm Friday May 5
We have a new exhibition in the gallery "Our America" by Vincent Drake @artistvincentdrake
Wildflower Printing demo + sale in printshop!

Check out all the Relay Ridge artists and their studios on Friday featuring:
@eleanoraldrich
@childlike.creative
@gstucchio
@knoxflair
@sarahpeeler
@studioswadman
@ashton_ludden
@elysiaallalong

Drake was chosen for our first local Call for Exhibitions via democratic votes. The first-round was judged by a 10-member panel of 2023 Penland Winter Resident Artists, and from that, the finalist was determined by a panel of the Relay Ridge Studio Artists.
“I’m inspired by the absurdity of modern American society; The irrational ideals we’re convinced to accept, the relentless marketing and propaganda, the tribalism, disgust, perverted romanticism and violence that has become characteristic of us. In my art I’m unconcerned with beauty or idealization. I’m interested in investigating our culture’s influence on our identities and the confusion, panic, and suffering that results. My subjects are people; sometimes we as individuals, sometimes us as a group. They are part mechanical construction, part hallucination; both comical and uncomfortable; suffering, confused, and trapped by their emptiness and proselytized ambitions.”

https://relayridge.org/

May’s Guest Artists, Three Dames from Knoxville present “Summer Hues” at the Plateau Creative Arts Center’s Fun & Wine First Friday Reception, Friday, May 5 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM at the Plateau Creative Arts Center, 451 Lakeview Drive in Fairfield Glade.

The area’s high school seniors’ artwork will also be on display in the gallery and a special awards ceremony will be held celebrating the winning entries. The public is invited to come to this free event and enjoy a glass of wine or non-alcoholic beverage, meet the Three Dames; Linda Blair, Marcia Shelly and Cheryl Massey, high school student honorees and other artists, and view a wonderful variety of artwork. Light refreshments will also be served.

The paintings of the Three Dames and the high school seniors’ artwork will be on display along with the members’ gallery artwork exhibit from May 5 through June 1. The Arts Center is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 9:00-4:00. All artwork in the gallery and in the Endless Possibilities Shop is available for purchase.

https://artguildfairfieldglade.net/

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

Artist Julie Fawn Boisseau-Craig works in glass and porcelain primarily but utilizes metals and wood as necessary to create her sculptural pieces. Julie designs and creates many functional and wearable works at Wild Pony Studio, her personal studio in Rockford, Tennessee and does hot shop glass works at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro, North Carolina. She has shown nationally and participated in many workshops and demonstrations. Her work directly responds to the contradictions of life. Julie received her Master of Fine Arts degree in December of 2012, after which, she taught at Western Carolina University and Southwestern Community College in North Carolina. Julie is currently the President of the East Chapter of Tennessee Craft. Vice-President on the board of the Art Market Gallery as well as an exhibiting artist. Julie also concentrates on her studio work, art shows across the country and teaching workshops.

Nelson Ziegler is a graduate of The Art Institute of Boston and Northwestern Academy of Watercolor. He is an award-winning painter and woodturner, both regionally and nationally. He was chosen The Great Smoky Mountain Spring Wildlife Pilgrimage Artist of the Year in 2016. He is a member of the National Watercolor Society, the Oil Painters of America, the Northshore Art Association, and the American Association of Woodturners. Nelson’s works are a part of Gatlinburg’s Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts permanent collection, as well as in many private and corporate collections throughout the country.

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

Rala: Regional and Local Artisans is excited to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Nourish Knoxville's Market Square Farmers Market! We will be featuring letterpress prints by Nashville-based artist Laura Baisden a.k.a. Camp Nevernice, the designer of the 2023 Farmer's Market commemorative poster. Laura's work will be on display at Rala for the entire month of May.

In the fall of 2018, Laura opened up a new shop and store-front of her own in East Nashville. Camp Nevernice is a custom letterpress and illustration company, creating unique products to suit needs for all things on paper using hand carved linoleum, antique type and a Vandercook cylinder press. See less

The opening reception will be from 6-8 on February 5th.

Facebook Event: https://fb.me/e/TSpC9tRL

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

Downtown Knoxville First Friday Artwalk at Awaken Coffee!
Feat. Paper Artist & printmaker Stacia from Beastie + Bone (https://linktr.ee/beastieandbone)
And…
Live Music from Melissa Hale!
(https://linktr.ee/MelissaHale)

Come grab some coffee, art and listen to some local tunes Friday May 5th!
Inspired by the ecosystems Stacia encountered in her many moves and trips across the United States, Stacia brings together conservation, paleontology, and memento mori into a celebration of the wild, dark, hopeful, and kind, and seeks to spark curiosity and compassion in those who encounter her work. The illustrations and linocuts assembled into this show were created both in her small studio here in Knoxville, TN, and her previous home in Seattle, WA.

Learn more about Beastie and Bone and Stacia’s ventures into nature and art online at www.beastieandbone.com, or on Instagram, TikTok, Vero, or Lemon8 at @beastieandbone.

Awaken Coffee
125 W Jackson Ave
https://www.facebook.com/events/248404300903197/

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