Calendar of Events

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from June 2-30, 2023. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, June 2, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features live music inside the Emporium by Ben McLaughlin. 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 www.knoxalliance.store.

Arboretum Obscura came about over the course of several years and miles of hikes throughout a variety of locations in the Appalachian Mountains. Trees that grew in seemingly impossible terrains, trees that had grown incredibly haphazardly, trees that seemed to overcome extreme disfiguration and mutation, they all intrigued me. As the years went by it became a type of game to see just how many strange and unique trees I could find during a hike. Documenting these treasures through photography began quite naturally. Over time, it evolved into this project of intriguing images from the many interesting trees that I have discovered. Sometimes, however, my imagination runs a little wild. What do you see in the trees?

Barbara Bolton Cornett, originally from London, KY, now resides in Knoxville with her husband, corgi, and two cats. Being a native of the Appalachian Mountain Region, she has a love of nature, wildlife, and the great outdoors. She is also an avid traveler and loves exploring the world and its many fascinating places. A large part of her photographic inspiration comes from her travels and time spent in nature, and documenting her journeys and explorations through her photography is something she truly enjoys. Her photographic journey was initially inspired by her beloved aunt who had taught her as a child to manually operate a film camera. As a child she would go around capturing images of blossoming redbud trees, blooming flowers, and the like. Many years went by before her inspiration was reignited when her daughter entered the world of competitive cheerleading. Capturing the best images possible with challenging setting and lighting circumstances became her own personal competition. A handful of years later after relocating to Knoxville, her husband and daughter bought her a new Nikon DSLR camera for her birthday. Barbara registered for and completed several photography classes in the UT Non-Credit Program and earned her Photography Certificate in 2021.

contemplativevisionsphotography.com

The Hardin Valley Project is a new exhibition of photographs showing the development of Hardin Valley over the last three years, captured on 35mm black and white film. Emily Greenquist received her BFA in Photography from Brigham Young University - Idaho in 2011. She has lived and photographed all over the country and has been settled in Knoxville since 2019. She is a full-time mother to three girls.

I have not lived here long, but even in my short four years living in Hardin Valley, I have seen a lot of change. I remember running to the store in the middle of lockdown and noticing one of the empty farmhouses had completely disappeared. I was astonished. It was beautiful. Why was it torn down? But I knew; we all know. The land it sits on is more valuable than the house. All that was left was yellow straw covering naked earth where a house sat for 100 years. Also in the frame, a “turn only” arrow in the road suggests the valley is going in a different direction.

Since 2019, Knox County has gained more than 18,000 people, and there is westward movement within the county, so Hardin Valley has exploded. As a photographer, I felt the call to document these old houses before they were erased and replaced with subdivisions. I then took it a step further and documented the change itself, sometimes revisiting the same locations several times. I started with the still-standing empty farmhouses, then captured the farmland that was cleared, hills being excavated, subdivisions being built up, and property being posted for sale. As I photographed this project, I often thought about the emotional balancing act between the sadness of change and the need for development.

Instagram @emilyldgreenquist

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. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543. Closed Monday, June 19, for the holiday.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from June 2-30, 2023. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, June 2, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features live music inside the Emporium by Ben McLaughlin. 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 www.knoxalliance.store.

Chaos & Void includes new paintings by Vincent Drake and new photography by Greg Schweiger.

Vincent Drake was born in 1976 in Udon Thani, Thailand to a Thai mother and American father and spent his formative years in a working-class neighborhood in southeast Los Angeles. He attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and the San Francisco Art Institute where he studied Fine Art Painting. Drake's art can be seen as an exploration of society's struggle with the individual and our human nature. His work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and Canada. He currently resides in Knoxville.

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.

vincentdrake.com or Instagram: @artistvincentdrake

Greg Schweiger was raised the youngest of five siblings on a small farm in eastern Kansas. After attending Northland College on the south shore of Lake Superior, he landed in Knoxville, Tennessee in the summer of 1999. Photography has always been a natural pastime to capture his love of the outdoors. It also has been a creative outlet of his through a series of graphic design and IT related work. Recently he has expanded his photography and creativity in the direction of abstract expressionism.

At its simplest, photography is the recording of light and shadow at a single point in time. The moments we choose to capture and the way they are presented allow us to express our relationships with the world. In my abstract work, I explore photography as a tool that does not document the external world, but rather expresses something more essential. I explore color, form, motion and void to form unique patterns, landscapes, or spaces. Using a handheld light, I manipulate the reflective and refractive properties of glass objects, paper, and other materials to capture abstract colors, shapes and shadows along with motion and defects. This is done through multiple exposures in-camera, meaning the image processing happens within the digital camera itself. I only use computer imaging software to prepare files for print, not in the creative process. By using the essential aspects of light, shadow and motion, I remove the external world as my subject and explore new photographic frontiers. My hope is to inspire the viewer into thought and discovery.

gschweigerphoto.art or Instagram: @gschweiger

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. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543. Closed Monday, June 19, for the holiday.

Opens Fri Jun 2, 5-9 PM

Colectivo Subterráneos
https://www.instagram.com/subterraneos.oax/
Existimos, porque resistimos. Por los oprimidos, por los invisibilizados, por aquellos que quisieron enterrar, los subterráneos, existimos. We exist, because we resist. For the oppressed, for the invisible, for those who wanted to. www.facebook.com/Subterraneoss

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

June 2 - 18: FUN HOME based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics and book by Lisa Kron

"Someone just came in the door
Like no one I ever saw before
I feel...
I feel...
I don't know where you came from
I wish I did
I feel so dumb
I feel...
Your swagger and your bearing
And the just-right clothes you're wearing
Your short hair and your dungarees
And your lace-up boots
And your keys
Oh, your ring of keys"

Who knew a UPS delivery woman, in her simple act of...well, delivering a package, could unlock such passion and joy in a preteen girl? Alison Bechdel knew.

Tony Award-winning duo, Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, masterfully capture graphic novelist Alison Bechdel's coming-of-age story in FUN HOME. As a father and his daughter struggle to open up to one another, they each go on their own journey of discovering love, queerness and all of the pain and beauty that comes with such an awakening. Will their common path be something they can one day share?

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

We're absolutely thrilled to launch the 2023 Nief-Norf Summer Festival, taking place in the University of Tennessee's Natalie L. Haslam Music Center. There is a remarkable lineup of artist teachers lined up to work with this year's fellows on all things performance, composition, improvisation, scholarship, technology, and entrepreneurship.
• Allison Adams
• Andy Bliss
• Lisa Cella
• Vicky Chow
• Alex Ring Gray
• José Gurría-Cárdenas
• Jordan Munson
• Joo Won Park
• Eric Retterer
• Erin Rogers
• Ashley Walters

Details TBA! https://www.niefnorf.org/festival

Arrowmont’s workshop instructors are nationally and internationally recognized artists and university faculty. With over 130 classes being offered in a variety of media, students and instructors come to Arrowmont from across the globe to share skills and ideas, foster new thinking, and participate in artistic growth and creative camaraderie.

To honor our instructors and showcase their talent, Arrowmont presents an annual group exhibition. Their work is a true expression of Arrowmont’s vision and mission – to enrich lives through art.

Participating artists include:

Amie Adelman; Maureen Aderman; Erin Anfinson; Sally Ault; Elizabeth Belz; HP Bloomer; Clay Burnette; Eric Cannizaro; Laura Casas; Gary Chapman; Tricia Cooke; Emily Culver; Tina Curry; Kristy Deetz; Mathew Dercole; Erika Diamond; Nancy Dillen; Katherine Diuguid; Robert Ebendorf (photograph!); Mark Errol; Brie Flora; Laritza Garcia; Sanaz Haghani; Aaron Hammer; Mi-Sook Hur; Margarita Koroith; Jun Lee; Maia Leppo; Po Wen Liu; Ashton Ludden; Sandra McEwen; Colleen Merrill; Kim Mirus; Lindsay Oesterritter; Alonzo Pantoja-Patino; Kyungmin Park; Millian Pham Lien Giang; Jerry Bedor Phillips; John Polly; Rachel Rader; Lynda Ray; Taylor Robenalt; Eliana E. Rodriguez; Cheyenne Rudolph; Nigel Rudolph; Joylnn Santiago; Amy Santoferraro; Trustina Sabah; Leslie Smith; Greta Songe; Kaleena Stasiak; Kelly Sullivan; Brett Taylor; Amanda Thatch; ᎺᎵᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary Welch Thompson; James Thurman; Umut Demirguc Thurman; Heinrich Toh; Joy Ude; Jennifer Wells; Jennifer York (nee Swearington); Janis Mars Wunderlich

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

Our ode to creativity, this exhibition reprises a challenge from a few years ago and asks artists to take items of
our choosing (we will provide the objects) and make an original composition including them!

At Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tu-F 9-5, Sa-M 1-4. Information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org

When: May 8-June 4 (Downtown) | June 6-July 5 (West Knox)

Don’t miss a personal collection of Market Square Farmers’ Market photos featuring vendors, shoppers, happenings, and memories over the past 20 years, taken by local photographers Holly Rainey and Shawn Poynter.
https://www.instagram.com/holly__rainey/
http://www.poynterphotoco.com/

Enjoy a meal at Tomato Head to view and purchase these beautiful, framed prints - perfect for the MSFM super fan.

Tomato Head, 12 Market Square (865-637-4067) and 7240 Kingston Pike, Suite 172 (865-584-1075), in Knoxville. https://thetomatohead.com/

May 8 – June 15, 2023 the Knoxville Museum of Art will be closed for gallery renovations. We will reopen June 16, 2023 with a projection-based sculptural installation by artist Courtney Egan, up through August 27. Followed by Jane Cassidy’s audio-visual installation Drink Up the Moon September 1-November 12, 2023.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tu-Sa 10-5, Su 1-5. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org. Admission and parking are free.

CURATED BY ILANA LILIENTHAL, TALLYA BEN-SIRA & ANAT AHOUVI BARUCH

PRESENTING ARTWORKS BY GILI AVISSAR, GITTIT ALEXANDRA FRIDBERG, MARIA MERFELD, CARL GOMBERT, JOSEPH ASHMAN and OREL BRODT

Opening with a 5:30 PM Gallery Talk - wine and live entertainment.

23 Emory Place, Knoxville, TN

Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6 pm or by Appointment
For sales inquires, please call or email. (865) 200-4401 or lilienthalgallery@gmail.com
IG @lilienthalgallery
www.lilienthalgallery.com

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/