Calendar of Events

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Arts & Culture Alliance: Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith: Alchemy of the Sole

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, July 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features original music inside the Emporium by Nicholas Horner, Melissa Hale, and W. James Taylor. Most of the works on exhibition will be for sale and may be purchased by visiting in person or the online shop at https://www.knoxalliance.store.

Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith is an artist, herbalist, writer, and pleasure activist living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She is dedicated to creating beauty, sharing stories and rituals, and crafting herbal remedies that echo what is essential to being. As she continues to learn how to physically manifest differently, Abromaitis-Smith hopes to teach others that being disabled can be pleasureful and powerful while also being an act of acceptance and surrender. Abromaitis-Smith began her artistic career in puppetry and performance. After living and working in New York City for twelve years, she moved to New Jersey in early June 2015. She is living as an artist in residence at the Toshiko Takaezu Studio in Quakertown, NJ. Her art practice is currently focused on learning how to be a rooted elephant and painting/drawing using her feet. She is the mother of two tigers and loves having people over for tea.

I am a collector and teller of stories. Stories come in many forms: folktales and myths, poetry and theater, movement and form, line and color, breath and stillness, muscles, bones, energy, light and shadow. Stories are medicine. I use paint and graphite as tools with which to channel what needs to be expressed, existing in the layer beneath what meets our practical eyes. My paintings and poetry reflect my inner processing of these source energies, my personal meditations on what is feeding me. It has become a way for me to play with tapping into the rhythms, patterns and gestures of the world; to escape from narrative and get in touch with the primordial ooze that exists within all things macro and micro. I strive to create icons and images of the sacred to provide a means of nurturing both our internal and external evolutions and revelations. My hope is that the work helps guide us to the infinite possibilities of our hearts. I want to give people the keys to internal states of grace, with each other, with this earth our mother, with the elements, with source energy. I seek to unravel that which is embedded in the psyche, carried in the spine, the skin, in our breath and see what can be woven with our time together. It is my belief that these fundamental acts and interactions reveal that great but simple powers exist within us, all we need to do is express them. It is also incredibly exhilarating to squish colors between my toes and make a beautiful mess.

Instagram @alchemy_of_the_sole
https://alchemyofthesole.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. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

Arts & Culture Alliance: The Knoxville Watercolor Society

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, July 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features original music inside the Emporium by Nicholas Horner, Melissa Hale, and W. James Taylor. Most of the works on exhibition will be for sale and may be purchased by visiting in person or the online shop at https://www.knoxalliance.store.

Since 1963, the Knoxville Watercolor Society has been alive and thriving in the city! Dr. Kermit Ewing, head of the University of Tennessee Art Department, noted that our area lacked an organization for artists who share the common interest of painting in aqueous media. Aided by local watercolor enthusiasts, KWS was up and running. The purpose of the Knoxville Watercolor Society is to educate its 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 actively advancing the creation and quality of aqueous media. Members’ works are a testament to the continued pursuit of excellence in water based media, as they can be viewed and enjoyed in exhibits, galleries, and private collections across the country.

Annually, the organization provides a scholarship, donates to the University of Tennessee Ewing Gallery, and provides grants to various art organizations. Through the years, the area’s increasing interest in watercolor painting is a result in part of the growth and development of the Knoxville Watercolor Society.

KWS seeks water-media artists, aspiring water-media artists or supporters of water media art to continue the honored traditions of KWS for future generations. Learn more and join the Society online.
https://knoxvillewatercolorsociety.weebly.com/
https://www.facebook.com/knoxville.watercolor.society/

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.

Arts & Culture Alliance: Knoxville Photo 2023

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, July 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features original music inside the Emporium by Nicholas Horner, Melissa Hale, and W. James Taylor. Most of the works on exhibition will be for sale and may be purchased by visiting in person or the online shop at https://www.knoxalliance.store.

The Arts & Culture Alliance presents the 11th annual Knoxville Photo juried exhibition featuring selected works from 42 artists throughout the region. The exhibition encompasses photographs depicting all subjects and genres, including streetscapes, cityscapes, landscapes, environmental portraiture, portraits, abstracts, and more. Heather F. Wetzel served as juror for the exhibition and viewed 390 images to select the exhibition. An artist working in historic photographic processes, hand papermaking, and book arts, Wetzel is currently the Galleries & Collections Manager at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in the Great Smoky Mountains. She earned her Master of Arts & Humanities from Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, and her Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies from the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York., where she also worked at the George Eastman Museum. She is a 2012 Photolucida Critical Mass Finalist, as well as a semifinalist and The Print Center’s Honorary Council Award of Excellence winner in The Print Center’s 87th International Competition. Her work has been widely exhibited, and can be found at the Anzenberger Gallery in Vienna Austria, Momentum Gallery in Asheville, NC, as well as in multiple collections.

The following artists’ works will be shown:
+ John C. Kopp of Port Charlotte, FL
+ Sean McElroy of Lexington, KY
+ Kathryn C. Miller of Alcoa, TN
+ Sheila Chesanow of Athens, TN
+ Carol Stevens of Crossville, TN
+ Alan Finch of Jacksboro, TN
+ Adam Jeffrey Trabold of Johnson City, TN
+ Brooke Arnold, Michelle Carr, David Denton, Jurgen Dopatka, Felix R. Gaiter, Gary Heatherly, Jennifer Herchenrider, Liz Lee, David G. Liles, John Edwin May, Natalie McLaurin, Tom Owens, Norm Plate, Julie L. Rabun, Lennie Robertson, Caitlin Ryan, Greg Schweiger, Genna Sellers, Eric Sherwood, Owen H. Weston, Rick Whitehead, Anthony Owsley, Clay Thurston and Tonya Wunder of Knoxville, TN
+ Jack Retterer of Lenoir City, TN
+ Suzanne LeBlanc of Loudon, TN
+ Rachel Deutmeyer of Maryville, TN
+ Sam Hill of Matthews, TN
+ Dave Edens of Monteagle, TN
+ Ken Van Dyne of Norris, TN
+ Yvonne Dalschen and Kelli Thompson of Oak Ridge, TN
+ Houston Vandergriff of Powell, TN
+ Marlon Davey of Rutledge, TN
+ David Gilliam of Walland, TN

Over $1,000 in cash awards will be announced at the opening at 5:30 PM. For more information, please visit https://www.knoxalliance.com/knoxville-photo

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.

HoLa Hora Latina: Dreams, Everyone Probably Dreams" by Héctor Tecla Martinez and Moisés Ponce

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Free event and Kids, family

This month we are showing a joint exhibit called "Dreams, Everyone Probably Dreams" by Héctor Tecla Martinez and Moisés Ponce.

Opens Fri Jul 7, 5-9 PM

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

Westminster Presbyterian Church: Photography of Marianne Woodside

  • July 2, 2023 — August 30, 2023

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

The Westminster Presbyterian Church Schilling Gallery will exhibit the photo works of Marianne Woodside from July 2-August 30. The gallery is located inside the church at 6500 Northshore Drive, Knoxville, 37919. Viewing hours are 9-4 weekdays and 9-noon on Sunday. For more info, please contact the artist -- marianne.woodside@gmail.com.

Marianne Woodside is a professor emerita from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In her career at UTK, she integrated responsibilities of teaching, administration, research and writing in human services and counselor education. During the last ten years, with the encouragement from family and friends, especially photographer Tom Owens, Marianne has expanded her interest in photography and her ideas of artistic expression. Opportunities for travel to such venues as Central America, South America, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Iceland have offered time to capture exotic photographs beyond her daily experiences. And, because of her husband Phil’s willingness to make time for photography (stopping the car at a moment’s notice), Marianne finds intriguing subjects close to home. Her subjects range from still life images within a natural context, landscapes, and flora and fauna.

An interest in photographing glass has provided Marianne an additional way of expressing the relationship between man-made objects, nature, light, and color. Marianne has been fortunate to find support from the Arts & Culture Alliance and has shown her work at the Emporium Center. Her art has been selected for McGhee Tyson Arts and the Airport exhibit, the Arts & Cultural Alliance National Juried Exhibit, the Knoxville Photo Exhibition, and the Oak Ridge Art Center. She has also shown her work at the Knoxville Golden Roast Coffee Shop, the Knoxville Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Gallery, the Westminster Presbyterian Schilling Gallery, the Awaken Coffee Shop, and Maryville’s Asbury Place.

Photography is an important part of Marianne’s life. She also spends time writing, playing the guitar, hiking, and traveling. Marianne is devoted to her husband Phil, their three children, Michael, Cathy, and Donna Lee and their respective spouses and their grandchildren. And then, there is, of course, their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Clyde, who resides with Marianne and Phil in Maryville, Tennessee.

Marianne believes in the magical qualities of photography. Technical knowledge and skills support the creation of lovely, interesting, and whimsical images. At times, the outcome is beyond the expectation of the artist. To create these exceptional photographic moments, Marianne looks for ways to combine colors, lights, shapes, and textures to evoke a viewer’s mood or emotion. It is in nature that she finds many of her favorite subjects. You can find representations of Marianne’s images on her website (www.mariannewoodsidephotography.com) and her new Instagram account (@mariannewoodside).

Knoxville Museum of Art: Ecto Tone - Courtney Egan with Natori Green

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Film and Free event

 ECO TONE
COURTNEY EGAN FEATURING COLLABORATIONS WITH NATORI GREEN

OPENING RECEPTION & MEET THE ARTIST
FRIDAY, JUNE 16 • 5:30-7:30PM • CASH BAR

Eco Tone is a show of Courtney Egan's botanically-themed, projected artworks from 2020 to present, including new pieces made in collaboration with artist Natori Green. Egan’s installations deliver an experience that is both pleasing and disconcerting. The ethereal projections–converging on walls, floors and sculptural elements, and occasionally interactive–are inspired by the growing frequency of human exposure to nature via computers or television. Egan creates stunning yet “subtly impossible, hybrid tableaus” that envelop the viewer in a conversation between memory of the natural world and a new experience with a plant or flower. Egan explains the fundamental irony of the experience, stating, “We get closer and farther away from the natural world simultaneously when we experience it through a technological lens.”

Courtney Egan is a New Orleans-based digital media artist, photographer, and naturalist who blends botanical art with sculpture and digital technologies. www.courtneyegan.net

FREE & Open to the Public!

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.

TVUUC Gallery: The Power of Water by Lil Clinard

  • June 10, 2023 — August 9, 2023

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

Free and open to the public

Reception Friday, June 16, 2023, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Artist talk at 6:30 p.m.

In The Power of Water, Clinard focuses on the intensity and energy of waterfalls, waves and rivers. Her richly hued work is created by using watercolor in a loose and flowing manner and often on Yupo paper, which keeps the pigments on the surface and creates an intense, vivid result.

Lil Clinard is a landscape artist and watercolorist who has won three “Best of Show” awards in the Tennessee Artists’ Association Annual Juried Shows. Clinard is a signature member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society and Knoxville Watercolor Society, as well as a member of the American, National and Transparent watercolor societies. Visit her website for more information: www.WatercolorsByLil.com

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Gallery hours: M-Th 10-3, Su 10-12:30. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org

UT Downtown Gallery: In We Trust

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event

First Friday Receptions: June 2, 5-9pm; July 7, 5-9pm; August 4, 5-9pm

First Friday July will feature special performances by students from the UT School of Music sponsored by Knoxville Opera.

Curated by former Knoxvillian, Alex Gingrow, In We Trust asks us to consider what we trust without mandate and why. What are those systems and values we believe in? What do we accept, and what do we let go of? For Gingrow, trust leads to community and empathy. With this path forward, she has curated an exhibition of works with “magic moments, when we are transported beyond ourselves and made to think about the creator, and why they made the very choices they made.” In We Trust invites the viewer to “stumble into empathy - the building block of exchange and community.”

In We Trust features work by Alex Gingrow, Kyung Jeon, Jim Lee, David X. Levine, Makeda Lewis, Steve Locke, Audrey Stone, and Trish Tillman.

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

Rala: Dolly Art Show 2023

  • June 2, 2023 — July 30, 2023

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event

Howdy! It's the 5th annual Dolly Art Show!

Join us Friday, June 2nd from 5:00-8:00 PM for opening night. Our wall will be filled with art by nearly 40 local and regional artists who love Dolly as much as we do. Awards will be announced at 7pm, and Dolly art will remain on display through the end of July.

Rala may limit capacity of in-person attendees for the safety of our audience in regards to maximum occupancy requirements.
We encourage you to attend virtually if you cannot attend in person, and follow us on Facebook/Instagram for updates as we get closer to the event.

You can stream the awards ceremony by joining our Instagram Live @shoprala, or by visiting our YouTube channel to catch the live stream later (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh_tM87RUMyb6DmkJU3MifQ)

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/628793335793173/

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

Dogwood Arts: Paper Garden by Gabrielle Barnhart & Kate Buuck

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

Join us for the First Friday Opening Reception of 'Paper Garden' featuring work by Gabrielle Barnhart & Kate Buuck — Friday, June 2nd from 5-8PM.

• Address: 123 W. Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902
• Exhibition on Display: June 2 - July 21, 2023
• Regular Gallery Hours: M-F | 10AM-5PM

A garden is a space in the earth formed for nourishment, beauty and wild delight. Inspired by the tender dedication of the gardener's hand, Paper Garden has become the terrain in which we explore, print, prune, paint, water and grow. The vibrant, flora-forward pieces of this show are artifacts from our own exploration and collaboration. Join us in this celebration of small moments.

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

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts: 2023 Instructor Exhibition

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts and Free event

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

Central Block Parties

  • May 18, 2023 — July 27, 2023

Category: Culinary arts, food, Festivals, special events, Free event, Kids, family and Music

Every Thursday, 5:30-8:30 PM

Live music, pizza & beer specials. Bring your lawn chairs, friends, family, and your beloved pets! Come kick it with Ebony & Ivory and play a little cornhole and feel the vibe this summer. The parking lot will be blocked off, please use street parking on E Caldwell, the gravel lot across the street, the parking lot North of Hard Knox, and overflow at Elst. Presented by Hard Knox and Ebony & Ivory

2300 N Central Street, 37917. 865-896-3760

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