Calendar of Events

The Admiral Schofield Endowment Fund (ASEF), a pioneering public fundraising foundation, is thrilled to announce "The Admiral's Club Summer Jam 2023: Homecoming". This extraordinary weekend is set to be a powerful fundraising initiative in support of ASEF's impactful programs that empower youth and their families.

The weekend is filled with incredible art, golfing and bowling for charity, basketball clinic and good vibes. This in-person event is the perfect opportunity to kick back, relax, and enjoy the summer sun. Come and pick a lane that will knock you over at Maple Hall Bowling Alley!, Get your friends and gather for the shotgun start at the Avalon Golf Public, connect with friends at the Knoxville Museum Of Art, and make new memories at the youth basketball clinic at the Webb School Of Knoxville. Don't miss out on this epic summer jam! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-admirals-club-summer-jam-2023-tickets-695398354197

DEVON ALLMAN & DONOVAN FRANKENREITER WITH MATT COSTA,
Wednesday, August 23, 7:30PM at the Bijou Theatre.

Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information/tickets: 865-522-0832, https://knoxbijou.org/

Join us at Ijams as we celebrate the work of the ETCDC!

This evening cocktail party features heavy hors d'oeuvres in the natural shade of this Knoxville treasure. Reserve your spot today! https://communitydc.org/ijams23/

East Tennessee Community Design Center, 1300 N. Broadway, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-525-9945, www.communitydc.org

Broadcast from Yee-Haw Brewing Company on North Broadway. The WDVX Summer Nights concerts will be held on select Wednesdays and will start at 7 p.m. Here is the announced roster:

Aug. 23 — the Alex Leach Band with special guests.

https://wdvx.com/

Mabry-Hazen House is hosting Night at the Museum on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 from 6pm-9pm! Attend for a chance to visit the house museum after-hours on a weekday and drink up a little history. Explore the 1858 historic house in an entirely different light as twilight falls upon Knoxville! Watch the sun set over downtown, see the city flicker alight, and chill on Mabry's Hill while enjoying a crispy cold beverage.

The historic home will be open for self-guided tours with staff available for questions. There will be behind-the-scenes access to the bottom floor at 7:30pm. Mabry-Hazen House also will share an artifact normally not on display.
Outdoor seating will be set up on the front porch and lawn for groups to relax at a historic place in a casual atmosphere. A fire pit and outdoor games will be available and guests are encouraged to bring their own games, stories, blankets, and/or camp chairs.

Presale online tickets are $10 per adult and visitors under age 16 get in for free. A small processing fee is applied to tickets purchased online. Visitors under age 16 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Each purchased attendee ticket receives one beverage ticket for one (1) soda or beer, with additional drinks at $5 per ticket. Adult beverages will be served to age 21+ only, and we will not tolerate anyone giving alcohol to minors. Tickets will be available at the door for $13, although current Mabry-Hazen House Members will still get in for $10. All proceeds benefit Mabry-Hazen House. Event will occur rain or shine.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1572564833152008/

Live Stand-Up Comedy, Wednesday August 23, 7:30PM, at Central Cinema, 1205 N Central St, Knoxville.

Join us for a very special mid-month spinoff of Tiny Stage Comedy’s FREE Central Cinema Comedy Night as Nashville standup Brad Sativa comes to town, backed by a lineup of local favorites led by host Keith Marcell.

Doors open at 7pm, comedy starts at 7:30PM. Seating is limited and handled on a first come, first served basis.

Central Cinema, 1205 N Central St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: info@centralcinemaknox.com, 865-951-2447, https://centralcinema865.com

Afrofuturist, artist, educator, graphic designer, and DJ, Stacey Robinson will be having exhibitions at the UT Downtown Gallery, Ewing Gallery, and a 5-day artist residency in Knoxville, during fall of 2023. Robinson’s time in Knoxville will coincide with an intentional Afrofuturist takeover of the galleries with the presentation of his exhibition projects, Black Audacious Freedom Dreams and Black Utopia: Black Distractions & Disruptions in Time Space, to be on view in fall 2023. Infusing downtown Knoxville and the University of Tennessee campus with Afrofuturistic imagery, Robinson and the galleries will build a critical mass of Black thought and creativity to amplify and center Black voices.

The Ewing Gallery, located in UT’s Art + Architecture Building will present Black Audacious Freedom Dreams by BLACKMAU, a creative collaboration between Stacey “ Blackstar” Robinson and Kamau “DJ Kamaumau” Grantham. This exhibition features a multimedia projection and seven 7-foot banners created using digital collage. These images visually mimic the audio sampling used throughout hip hop musical production and the process of crafting a tight DJ set, which inspire the duo. This work prompts a conversation about Black liberation as a reality not yet fulfilled. By centering Black people within the narrative, BLACKMAU prompts the audience to imagine themselves in the spaces with the subject. Robinson and Grantham reference Black liberation texts with With Black Audacious Freedom Dreams, including Freedom Dreams by Robin D.G. Kelly, and We Want to Do More Than Survive by Bettina L. Love, which they include in a study area and curated library of Black texts in the exhibition.

Concurrent with Black Audacious Freedom Dreams, the UT Downtown Gallery will present Robinson’s new solo project, Black Utopia; Black Distractions & Disruptions in Time Space. This exhibition is a design research project looking at systems of oppression and resistance through black and white logo designs and illustrations that use the emptiness of white gallery walls as the backdrop for extracting Black resistance commentary. The systems examined springboard a burgeoning theory comprised of Black-created systems that can function as a form of Black liberation government in lieu of Black Reparations, justice, and failed integration.

Exhibition: Audacious Black Freedom Dreams
Artist: Stacey Robinson / BLACKMAU
Dates: August 22 - October 29, 2023
Location: The Ewing Gallery of Art + Architecture, 1715 Volunteer Boulevard
Times: M,T,W,F: 10am - 5pm, Thur: 10am - 7:30pm, Sun: 1-4pm
For more information: ewing@utk.edu | https://ewing-gallery.utk.edu

The McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is proud to announce that it will bring the acclaimed exhibition, In Conversation: Will Wilson, to the local community. With over $35,500 in grant support, the museum will feature the powerful works of Diné (Navajo) photographer Will Wilson in a moving exhibition exploring the importance of self-representation.

In Conversation: Will Wilson opens at the McClung Museum on August 18 and will include a range of engaging programming for both the university and the Knoxville community. The exhibition was made possible through Art Bridges, a foundation created by philanthropist Alice Walton that is focused on expanding access to American art. Showcasing 17 portraits from Wilson’s Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange project, the exhibition is dedicated to capturing a contemporary perspective of Native North America. In Conversation: Will Wilson challenges viewers to think critically about how Native peoples have been portrayed in photography over time. Through portraiture, Wilson responds directly to the works of early 20th-century photographer Edward Sheriff Curtis (1869–1952). Curtis’ photographs simplified and romanticized Native American life, whereas Wilson has created rich, complex portraits from Indigenous perspectives. Visitors to the exhibition will witness some of Wilson's portraits come to life through an augmented reality app, providing an interactive experience known as "Talking Tintypes."

In Conversation: Will Wilson is organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and curated by Mindy Besaw, Curator of American Art/Director of Fellowships & Research from Crystal Bridges, and Ashley Holland, Associate Curator from Art Bridges.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-2144. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday 12–4 p.m. https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu

Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church
Free and open to the public
Reception Friday, August 18, 2023, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Collector’s talk at 6:30 p.m.

Show: August 13 - October 4, 2023
Gallery hours: 10-3 Monday through Thursday and 10-12:30 Sunday
2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918

Sylvia and Jan Peters have been collecting art for more than five decades, including notable works by Chicago-based African-American artists Fred Jones, Steve Walker, and Dale Norman, and a lithograph by Charles White. The exhibit includes paintings in a variety of media, prints, and photographs.

As educators, Sylvia and Jan Peters advocated for arts in community and educational programs in Chicago. Since moving to Knoxville in the early 1990s, Sylvia has been involved with the Knoxville Museum of Art, the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, the Links, the 100 Black Women, and the Knoxville Botanical Garden. She initiated the Delaney Project and Days of Dialogue.

Of their early days in Chicago’s art world, Sylvia said, “We held Sunday Salons at our home where artists were invited to eat, drink, and discuss their work. It was almost an out of body experience to participate in these discussions. Richard Hunt, Ralph Arnold, Margaret Burroughs, William Carter and many others visited our home.”

Reception Fri Aug 18, 6:30-8 PM with awards at 7 PM

Open Show – Theme: Drip, Dribble, or Splash

Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Hours: Tue-Thu 10 AM - 4 PM. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartcenter.com

Closing Reception: Thursday, September 21, 3-5 pm

This mixed media exhibition by Maggie Connolly and Eric Sherwood, both teachers at Mighty Mud ceramics studio in Knoxville, will be on display in the Bagwell Center for Media and Art Gallery.

“Purposefully organic is a phrase that permeates the exhibition 'Turn to the Fool,’” said Professor Herb Rieth, Career Community Coordinator for Creative and Media Arts at Pellissippi State Community College. “The throbbing iterations, linear susurrations and natural genesis channeled through automatic drawing, wordplay and sculpting result in work that is quiet, insistently patient and infinitely detailed.”

Connolly received her Bachelor of Arts from Grinnell College in her native Iowa, her Master of Fine Arts in Ceramic Design from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China and her Ph.D. in Fine Arts Ceramics from Tokyo University of the Arts in Japan. She was an Arrowmont Artist in Residence 2019-2020.

Sherwood was born and lives in Knoxville. As a person of Chinese and American parentage, he spent time in China with his extended family and grew up navigating between the two cultures. This “otherness” is a platform for viewing both cultures and the larger world around him as well as a lens turned inward.

Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Bagwell Center Gallery hours: M-F 9-5. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

The public is invited to attend the opening reception for the prestigious Judged and Juried Fine Arts Show on Friday, August 4th from 5 - 7 p.m. Mark Hall, retired professor of art at Maryville College in Tennessee, will judge the entries.

Juror - Judge Mark Hall formerly served at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the David and Alfred Smart Museum. Previously, he served as an assistant professor at MacMurray College, Jacksonville, Illinois, an assistant and associate professor at Marian College, Indianapolis, and has retired as a professor emeritus from Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee. He currently has a small print/art studio in Maryville and continues to create prints and drawings in a variety of styles and modes.

Winners of the J&J Fine Arts Show will be announced to the public during the August 4th reception. This event is free and open to the public!

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