Calendar of Events

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Rala: First Friday with Summer Small

  • August 4, 2023 — August 31, 2023

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

We are excited to announce local artist Summer Small as our featured artist for the month of August! Her work unfolds a complicated but passionate relationship with modern Appalachia and the people and places that call the valley home. Please join us at Rala in the Old City for the show opening from 6 to 8pm on August 4th, 2023. Summer's work will be on display August 4th through August 31st.

https://www.facebook.com/events/307835021665435/

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

Art Market Gallery: AMG Potters & Lynda Tenpenny

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

First Friday Reception: August 4th, 5:30 – 9:00 pm

AMG Gallery Potters, an eclectic group of clay artists, each with their own unique style are the featured 3D artists in August.
+ Lisa Kurtz has a Master’s Degree in Ceramics and has taught clay classes at colleges and community art centers. She is currently teaching at the Oak Ridge Art Center. To create her functional pottery and clay wall art she throws on the wheel and hand builds and often combines the two to create her wares.
+ Linda Sullivan, with a keen interest in glaze chemistry, uses multilayered glazes to depict landscape imagery. She applies her self-developed glazes by pouring and overlapping them on wheel-thrown and hand-built pieces using porcelain and stoneware clays.
+ Patricia Herzog produces functional, colorful and highly textured hand-built pottery with an emphasis on animal imagery and the natural world. Her sculptural pieces are inspired by the art of ancient cultures.
+ Larry Gabbard seeks out alternative kilns and firing techniques to finish his wheel thrown pottery. He finds the unexpected marks that result when clay, heat and smoke interact are often intriguing and beautiful.
+ Karen Kyte creates colorful, whimsical terra cotta sculptures that often tell a story.

Lynnda Tenpenny, an award-winning mixed media artist, is a native Knoxvillian and a graduate of UT. Her new work focuses on the word “Interstices”, such as “to stand between, an intervening space, interval, small opening, chink, crack, crevice.” She loves mystery in her work, small surprises and hidden images that present themselves or pop through from the background, a glimpse of something in a previous layer that has been exposed by sanding or scraping paint off. Her creativity inspires imagination on the part of the viewer.

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

Awaken Coffee: Jordan Abba Exhibition

  • August 4, 2023 — August 27, 2023

Category: Culinary arts, food, Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

Friday, August 4, from 6-8 Awaken Coffee will host an opening reception for artist Jordan Abba.

Jordan is an artist and visual art teacher for Knox County Schools. “As an art educator, I find joy in art as an experimental process. I embrace growth through exploration. The series, “Under DE-construction,” explores positive and negative space, line, and shape to create compositions that express the experiences and emotions of life. Art, to me, is about appreciating the things in life that we love the most. This body of work embodies the bittersweet nostalgia of memory while engaging the principles of abstract painting.”

Please join us for some fantastic art, light refreshments, and great coffee!

Awaken Coffee, 125 W Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Open daily. Information: 865-951-0427, www.instagram.com/awaken_coffee or www.facebook.com/awakencoffeeoldcity/

Arts & Culture Alliance: Kathleen A. Janke: From the Mountains to the Forest Floor

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

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from August 4-25, 2023. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, August 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features original music inside the Emporium by the Fountain City Ramblers (Instagram @fountaincityramblers). 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.

I create my art in multiple mediums concentrating on pine needle basketry and alcohol inks. The results are largely inspired by my connection to the natural environment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and my love of gardening and experience with landscape design. While the vistas and flora of the park lend themselves to the utter spontaneity and brilliance of color with alcohol ink, pine needle/gourd basketry becomes tangible three-dimensional pieces of art using materials the earth provides… much of this material I grow or collect in a sustainable manner on walks. The baskets are inspired by touch, feel and a connection to the forest floor and riverbanks.

Kathleen A. Janke experimented with various art mediums for years before becoming serious in the fall of 2019. Within two years, she sold her bed and breakfast to become a full time artist. In 2022 she sold work in 14 shows, via her website, and by word of mouth. Three craft guilds contracted her to teach classes, and she is currently building an art gallery and studio, Gracehill Fine Art and Basketry, in Townsend. Janke is a member of Southern Highlands Craft Guild, Piedmont Guild, Tennessee Craft, Tennessee Artist Association, Foothills Crafts Guild, Art Guild of Tellico Village, Blount County Arts & Craft Guild, Townsend Art Guild, Oak Ridge Art Center, the Arts & Culture Alliance, American Gourd Society, Handweavers Guild of America, and National Basket Association.

https://gracehillart.com/

This exhibition 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: Christian Freeman: Solitude

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from August 4-25, 2023. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, August 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features original music inside the Emporium by the Fountain City Ramblers (Instagram @fountaincityramblers). 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.

My current body of work is a lovingly created group of abstract landscapes encompassing color and glazes I achieved through knife painting techniques. By allowing the strokes and shapes of the paint to form the subject matter, I relied on the process of creating and energy to finalize these works. The freeing process of this type of painting has become just as important to me as the finished product. It is a combination of chance, accident, energy, composition, contrast, and emotion. I hope to leave viewers moved by beauty and emotion the way the impressionist and expressionists inspired me.

Christian Freeman is a Knoxville native with a BFA degree from the University of Tennessee. Having begun her career working with the Symphony Showcase Homes and Parade of Homes painting murals and custom finishes, she has completed countless residential and commercial projects and has the ability to work on any scale within current budgets. Her work is her passion as she transforms homes and businesses into functional as well as aesthetically beautiful spaces. She completed a well-known local mural of ladies in the windows at Patrick Sullivan’s (Old City) which auctioned off several years ago by Knox Heritage. Freeman is also an accomplished canvas painter and art instructor, and she continues to create, teach, and consult currently in the Knoxville area and beyond.

https://www.facebook.com/christianfreemancreations

This exhibition 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 Journey Is What You Make It by Tina Curry

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

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from August 4-25, 2023. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, August 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features original music inside the Emporium by the Fountain City Ramblers (Instagram @fountaincityramblers). 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.

This exhibition will transport your mind and creativity to a place where animals give you insight into their own unique personalities and tell their own story. I delve into animal behavior from my interpretation of the way they see the world around them. They say “the eyes tell the story”; at times, the eyes can be humorous and whimsical while they can also exhibit the ferocity and survivalist nature of their species. I prefer to use alternative firing techniques for my sculptures to enhance the intricate detailing and textures of fur and skin. I want to feel it with my eyes as well as my hands.

Tina Curry began working with clay over 30 years ago. She holds a BA from the University of Florida and worked for 35 years in graphic design. Now retired, she is a full-time ceramic and bronze sculptor living in Knoxville. Her sculptures are hand-built, so each has its own distinctive personality and characteristics. The specialty pieces are one of a kind and born of pure imagination. Alternative firing techniques using natural elements of horse hair, sawdust, banana peels, coffee, manure, and salt create an organic fusion. The fire, smoke, and fumes dance to create more natural surface effects and colorations. Curry’s clay work is in the collections of both national and international art enthusiasts. In 2021, the first lady selected Curry among artists in her home state to create the Governors Arts Awards. She was honored with a solo exhibition for the Tennessee Arts Commission in Nashville in 2018 and was the featured artist for the Southern Highlands Craft Guild marketing campaign in 2016. Her animal sculptures have been commissioned by Zoo Knoxville (TN) and the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada. She serves on the Board of Governors for Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and is a member of National Sculpture Society, Southern Highlands Craft Guild, Foothills Craft Guild, Terra Madre Women in Clay, Oak Ridge Art Center, and the Arts & Culture Alliance.

Instagram @tinasculptress
www.curryoriginals.com

This exhibition 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: Dogwood Arts Regional Exhibition

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

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from August 4-25, 2023. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, August 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features original music inside the Emporium by the Fountain City Ramblers (Instagram @fountaincityramblers). 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 Dogwood Arts Regional Exhibition showcases fine art of all kinds from emerging and established artists throughout our region. The juried exhibition awards over $2,000 to participating artists. The 2023 exhibition will feature artworks completed in the last two years at both the Emporium and at Dogwood Gallery (123 W Jackson Avenue).

Dogwood Arts has a 67-year history of arts advocacy, environmental stewardship, and economic impact in East Tennessee. With the financial support of corporate sponsors, grant funding, local government investment, and private donors, we produce 20 year-round events and programs that help make Knoxville a great place to live, work and play.

https://www.dogwoodarts.com/regional
https://www.facebook.com/dogwoodartsknox
Instagram @dogwoodarts

This exhibition 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: Broadway Studios and Gallery: Murmurings of the Outside World

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

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from August 4-25, 2023. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, August 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features original music inside the Emporium by the Fountain City Ramblers (Instagram @fountaincityramblers). 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.

Murmurings of the Outside World features a selection of recent work by the artists of Broadway Studios and Gallery in Knoxville. Artists created these works in the last few years during a time of great change and uncertainty in the city of Knoxville and in the world; this body of artwork represents contemporary art in Knoxville during this period.

Broadway Studios and Gallery (BSG) is a local collective of artists working together in a community of studios in North Knoxville. BSG’s artists represent life-long area residents as well as transplants who now call Knoxville home; artists work in a variety of media and their work exemplifies the range of Knoxville's unique culture. BSG hosts periodic shows and events and has a small gallery featuring the work of resident artists. Broadway Studios and Gallery can be found at 1127 North Broadway, Knoxville, TN 37917.

https://www.broadwaystudiosandgallery.com

This exhibition 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: Water: Shapes, Motion, Reflections by Jürgen Dopatka & Stefan Dopatka

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

Opens Fri Aug 4, 5-9 PM

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

Tri-Star Arts: Selections from the Collection of Sylvia and Jan Peters

  • July 14, 2023 — August 26, 2023

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

In the MAIN GALLERY with "Before I Forget" by Haley Takahashi (Fort Collins, CO) in the PROJECT SPACE
Reception Fri July 14, 5-8 PM

For Selections from the Collection of Sylvia and Jan Peters, ten original prints and works on paper have been chosen to illustrate the breadth of the Peters’ collected works. These have been curated from amongst many hundreds in their collection and this exhibition features works by Black American artists including Radcliffe Bailey, Romare Bearden, Sylvester Britton, Elizabeth Catlett, Joseph Delaney, Fred Jones, Jacob Lawrence, Steve Prince, Therman Statom, and Steve Walker. The Sylvia and Jan Peters Collection is itself a gathering of objects, paintings and sculptures that represents their interest in the creative endeavors of Black Americans from the WPA Period to the present. They regard their home as a place that allows them to live among inspiring works of art that they can experience everyday. For them, it is a regular reminder of the importance of creativity by Black artists. Sylvia Peters states, “The Peters are happy to share these works with Knoxville area art lovers. We feel that everyone who sees them will recognize how art can engage, illustrate processes, and inspire people to love the creative force of art.” Tri-Star Arts is honored to present Selections from the Collection of Sylvia and Jan Peters and highlight the gravity and power of their holdings. After three decades in Knoxville, the Peters have made an indelible mark and continue to advocate for the impact of modern and contemporary art upon life today.

Tri-Star Arts is also pleased to present the next exhibition in their Golden Chain Gallery project space located at the historic Candoro Marble Building. Before I Forget by Haley Takahashi (Fort Collins, CO, USA) opens Friday, July 14, 2023 and will run through Saturday, August 26, 2023. This show is located within the unique architectural space of a steep wooden stairwell. Haley Takahashi is a printmaker and mixed media artist based in Fort Collins, Colorado. She received an MFA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2023 and a BFA from The University Of Colorado, Boulder in 2019. Her work has been featured in many shows nationally and internationally, including Print Santa Fe’s 5x5 at the Zane Bennett Gallery of Contemporary Art and The Sztuika Na Miejscu in Worclaw, Poland. Her work is founded in an examination of identity, escapism, and internal space from her experience as a mixed race Japanese-American woman.

Tri-Star Arts at Candoro Marble Building, 4450 Candora Drive, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Tu-Sa 11-5. Information: https://tristararts.org/visit

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.

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