Calendar of Events

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

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

Based on the book by Mark Twain and adapted by Zack Allen, the play brings the famous book to life on stage.
The play will be performed August 11th-27th. Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM, Saturdays at 1 and 5 PM , and Sundays at 3 PM.

Huck Finn is on the run from his criminal father, along with his friend Jim, adrift on the mighty Mississippi River. The two fall prey to two con men calling themselves the King and The Duke. Huck and Jim get involved in a number of outrageous schemes. If Jim can get far enough up river, he can become a free man, and Huck discovers there may be a fortune for him too!

The play is performed by 15 talented young actors and designed by 10 talented young designers from ages 9 to 16. The cast includes KCT veterans Luke Meade playing Huck and Mason Cox playing Tom Sawyer. The show is directed by guest director Jonathan Clark with assistant student director Maddy Grace Payne.

KCT is East Tennessee’s leading producer of plays for children and families.
Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-208-3677, www.knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com

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

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

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

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/

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.