Calendar of Events

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

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.”

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

Held via Zoom and open to everyone. These classes qualify for credit with Silver Sneakers, but membership is not required. The online schedule is:

Mon 9:15 AM - Flow Yoga (no floor work) and at 10 AM - Shibashi (18 gentle movements)

Tue 9 AM - Classic Exercise (requires hand weight, a small ball, and a resistance tube with handles), 9:45 AM Stability (a balance and leg strengthening class)

Thu 9:15 AM - Seated Yoga (mostly sitting down), 10 AM Classic Exercise, and 11 AM Stability

Contact Don Parsley, certified instructor, for more info or to be added to his zoom listing at spiritofthedragon01@gmail.com

Year-round, join us Saturdays at 11:00 for our weekly slow ride through different Knoxville neighborhoods as we explore our city via bike. Although distances and routes vary, most rides last for 60-75 minutes (4-8 miles) and potentially include a stop at various landmarks, sites of interest, and even other breweries!

Please note that rides will be cancelled in the event of inclement weather to ensure the safety and comfort of all participants. (If it's raining or snowing, we'll cancel the ride. When the temperature is below about 40 or so at ride time, it's usually too cold for our group to want to ride.) We'll announce any cancellations on our Instagram feed at https://www.instagram.com/printshopbeer/

https://www.printshopbeer.co/events