Calendar of Events

The Bagwell Gallery will be hosting a solo exhibition of Prints and Collages by Aaron Coleman from September 25th through October 20th, 2023. The exhibition showcases Coleman’s virtuosic work in lithography as well as a small sampling of his collages, which are by turns hilarious, vivid and thought provoking. In addition to being arresting images the work also is technically masterful and shows his incredible depth of skill.

Aaron is a multi-disciplinary artist, Associate Professor and Kenneth E. Tyler Endowed Chair at the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis. He received his MFA from Northern Illinois University in 2013. Aaron has participated in international residencies and exhibitions and has received numerous awards for his work in printmaking, sculpture and installation including 2021 Black Box Press Foundation’s Art as Activism Grant. He is a 2022 Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship semi-finalist and the recipient of the 2023 New Voices Fellowship from the International Print Center New York. His work can be found in the collections of The Janet Turner Print Museum, the Ino-cho Paper Museum in Kochi, Japan, The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, The Yekaterinburg Museum of Art in Yekaterinburg, Russia, the National Library of France, and the Artist Printmaker and Photographer Research Archive in the Museum of Texas Tech University among many other public and private collections.

Aaron was a co-founder of the Sienna Collective for Students of Color in the Arts at the University of Arizona and in 2021 received the Provost Award for Innovations in Teaching as well as the College of Fine Arts Undergraduate Mentorship Award. Aaron’s hobbies change from year to year but currently include the cultivation of rare, terrestrial, African orchids. He is a husband, dog lover and workaholic.

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

Monday, Sept. 25, 3:30 PM
UTHC Distinguished Lecture Series: “Afrofuturism and Digital Humanities: Some Considerations on Digital Public Record and the Black Experience” with Julian Chambliss

Lindsay Young Auditorium (rm. 101), John C. Hodges Library, 1015 Volunteer Blvd., Knoxville TN
OR via livestream at tiny.utk.edu/DLS-Chambliss

Visiting scholar Julian C. Chambliss (Michigan State University) will give a public talk titled "Afrofuturism and Digital Humanities: Some Considerations on Digital Public Record and the Black Experience" on September 25 as part of the UT Humanities Center’s “Dialogues” digital humanities mini-series within its 2023-2024 Distinguished Lecture Series.

The case for Black Digital Humanities advocates for the transformative potential offered by the intersections of black studies and digital humanities. In this talk, I will discuss the implication of Afrofuturism 2.0 ideology offered by Afrofuturist thinkers such as Drs. Lonny Brooks and Reynaldo Anderson and how we might use their Afrofuturist framing to create digital humanities methodologies that address post-Reconstruction activism by African Americans.

The lecture is free and open to the public and is held in Hodges Library’s auditorium on the UT Knoxville campus. Public parking is available in the Volunteer Hall parking garage for our off-campus visitors. Everyone is welcome!

865.974.4222, https://humanitiescenter.utk.edu/ or Social: @UThumanitiesctr

The O’Connor Senior Center will resume its regular monthly Artist Trading Card meetings on Monday, September 25th from 1:00 - 2:00 pm at Knoxville. These meetings are free and open to anyone interested in making and trading ATCs. CDC Covid guidelines will be followed. Refreshments will be served.

No art experience is required. The goal is to have fun, create something and connect with others by trading and sharing cards. History and background of ATCs, instruction, materials, prompts and creative ideas will be provided by Tim Wiegenstein, Creative Aging Teaching Artist. No age requirements apply for this program; ATCs are for any age, and intergenerational events are encouraged.

The O’Connor Center is located at 611 Winona Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. For more information, call 865) 523-1135, or email info@oconnorcenter.org

‘Plein Air Smokies,’ will once again bring 20 nationally acclaimed artists to paint “en plein air” (outdoors) throughout the national park. For the 2023 event, spectators are welcome to watch artists paint, Sept. 24-27. Artists will be positioned across the park throughout the week, with locations such as Cades Cove on Monday and Elkmont on Tuesday and Wednesday. A full schedule can be found online at https://friendsofthesmokies.org/schedule-of-events/

These one-of-a-kind paintings will be available for purchase first at the ticketed Collectors Soiree Sept. 29, then at the public sale Sept. 30. Proceeds benefit Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP).

Purchase Tickets: https://friendsofthesmokies.org/plein-air/
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram! #pleinairsmokies

By Samuel D. Hunter

In a small office in Southern Idaho, two single fathers develop an unlikely but powerful friendship. Samuel D. Hunter’s intimate, empathetic play is a thoughtful meditation on human resilience.

River & Rail Theatre, 111 State Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-407-0727, www.riverandrailtheatre.com

Enhance your home garden with utterly unique fox-themed pieces by bidding in the online auction of our Fanciful Foxes exhibit! Around 80 works in total were created by local artists of all ages as part of our annual Art in the Gardens project. Bidding is open now and will close on Tuesday, October 3, at 5pm! You can preview the pieces in person at the UT Gardens, Knoxville until October 3. https://events.handbid.com/auctions/2023-art-in-the-gardens

Local amateur and professional artists donated their time and talent to artistically interpret this year’s theme with a fun and creative design. Teen/adult artists were given a large 3-D plywood fox to embellish using media of their choice. Again this year, we invited younger artists to participate by decorating either a fox head or a tree silhouette. Works have been on display throughout the Gardens for visitors to enjoy all summer. These unique art pieces will now be sold during this on-line auction with all proceeds benefiting the UT Gardens, Knoxville. This annual project was designed to promote community participation and foster artist collaboration as well as raise awareness and support for the Gardens. Our choice of a fox theme this year sought to bring a focus on urban wildlife and the need to protect them and their habitats from encroachment.

Winning bidders can pick up their item(s) during our Fall Plant Sale on Friday, October 6 (from 4-7 pm) or Saturday, October 7 (from 9 am - 2 pm). Payment can be made by credit card on Handbid or by cash or check at time of pickup.
Sponsors for the exhibit were Jerry's Artarama, Bench Dog Work Shop, UT Biosystems Engineering Machining and Fabrication Shop, Ed Dudrick, and the UT Wildlife and Fisheries Society. We are grateful to our sponsors and to our project artists!

https://utgardens.tennessee.edu/locations/knoxville/special-events-knoxville/art-in-the-garden/

Family festivals, musical performances and guest speakers are among the events Pellissippi State Community College has planned for Hispanic Heritage Month – and all are free and open to the public. Themed “Todos Somos Familia” (We Are All Family), Hispanic Heritage Month at the college will celebrate the rich and beautiful complexity of Latino and Hispanic culture at Pellissippi State as well as recognize the importance of the contributions of Latino and Hispanic culture to the local community and the world.

Keynote speakers Karen Ocon-Mora, community schools site coordinator for Knox County, and Megan Barolet-Fogarty, director of youth and family engagement for Centro Hispano de East Tennessee, will kick off the month’s festivities Tuesday, Sept. 19, with an address on “Familia: Relationships and Resilience in Latino Culture.” The event will be held 10:30-11:15 a.m. in the Goins Building Auditorium on Pellissippi State’s Hardin Valley Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, and livestreamed on Zoom.

Families have two opportunities to come out to Pellissippi State for festivals including games, activities, food and a screening of the film “Encanto” at sunset: 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, on the college’s Hardin Valley Campus and again 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, on Pellissippi State’s Strawberry Plains Campus, 7201 Strawberry Plains Pike

And don’t miss a lively performance by Knoxville’s own Latin jazz band Candela on Wednesday, Sept. 27, in the Hardin Valley Campus Courtyard. Candela will play 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., and refreshments will be served.

For a full list of Pellissippi State’s activities planned for Hispanic Heritage Month, including concerts and lectures, visit www.pstcc.edu/hispanic-heritage. To request accommodations for any campus event, call 865.694.6411 or email accommodations@pstcc.edu.

Willkommen to Schulz Brau! Oktoberfest is our biggest festival of the year here at our Brewery and Biergarten! Meticulous planning goes into creating this special 3-week celebration of Bavarian culture. We proudly follow Munich traditions to offer our guests an authentic and fun experience. Prost!

Public Event, No Ticket Required
*Ticket Required to Attend Opening Tap Ceremony from 5-9AM on Sep 16
https://knoxvilleoktoberfest.com/

Including work by Anna Boothe, Ashley Benton, Josh Copus, Eric Pardue, Tommie Rush, Andrew Saftel, Marty McConnaughey, the Estate of Roger Luebke, and many others!

Bennett, 5308 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-Sa 10-5:30. Information: 865-584-6791, https://bennetthome.com/

Featuring varied works by current faculty: Heather Hartman Folks, Matthew Jessie, Julie L. Rabun, Jennifer Stoneking-Stewart, and David Underwood.

Opens Thu Sep 7, 3-5 PM and closes Sat Oct 28, 9:30 AM - 12

The Michael Alvis Art Gallery at Carson-Newman University, Warren Art Building, corner of Branner & Ken Sparks Way, Jefferson City, TN 37760. Gallery hours: M-F 8-4. Information: 865-471-4985, www.cn.edu

Local-scape is an exhibition of works illustrating the beautiful and poetic places in and around East Tennessee. These places have inspired Berry to use his own personal language of color and composition to create unique works that are created from everyday scenes to become a work of the local-scape. These works fix one's memory onto one particular moment that in turn inspires a thousand interpretations of place or experience through expressive color application. Mike Berry received his M.F.A. from the Savannah College of Art & Design in 1997, and has been managing the University of Tennessee Downtown Gallery since 2004. Berry’s artwork has been exhibited regionally, including solo and group exhibitions throughout the southeast during the last 20 years. Berry maintains a studio in Knoxville TN and works with private collectors and corporate businesses on commissioned pieces. Berry also is the official framer for the Beauford Delaney Estate located in Knoxville. Knoxville has been the main subject of Berry’s work for more than a two decades and he has made Knoxville his home since 1999.

Linda Sullivan has a Bachelor of Arts and Math from the University of Evansville (Indiana) and a Master of Fine Arts from Northern Illinois University where she focused on glaze chemistry and glaze testing. Her functional pottery has evolved to include interpretations of landscapes through the glazing process. All her glazes are self developed and poured to overlap each other in a painterly way. She especially draws inspiration from the landscapes of the Southwest.

Works will be on view in the Schilling Gallery Monday-Thursday, 9-4; and Friday, 9-noon.
Westminster Presbyterian Church Schilling Gallery, 6500 Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919
Information: 865-584-3957.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, https://www.arrowmont.org/visit/galleries/exhibition-schedule/