Calendar of Events

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Rala: Fado Made by Jamie Chard Kowarick

  • November 3, 2023 — November 26, 2023

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

We are excited to announce Fado Made by Jamie Chard Kowarick as our featured maker for the month of November! Jamie specializes in expertly hand crafted leather products that exude a timeless vintage charm, mixed with the perfect modern twist.

Please join us for the show opening from 6 to 8pm. Jamie's work will be on display November 3rd through the end of the month.

https://www.facebook.com/events/352784687149351/
https://shoprala.com/collections/fado-made

Rala: Regional and Local Artisans, 112 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Mon-Thu & Sat 11-6, Fri 11-8, Sun 11-5. Information: 865-525-7888, https://shoprala.com or www.instagram.com/ShopRala

Arts & Culture Alliance: Fiber Works by Tim Bridges

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

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from November 3-25, 2023, including the biennial Master Woodworkers Show, November 3-5. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, November 3, from 4:00-9:00 PM, followed by special weekend hours including Saturday, November 4, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Sunday, November 5, 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

This new exhibition features a collection of wall hangings, scarves, pillows, jewelry, should bags and apparel, all of which are based on traditional quilt patterns reimagined in a contemporary way. Sewing techniques include Mexican smocking, satin stitching, sprigging, and applique to create pieces that are all one-of-a-kind.

I am a lifelong fiber/fabric artist whose clothing designs are vibrant contemporary reinventions/reinterpretations and/or reflections of patterns found in Rococo and Art Deco architecture, coupled with and incorporating references to Appalachian quilting patterns and stitching. I work typically with used/recycled denim for its suppleness, hidden charm, and strength. Denim has demonstrated a willingness to be transformed, both in appearance and texture, creating a beautiful finale between the way it was originally designed and the way it looks after I have reinvented its form into a jacket, a handbag, a skirt, and/or perhaps a dress or even throw pillow. Much like a painter or sculptor, my designs can be recognized in my finished clothing, as much of each piece is hand stitched with reflective attention to details, such as thread colors and weight, embellishments such as beads, unique buttons and closures, and most importantly, interesting patterns within patterns. Some of my creations incorporate antique material reinvented for contemporary use.

Tim Bridges studied at the University of Tennessee, Tennessee Technological University, and the School of Fashion Design of Boston. He worked as a visual merchandising coordinator for several major department stores and spent several years designing costumes and sets for theater productions in Florida and Tennessee. He also designed wedding dresses and formal party wear. Bridges now devotes his time and skills to creating wearable art and home accessories in his inimitable style. He is a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and recently participated in an exhibit at the Appalachian Regional Commission in Washington as well as exhibitions sponsored by the Guild at the Folk Art Center in Asheville.

The exhibitions will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed Wednesday-Friday, November 22-24. 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. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543

Arts & Culture Alliance: Scott Carpenter: Dia de Muertos

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from November 3-25, 2023, including the biennial Master Woodworkers Show, November 3-5. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, November 3, from 4:00-9:00 PM, followed by special weekend hours including Saturday, November 4, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Sunday, November 5, 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

This portfolio of work honors the family culture of Oaxaca, Mexico. During Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), families visit the graves of their deceased loved ones and pray for them. People decorate graves and themselves with marigolds and flowers. They dress themselves in skull masks and skeletons to celebrate life, death, and rebirth. Spirits of ancestors are invited to coexist with their relatives in the earthly world. The spirits are enticed back through altars of their old belongings, personal sugar skulls, and the love of their family. Both the spiritual and celebratory nature of Dia de Muertos are explored in this portfolio. The photographer seeks to share the beauty of the celebration, and the light in the living as they entertain their ancestors.

Scott Carpenter is an amateur photographer and native of Greeneville, TN. He has traveled extensively throughout the world, photographing people and cultural moments. He loves to photograph because photography invites us to understand each other. Photography is a way to share the world as he sees it: in each serene moment there is beauty. In each face there is light. Carpenter’s photography discovers the soul of the person and illuminates their inner beauty.

The exhibitions will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed Wednesday-Friday, November 22-24. 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. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543

Arts & Culture Alliance: Phil Savage Photo Unique Perspective

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from November 3-25, 2023, including the biennial Master Woodworkers Show, November 3-5. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, November 3, from 4:00-9:00 PM, followed by special weekend hours including Saturday, November 4, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Sunday, November 5, 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

This new exhibition features an assortment of beautiful and unique photographic perspectives of Knoxville, Nashville, and the Smoky Mountains by local photographer Phil Savage. Most images will be in panoramic format, created by combining almost a hundred single images in order to form one breathtaking and memorable work of art.

My statement is simple in concept but quite challenging in execution: I want to create beautiful and compelling images by always keeping in mind my personal goal of making the ordinary EXTRAORDINARY.

www.philsavagephotography.com and Instagram @philsavagephoto and Facebook: Phil Savage Photography

The exhibitions will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed Wednesday-Friday, November 22-24. 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. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543

Arts & Culture Alliance: Synthesize: Shape, Surface, Saturation

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

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from November 3-25, 2023, including the biennial Master Woodworkers Show, November 3-5. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, November 3, from 4:00-9:00 PM, followed by special weekend hours including Saturday, November 4, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Sunday, November 5, 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

This collection of complex, abstract works by Jan Burleson, Carl Gombert, Carrie Pendergrass, and Kelly Spell is a celebration of color and shape. The various media—printmaking with unique process applications, quilting with modern design, oil painting with a relation to collage, and mixed media—combine in a spontaneous union of pattern and repetition that generates vibrant visual energy. With subtle and direct references to pop culture and world events, each artist constructs layers of meaning and representation in their work and creates a sense of place. Taken as a whole, the exhibition seeks balance and order in a broader chaos while also honoring tradition and history.

Jan Burleson’s work has been shown regionally with the Arts & Culture Alliance and Dogwood Arts exhibitions, in Chattanooga’s Association for Visual Arts exhibitions and CHA ART SPACE, in East Tennessee State University Slocumb Gallery’s Positive-Negative national exhibitions, and at the Arts Center in Athens. Instagram @jan_burleson_ and www.janburleson.com.

Carl Gombert has exhibited in more than 300 exhibitions across the US and abroad and his work is in numerous museum and university collections. Since 1993 he has taught painting, drawing, and art history at Maryville College in Tennessee. https://gombertart.com and Instagram @carlgombert

Carrie Pendergrass has worked in both the non-profit/public and private/commercial sector as a visual arts teacher, freelance artist and small business owner, gallery director & curator. She exhibits her work locally and regionally, and continues to teach. She was the recipient of an
Arts Build Artists Work Grant for her curatorial art project, CHA ART SPACE, an exhibition space at the Chattanooga Regional Airport, which debuted in 2021. Instagram @sewntothesea and @cha_art_space and www.sewntothesea.com.

Kelly Spell’s award-winning quilts have been featured in numerous publications, shows, and museums around the world. Kelly’s artistic practice involves a variety of techniques—some are cutting edge and others are rooted in the time-honored tradition of American quiltmaking.
www.kellyspell.com and Instagram @kellyspell.

Read more about the artists at https://www.knoxalliance.com/synthesize

The exhibitions will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed Wednesday-Friday, November 22-24. 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. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543

Pellissippi State: The Edinburgh Project

  • November 3, 2023 — November 12, 2023

Category: Theatre

Performances: November 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12

Details TBA

Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

Pellissippi State Theatre: Peter and the Wolf

  • November 3, 2023 — November 12, 2023

Category: Kids, family and Theatre

The creative process of 16 Pellissippi State Community College students comes to fruition in November with 12 showings of “Peter and the Wolf,” a theatre piece using shadow puppets, overhead projections and other technology to tell the classic children’s story in a new way.

“We have never created a play from the ground up,” said Theatre Professor Grechen Wingerter, who is directing the production. “Performers and a tech crew were involved in every aspect, from creating storyboards to designing the puppets and putting them together, which made this very much a hands-on experience for the students.”

Pellissippi State will present the students' adaptation of "Peter and the Wolf" by Sergei Prokofiev on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays Nov. 3-12 at the Clayton Performing Arts Center on the college’s Hardin Valley Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road.

Showtimes for the 50-minute production are 7 and 8:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 and 3:30 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $8 for Pellissippi State students, faculty and staff. Seats are limited to 60 per show because the audience will be seated on stage with the performers and the tech crew. Buy tickets here.

Wingerter and fellow Theatre Professor Claude Hardy were inspired by Manual Cinema, an Emmy Award-winning performance collective that “combines handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques and innovative sound and music to create immersive stories for stage and screen,” according to the group’s website.

The professors were drawn to how Manual Cinema “deconstructs stories and puts them back together,” Wingerter said. They also were looking for something unique their students could produce not only on stage at Pellissippi State, but also at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, D.C., and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.

“Instantly, I don’t know why, ‘Peter and the Wolf’ popped into my head,” she said. “I have an album of it that I’ve had since childhood. I still have it, and we’re using it in the show as a prop.”

“Peter and the Wolf” is a musical composition written in 1936. A narrator tells the children’s story while the characters are represented by different musical instruments such as the bassoon (Grandfather), the clarinet (cat) and the flute (bird). Pellissippi State takes the deconstruction a step farther, replacing narration with written snippets that guide the audience from scene to scene, “kind of like a silent film,” Wingerter said.

“There is no dialogue – none – though the story and the music are recognizable,” Wingerter said. “It's all music and movement. We worked on physical movement to get the puppets to move with purpose.”

The world Pellissippi State has created for its puppets is inspired by painter and printmaker Marc Chagall. Wingerter looked to the works of Chagall not only because he is her favorite artist, but because he grew up in a small village in what was then the Russian Empire, she said. That’s the kind of place Wingerter imagined Peter living in the story.

“We have a Russian story by a Russian artist being paired with a Russian artist, but this is the students’ vision,” Wingerter said. “It was my job to guide them and to remind them to tell the story.”

To request accommodations for any campus event at Pellissippi State, call 865.694.6411 or email accommodations@pstcc.edu.

Awaken Coffee: Michelle Barillaro Exhibition

  • November 1, 2023 — November 30, 2023

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

Michelle Barillaro’s striking abstracts will be displayed! Michelle finds personal pleasure in abstracts because they allow the viewer to see something in them related to their own experiences and dreams. She primarily paints on wood panels with oil & cold wax medium. The addition of cold wax lends itself to different techniques for texturing, layering, and subtracting paint- conceal and reveal- to build a history within the painting.

First Friday reception on November 3. 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/

Broadway Studios and Gallery: HARVEST with Jean Hess & Emily Taylor

  • October 27, 2023 — November 28, 2023

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

Reception on Fri Nov 3, 5-9 PM with artists
Artists also present Sat Nov 4, 1-6 PM. Other gallery hours by appointment: jeanhess@bellsouth.net or ebtaylorhulse@gmail.com

Jean Hess and Emily Taylor demonstrate a committed willingness to experiment, play and take risks in order to enchant and surprise you. Their visual vocabularies are highly personal yet show mutual sympathy: Using at-hand materials: Natural, recycled, damaged, re-worked; Imagery from nature; Floating and layering; Hesitations and back-tracks, erasures and re-thinking. These artist friends each follow threads and throughlines that, over time, demonstrate evidence of continuity and connection.

Jean Hess’ work can be seen in the Knoxville Museum of Art permanent collection and installed in the Knoxville Convention Center, and available at the KMA gift shop. Her studio in Fountain City is open by appointment: jeanhess@bellsouth.net. You will see a wider range of work including 3D box constructions, hanging mobiles of antique trinkets and jewelry, stitched tapestries of vintage and found fabrics, paintings and collages. Her on-line presence: www.jeanhess.com and http://kolajmagazine.com/artistdirectory/jean-hess

Emily Taylor’s studio is located in Bearden. She welcomes you on publicized Open Studio days [together with studio mates] or other times by appointment. Please join the mailing list. You can contact Emily at ebtaylorhulse@gmail.com. Paintings, drawings, constructions, installations, as well as small objects, prints and commissions. Her on-line presence: https://www.facebook.com/emilytaylorpaintings/ and Instagram @emilytaylor9515

Broadway Studios and Gallery, 1127 Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Hours: By appointment, or when the "open" sign is illuminated. Information: 865-556-8676, www.BroadwayStudiosAndGallery.com and www.facebook.com/broadwaystudiosandgallery/

Pellissippi State: "what abides here" by Anna Halliwell Gianferante

  • October 25, 2023 — November 17, 2023

Category: Exhibitions, visual art and Free event

Photos developed from film and handwritten notes passed in class take on a new life in the mixed media exhibit “what abides here” at Pellissippi State Community College. The solo exhibition of artist Anna Halliwell Gianferante is on display in the Bagwell Center for Media and Art Gallery on the college’s Hardin Valley Campus through Nov. 17. Admission to the gallery is free, and it is open to the public weekdays 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

A public reception with the artist will be held 3 - 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, in the Bagwell Center, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville.

The “what abides here” collection of mixed media works “meets at the junction of memory, photography, truth, glitches and loss,” said Gianferante, an Oak Ridge native who is now a full-time Art instructor at Pellissippi State. This body of work began with Gianferante’s master’s thesis, “Forget Me Not (Really)” for Savannah College of Art and Design. Gianferante sanded, erased and painted on personal photographs that depict moments with people and places no longer in her life. Gianaferante said the art creates separation between the figures and the viewer, just as the subjects of the photographs are now separated from the artist. Gianferante added to the exhibit with a collection of redacted notes she received in school as a teenager. The blank spaces serve as lapses in memory, she explained, while also abstracting the stories to make them unrecognizable. The final pieces of the exhibit showcase a different way of manipulating old photographs using artificial intelligence. Gianferante first erased parts of her original photos using AI and then printed them as cyanotypes to mimic the earliest processes of photography. By harnessing the sun to expose light onto fabric painted with light-sensitive chemicals, each print is unique based on both the weather and the time of exposure. “Some are so unrecognizable that the title is all that seems to be left of the original subject – pushing boundaries of memory and personal truth,” Gianferante said.

Gianferante earned her Master of Fine Arts in painting from Savannah College of Art and Design and her Master of Science in teacher education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has taught Art courses for more than 11 years in both K-12 public schools and higher education institutions. To request accommodations for any campus event, call 865.694.6411 or email accommodations@pstcc.edu.

Pellissippi State | 865.694.6638 | marketing@pstcc.edu | www.pstcc.edu
10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37933

UT Libraries: National Exhibit on Mental Health Care and Custody

  • October 23, 2023 — December 2, 2023

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Free event, Health, wellness and History, heritage

A national exhibition examining the nation’s past responses to mental health and current approaches to care will be on display at UT Libraries this fall. The National Library of Medicine’s Care and Custody: Past Responses to Mental Health exhibit will be in the Jack E. Reese Galleria on the first floor of Hodges Library.

The traveling exhibit provides a historical overview of how mental health policies have evolved from custodial forms of treatment such as commitments to asylums and mass incarcerations to more inclusive approaches aimed at protecting the rights of those with mental health conditions. The exhibit also highlights how physicians, advocates, families, and government agencies have contributed to shaping mental health policies.

UT Libraries’ goal for hosting the traveling exhibition is to spark conversations surrounding mental health and effective coping strategies among UT students, faculty, staff, and community members.

A book display featuring related reads on mental health will be viewable on the second floor of Hodges Library.

UT Libraries was selected as a location for the traveling exhibition through the efforts of librarians Melanie Dixson, Niki Cobb, Calantha Tillotson, and Paris Whalon.

https://volumes.lib.utk.edu/news/ut-libraries-to-host-national-exhibit-on-mental-health-care-and-custody/

UT Humanities Center: Prints & Books by Eric Avery, MD

  • October 15, 2023 — January 30, 2024

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Free event, History, heritage and Literature, spoken word, writing

This event is available to the public at the UT Printmaking Showcase Gallery. The Printmaking Showcase Gallery is located in the UTK Art and Architecture Building, in the second-floor hallway outside of the Printmaking Lab (Room 241).

It will feature selected prints and books by medical doctor and visual artist Eric Avery MD as he explores issues such as social responses to diseases (specifically HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases), death, and sexual health. As part of one of his exhibitions, Avery set up an HIV clinic at the Fogg Museum of Art at Harvard University. His work has been shown internationally, and is in the collections of the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), the ARTS Medica Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA), and the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library at Yale University (New Haven, CT), among many others. His website is: https://www.ericaveryartist.com/

These events are free to attend and open to students, faculty, and the public.
https://www.facebook.com/events/332368039150381

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