Calendar of Events

They Sang What They Lived: The Story of Carl and Pearl Butler is the first retrospective exhibition of Carl and Pearl Butler, the iconic country music duo whose timeless lyrics and harmonious melodies left an indelible mark on country music. With a career spanning over four decades, Carl and Pearl Butler became celebrated figures in the world of country music. “Carl made scores of major-label records during the 1950s,” says Bradley E. Reeves, the exhibition’s guest curator and author of the new book Honky Tonkitis: On the Road with Carl Butler and Pearl. “These are some of the best bluegrass, gospel, and hard country records ever made, although none could be called a massive hit.” That honor would come in 1962, when Carl and Pearl recorded “Don’t Let Me Cross Over.” The song remains among the fastest ever to ascend to No. 1 on Billboard Hot Country Singles. Carl and Pearl’s unique “Knoxville sound,” along with heartfelt lyrics, earned them a dedicated fan base who supported them at performances across the United States and Canada through the 1970s. The exhibition offers visitors a rare glimpse into the lives of these music legends.

Key highlights of the exhibition include:
1. Rare Family Archives: Museum guests will have the opportunity to view the Allen “Junior” Butler Family Collection, which has been made publicly available for the first time and includes never-before-seen photographs, home movies, original instruments, and stage costumes that belonged to Carl and Pearl Butler. “I’m grateful to Allen Butler and his family for opening their home and archives to share with us,” says Reeves.
2. Musical Journey: Explore the duo's musical journey through a feature film, which transports visitors through various periods of their career and traces their unfiltered, raw singing style, one that derived from and advanced the “Knoxville sound.”
3. Behind-the-Scenes: Gain insight into the lives of Carl and Pearl Butler through never-before-seen family photographs and recently uncovered anecdotes from the family and fellow musicians, including Dolly Parton who viewed the Butlers as her “second parents.” “Despite their successes,” says Adam Alfrey, Assistant Director for Historical Services at Knox County Public Library, “Carl and Pearl faced personal and professional struggles, which are intimately documented through the family’s photographs.”
4. Interpretive Experience: Engage with the exhibition to understand how both Knoxville and Nashville played a role in the development of country music. Also, learn how chart-topping artists can quickly become all but forgotten, even in their hometown. “The Butlers somehow fell through the cracks,” reflects Reeves. “It’s my hope that this book and exhibition will contribute to a reappreciation of their great body of work.”
They Sang What They Lived: The Story of Carl and Pearl Butler promises to be a heartfelt educational experience for country music enthusiasts and fans of all ages. It serves as a testament to the enduring influence of Carl and Pearl Butler on the world of music.

At 5:00 pm, Friday, October 6, 2023, there will be an opening reception for They Sang What They Lived: The Story of Carl and Pearl Butler. The event will include a meet and greet with Carl and Pearl Butler’s family, a book signing by guest curator Bradley E. Reeves, and an exhibition of Appalachian musical pioneer paintings by artist Amy Campbell. At 7:00 pm, there will be a “Tribute to Carl and Pearl,” opened by a performance of the Paul Brewster and Friends Band, comprised of 14-year-old mandolin prodigy Wyatt Ellis and Grand Ole Opry performers Daniel Grindstaff, Kent Blanton, Stephen Burwell, and John Meador. A screening of 8mm home movies shot by the Butlers (watch for an appearance by 10-year-old Dolly Parton), as well as some of the Butlers’ rarest television appearances, will conclude the evening.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Information: 865-215-8824, www.eastTNhistory.org/lights-camera

The Frothy Monkey is hosting the Tennessee Artist’s Association’s show of “American Modernism” from October through January at the Frothy Monkey, 419, S. Gay St. Knoxville, TN 37902.

More than ten TAA artists will be represented at the exhibit, and many will be on hand for a meet and greet on Friday, October 6th from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

The Frothy Monkey is the perfect stop for coffee, conversation and community. The restaurant offers fresh baked goods, beer, wine & cocktails along with its coffee and tea selections. The Frothy Monkey seeks to provide a safe and welcoming environment that can nourish guests and build community relationships.

For more information, contact twiegenstein@gmail.com

Cherokee basketry and Southern Appalachian basket styles are on display now at Pellissippi State Community College’s Strawberry Plains Campus. The “All the Eggs in One Basket” exhibit curated by Art Professor Jeffrey Lockett is free and open to the public through the college’s Appalachian Heritage Project, which is housed in the Strawberry Plains Campus Library. Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Appalachian Heritage Project serves as a repository for regional literature, history and folklore and includes programming including exhibits, lectures and workshops. “Abundant river cane in the Southern Appalachians contributes to its widespread use in weaving and basketry,” Lockett said. “The known works of the 17th century Cherokee Indians introduced the unique combination of materials and weave patterns using this cane.”

In the 18th and 19th centuries, storage baskets were used for daily needs such as harvesting, transportation and food preparation, Lockett added. However, as mountain tourism and markets for mountain crafts grew into the 20th century, Cherokee basket makers responded by producing baskets for the tourist trade. Most baskets on display in the "All the Eggs in One Basket” exhibit were made by Jimmy Lawrence of Clinton, Tennessee. Lawrence, born in 1937 in Abington, Virginia, is a Virginia Tech-educated mechanical engineer with a lifelong fascination with Appalachian crafts. He and his wife, Gail, have a regionally known collection of Southern folk art, crafts and utilitarian ware at their home.

“Jimmy says his curiosity for Southern crafts together with his engineering background has allowed him to approach basketmaking and weaving as an artform as well as an achievement in engineering,” said Lockett, who named the exhibit in honor of the variety of Lawrence’s traditional egg baskets that are on display. "Jimmy takes traditional Appalachian styles as well as Cherokee weaving traditions and varies the materials to include slippery elm bark, native cane and white oak.” All works in the exhibit are from the collections of Lawrence or Lockett. The Strawberry Plains Campus Library is open 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday.

Pellissippi State | 865.694.6638 | marketing@pstcc.edu | www.pstcc.edu

New Work by Beth Meadows and Mike Berry
at The Maker Exchange, 710 Clinch Avenue, Knoxville, TN
Opening Reception Thursday, October 5, 5-8 pm
Show runs September 30- December 10, 2023

The Richness of Life is a joint exhibition of new paintings and cutouts.

Gallery is open 24/7, however...
• Sometimes the Maker Exchange holds events in the gallery space. Call ahead to check for any events that would affect normal hours (865) 522-2800 ext. 7
• On the night of the opening, artists I will have smaller items for sale

https://bethmeadows.com/
http://www.mikecberry.com/
https://www.makerexchangeknox.com/

Open Show 2023 is the annual juried exhibition for all artists in all media

Opening reception Sat Sep 30, 7-9 PM with gallery talk at 6:30 PM and awards at 7 PM

Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tu-F 9-5, Sa-M 1-4. Information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org

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

RECEPTION: Friday September 8th, 5-7pm
https://art.utk.edu/printmaking-faculty-present-retrospect-exhibit/

“RETRoSPECT” surveys recent and past works by UT Printmaking faculty members Beauvais Lyons, Althea Murphy-Price and Koichi Yamamoto, as well as 2D Printmaking Technician Elysia Mann. Included in the exhibition are both traditional print processes, from engravings and intaglios, to screenprints and lithographs, as well as experimental uses of print media. The UT Printmaking program is consistent ranked among the top graduate programs in the United States. It has a long-standing exchange program with the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, Poland. The exhibition is free and open to the public, and is a project of the Marek Maria Pienkowski Foundation. For more information on the UTK Printmaking Program, see: https://art.utk.edu/printmaking/

Pienkow Art Gallery, 7417 Kingston Pike Knoxville, TN 37919
Hours: Mon-Fri 8-5 and Sat 8-11

Opening Night, September 1, First Friday, 5 - 8pm

Please join us for the unveiling of our new exhibition, Metamorphosis, which features creations suspended on the precipice of blossoming—encapsulating hibernation, transformation, and rebirth. At 6:00 pm, Hungarian artist Eszter Bornemisza will give a gallery talk about her mixed media fiber works. Dress Code: Exquisite Autumn Colors with Gold Accessories

Metamorphosis is a familiar occurrence in nature, as the changing seasons bring leaves from vibrant greens to the subdued, regal hues of ochre, amber, and earth tones. Nature evolves silently before one's eyes, a constant process of metamorphosis. Like a breath held in anticipation, the moment before transition is pregnant with possibility and quiet vitality. The very change itself holds an extraordinary power– energetic hope and new life. These works, made with raw materials, are suspended on the precipice of blossoming, encapsulating hibernation, transformation, and rebirth.

FEATURED ARTISTS:
Eszter Bornemisza
Alke Reeh
Martha Rieger

Lilienthal Gallery, 23 Emory Place, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-200-4401, https://lilienthalgallery.com

An opening reception will be held for all new exhibitions on Friday, September 1, from 5-8 PM with all 3 artists in attendance.

UNTITLED HAM BY MICHELLE GRABNER, Main Gallery. Curator: Brian R. Jobe.
The Wisconsin-born and based artist Michelle Grabner is known for her broad perspective developed as teacher, writer and critic over the past 30 years. The site where it all comes together is the studio. Her art making—which encompasses a variety of mediums including drawing, painting, video and sculpture—is driven by a distinctive value in the productivity of work and takes place outside of dominant systems. Grabner instead finds a creative center in operating across platforms and towards community. Central to the work is the process. Grabner uncovers new dynamic relationships through her visionary practice of repetition. With a deep attention to abstract patterns and all the metaphors they conjure, Grabner pushes the limits of compositional structures to discover the tipping point between stability and precariousness; between continuance and wondrous difference.

MOVING IN BETWEEN BY GRIFFIN ALLMAN, Project Space
This show is located within the unique architectural space of a narrow wooden stairwell. Allman states of his work, “The making of a mark is not an isolated event, but it instead requires action to take place in order to ignite its existence. This action could be a simple move or a choreographed performance, and the action ultimately reflects upon the person who created it. A mark, whether it be a word or an image, can be reproduced hundreds of times, and it will lose its original meaning while simultaneously gaining a new meaning that births a life of its own. Therefore, the hand of its creator holds the power to not only repurpose a gesture, but to also incorporate newfound identity that becomes increasingly personal as a mark is made. My practice is currently focused on investigating the immediacy of drawing as a performance that enables its creator to develop identity through a repeated gesture. My previous body of work has consisted of hard-edge geometric abstraction that showcased a need to control and organize the picture plane. Through this process, my personal identity as an artist became lost, as I navigated a seemingly clear-cut landscape that did not necessitate a need to showcase the spontaneity that I desire. I am looking to the history of graffiti, specifically the fast-paced mechanics involved in its creation, as a method to circumnavigate the slow speed of hard-edge painting and ultimately shape the development of images that allow intuition to be a driving force. I am interested in how the compartmentalization of shape can work in tandem with quick mark-making to develop an artistic language that reflects both of these interests."

ROOT BY JASON SHERIDAN BROWN, Grounds
Opens Friday, September 1, 2023 and will remain on view through Tuesday, December 31, 2024. This large sculpture has been placed in sync with the exhibitions on view, extending the conversation outdoors to an accessible public space adjacent to the driveway entrance. Brown states of his work, “This site-specific sculpture titled Root, was created with materials that were scavenged, harvested, and manufactured from raw elements that have been mined and extracted from wild places. In the process of uncovering or exposing layers of geological information and materials in the natural landscape, I hope to reveal a new understanding about our human relationships to our environment.” The large piece of Tennessee marble was cut from a quarry in South Knoxville, not far from Candoro. The tree branch was harvested from a wooded area in South Knoxville and some of the steel was salvaged from the local steel mill scrap piles in Lonsdale.

Tri-Star Arts exhibitions are open to the public regularly from Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 am until 5:00 pm, alongside iconic spaces within the Candoro Marble Building (located in the Vestal neighborhood of Knoxville). 4450 Candora Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37920 and admission is always free of charge. www.tristararts.org

Drink Up The Moon celebrates how life can be better lived when we are in tune with the world around us. In this exhibition, a two-channel video installation captures the magic and mysticism of sunlight on choppy seas, rambling on the seashore, and deeply listening to our environment.

“This body of work began by filming my winter Atlantic swims at Salt hill Beach in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland. This creative habit changed how I experienced my time in the frigid water and kept me cycling to the sea, even during a blizzard. The luscious slow-motion video captures glistening light, the sensation of waves crashing, and the aggression of hailstones on open water. “You never regret the swim,” is a mantra I was once given and this project is indebted to those wise words.In tandem with my swims, I began studying our moon, filming its phases and finding an embodied connection with it. The more I paid attention to our magnetic satellite, the more I heard birdsong when I usually slept, and the more in tune I was with the cycle of my body and the tides that drew me to the sea. I filmed the moon rising behind mountains and shining across beaches, from my city doorstep and camping on cliff tops. By tracking the moon,I found a stronger connection to myself, my ancestors and my environment and I encourage us all to explore this connection and keep looking up.” —Jane Cassidy

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.

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

Every Wednesday, May 3rd – November 15, 10 am – 1 pm
Every Saturday, May 6 – November 18, 9 am – 1 pm
Market Square in downtown Knoxville

The Market Square Farmers’ Market is an open-air farmers’ market managed by Nourish Knoxville.

Everything at the Market Square Farmers’ Market is grown, raised, and/or made by our vendors within a 150-mile radius of Knoxville, Tennessee. Products vary by season and include fresh fruits & vegetables, eggs, honey, pasture-raised meats, edible & ornamental plants, cut flowers, bread & baked goods, jams & jellies, coffee, artisan crafts, and more!

We offer SNAP & SNAP Doubling services every Wednesday and Saturday, and Nourish Kids – a free kids activity on the 2nd Saturday of each month. https://www.nourishknoxville.org/market-square-farmers-market/