Calendar of Events

Work by eight of the region's most prominent Black artists are on display through March 9th. Opening reception is this Saturday, February 3, 1:00 - 4:00. Many of the artists will be in attendance and light Hors D'oeuvres and refreshments will be served. Please join us for this wonderful show!

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

February – March 2024

Sonia Jackson Summers received her Bachelors in College Scholars: Illustration and Writing from The University of Tennessee in 2008. During her time at the University of Tennessee, Sonia cartooned for “The Daily Beacon.”

In 2011, Sonia married and relocated to her husband’s hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, and during that time Sonia was commissioned to participate in Vulcan Park and Museum’s public art project called “Vulcans on Parade.” Sonia’s painted Vulcan statues stand on display in two downtown Birmingham businesses. Sonia has work in the permanent collection of The Joy Gallery in Homewood, Alabama and rotating art at the Blue Phrog Gallery in Montevallo, Alabama.

Since moving back to Knoxville with her husband and kids in 2019, Sonia has broadened her scope to include painting en plein air (live on-site landscape painting), as well as competitive sidewalk chalk art/“Madonnari” festivals and sidewalk chalk art commissions, in addition to her fine art, illustration, and murals. Sonia has a deep appreciation for Impressionism, focusing on bridging the relationship between observation and interpretation, impressionistic capabilities of skill and realistic reaction in rendering. Sonia enjoys public art such as murals and sidewalk chalk for their ability to make art accessible to everyone.

In 2023 Sonia accepted the Fine Arts Teaching position at Chesterton Academy, a new classical high school in Knoxville. She also teaches recreational art classes at Painting with a Twist in Farragut.

Sonia’s art can be seen in sidewalk chalk/madonnari festivals, such as the Dogwood Arts Chalk Walk, through exhibitions with both the Arts and Culture Alliance and Dogwood Arts, and she currently has a mural featured by Dogwood Arts in Strong Alley in downtown Knoxville.

https://knoxbijou.org/community-outreach-2/art-gallery/

MAIN GALLERY
Reception Feb. 2, 5-8 PM
https://andrewscottross.com/home.html
https://tristararts.org/the-gallery/f/a-drawing-of-a-lion-shaped-by-fear

Tri-Star Arts at Candoro Marble Building, 4450 Candora Drive, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Tu-Sa 11-5. Information: https://tristararts.org/visit

First Friday February 2nd 6-9pm at Relay Ridge

-Jenn Kaplan "No Sudden Movements" opening gallery reception
-Open Artist Studios
-Printmaking demos/artist features in the printshop

Jennifer Kaplan invites participants to slow down and listen to the nuances of verbal and nonverbal communication. This show emphasizes the isolated gestures of touch through a progression blend of functional and figurative forms, giving shape to that which exists inside us and has been shapeless. Clay has the capacity to communicate what cannot be said, what is unspeakable, where words fail.

“Where I End and You Begin” are a series of entangled bodies which follow the gestural action of hands folding into one another, signing in motions of tenderness, reception, and formal fluidity. These tangled masses are finished in waxes and chalk, raw and bright, or crater glazes, molten and encrusted, with blurred edges, to amplify the soft strength of vulnerable participation within a community.

Everything is connected and survival is en masse. Hope lives not in isolation but through the potential of collaborative movement. Jennifer’s ceramic practice acts as a filter for understanding cycles of grief and regrowth, encouraging the potential within collaborative action and mutual aid.

We invite you to engage your senses in the relational works but please, be gentle.

Relay Ridge, 4124 McKinley St, Knoxville. https://relayridge.org/ and https://www.instagram.com/relay_ridge/

Featuring all media – including oils, acrylics, watercolors, pastels, drawings, sculpture in any medium, jewelry, collage, printmaking, photography and digital media.

Reception will be from 6:30pm – 8:00pm and awards will be announced on Friday, Feb 2 at 7:00pm.

Hours: Tuesday - Thursday, 10 AM - 4 PM
Phone (865) 357-2787
Email: fcacinfo@gmail.com
The Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Road, Knoxville, TN 37918

A First Friday opening reception for the exhibit is planned from 5:30 pm - 9 pm, January 5th, with complimentary refreshments and music.

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

We are so excited to announce Knoxville's own Mike C. Berry as our featured artist for the month of February! Mike is a local artist, father, and the director for UTK’s Downtown Gallery. Considered a versatile painter who works in vibrant colors, bringing energy and rhythm to each work, Mike creates compositions of bending and twisting cityscapes.

Please join us at Rala in the Old City for the show's opening ceremony from 6 to 8pm on February 2nd. Mike's work will be on display for the month of February!

https://www.facebook.com/events/727158442694666/
Shop: https://shoprala.com/collections/mike-c-berry-art-originals

Friday, February 2, from 6-8 Awaken Coffee will host an opening reception for the artist!

Peyton Tolleson, a self-taught acrylic painter based in Knoxville, TN, has been passionately creating art since 2020. Her signature style is characterized by rich detail and a lifelike approach. While Peyton is renowned for her pet portraits, her versatile portfolio also includes family portraits, large-scale equine art, Live Wedding Paintings, architectural pieces, signage, wildlife, and still-life. Peyton’s primary goal is to bring her canvases to life with intricate details that bring a striking sense of realism to her art.

Please join us for some amazing art, light refreshments, and of course 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 February 2-24, 2024. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, February 2, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features music by Corey James Clifton, Nicholas Horner and Kelsey Roberts.

The Midnight Studies are a series of acrylic and oil paintings done by Kacey Noel Chumley, with the sole purpose of getting better at the craft of painting itself. Mostly done at post-midnight hours from 2021-2023, it shows experimentation with color theory, subject matter, values, and more. As my infatuation with painting grew, the notion of colors became much more prominent in what I painted. I loved taking influence from both realism and surrealism. This exhibition aims to simply display the long hours of practice I put into painting and to show the slow progress of becoming more solid at my craft. I hope this series of paintings brings joy to the people who see it, just as it has brought joy to me to create them.

Kacey Noel Chumley is a painter, former tattoo artist, and writer from Knoxville. https://kaceynoel.com and Instagram @_kaceynoel_

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-Thursday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM; Friday, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM; and Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. 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.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from February 2-24, 2024. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, February 2, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features music by Corey James Clifton, Nicholas Horner and Kelsey Roberts.

Genna Sellers, a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP), has been honored with numerous awards, including Tennessee Professional Photographer of the Year, Tennessee Top 10 Photographer of the Year, and many Best of Show and Judges Choice awards. Her images have been included in the International Photographic Competition's (IPC) prestigious Loan Collection numerable times. She has presented multiple workshops for the American Institute of Architects, Professional Photographers of America, and TN Professional Photographers Association. She has served on the faculty of Pellissippi State Community College and is a current member of the Advisory Board for the Media Technology Department at PSTCC.

Using everyday items such as paper and plastic, my photographs explore the liminal space between what is real, what is simulated, and what is imagined. My work explores the tension between representation and abstraction, hoping to provoke deeper questions about the nature of perceived reality, inviting the viewer to ask if an image is real, surreal, or even a simulation? I strive to create evocative visuals that move my audience into a space of meditation and reflection, one that encourages an understanding of the complexities of reality. www.gennasellersphotography.com

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-Thursday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM; Friday, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM; and Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. 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.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from February 2-24, 2024. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, February 2, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features music by Corey James Clifton, Nicholas Horner and Kelsey Roberts.

Drawing upon my training as a glass blower, wood worker, and bicycle mechanic, I combine skills from seemingly disparate disciplines to create multi-media sculptures out of layered wood, glass, bike parts, family heirlooms, and found objects. Through my art, I seek to make a positive environmental impact by upcycling discarded bicycle parts and other items to give them a new purpose and keep them out of landfills. As an avid mountain biker, I spend a lot of time outdoors and draw inspiration from nature. Through my art, I combine my admiration for both the mechanical and natural. In my work, I blend and balance natural and fabricated elements, showing how each has function and beauty both individually and collectively.

Keith Bryant was born near Cleveland, Ohio and began working with soft glass in high school with a focus on bowls, vases, and other vessels. In addition to taking classes at Kent State University, he received training from glass artist Earl James and other artists at the Glass Bubble Project in Cleveland. He expanded his skill set by learning lampworking to create marbles and beads. In 2004, Bryant was drawn to woodworking after members of his family began playing Native American Flutes and joined the Northeast Ohio Native American Flute Circle. Under the tutelage of Billy Crowbeak Faluski, he made handcrafted wooden flutes primarily using North American hardwoods. As he continued to refine the sound of his flutes, he also made increasingly ornate pieces, burning designs into the wood and incorporating glass inlay, sculptural wood elements, found objects, and his own Pyrex glass work. Bryant began training as a motorcycle mechanic in 2007, graduating with honors from the PowerSport Institute in Cleveland a year later. He worked for several years as a motorcycle mechanic before transitioning into working with bicycles and noticed a large amount of waste generated. He began collecting discarded bike components and other materials to see if he could incorporate them into his artwork. He combines his areas of training to create mixed-media sculpture from wood, glass, bike parts, family heirlooms, and found objects. Bryant currently resides in Knoxville and works with local bike shops and carpenters to collect waste materials for his art and keep them out of landfills. Through his artwork, he enjoys showing others how items can be upcycled and repurposed. Instagram @kwbryantart

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-Thursday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM; Friday, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM; and Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. 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.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from February 2-24, 2024. A free gathering with the artists will take place on Friday, February 2, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features music by Corey James Clifton, Nicholas Horner and Kelsey Roberts.

Erosion and Decay by Stephen Blackwell
The photographs in this show were all shot on film with 35mm or medium-format cameras and explore what one can find at two opposed intersections of time, energy, and matter on Planet Earth, mostly gathered near the two ends of the Appalachian Mountain chain. I’ve long been interested in the decay of plant material, and in everything to do with trees. The “Decay” images in this series are from various leaf-skeletons, found around East Tennessee and perhaps western North Carolina. As skeletons, the leaves are at a point of near-total decay… I became excited by their difference from living leaves—the way they push towards three-dimensionality, the way we can see through them, the way piles of them capture and tangle with first and last rays of sunlight—the same light they previously used for photosynthesis, and the light that produces the silver-emulsion image. Similarly, rock formations at Acadia National Park—the “Erosion” images—represent a frozen moment of nature-in-change; nature is changing so slowly we can barely notice it even across weeks or many months, though as the sunlight hits the rocks at different angles or diffusions, these changes can occur faster than a leaf’s decay. The ages-long process of erosion is what gives us the forms we see in cliffs and boulders and rock-tumbles. I try to explore the way they come to rest in fascinating patterns. The Appalachian Mountains were once massive and then became completely flat and then they rose again. From the perspective of Earth’s lifespan, there is little difference between the decay of leaves and the erosion of rocky shores. They can both make us wonder.

Stephen Blackwell began working in film photography as a child. He is drawn to the discovery of beauty in unexpected places and forms, especially in decay, and he enjoys exploring chance patterns and hidden narratives in the spaces of everyday life (often through street photography). His work has appeared in Knoxville Photo, Arts in the Airport, in an East Tennessee Historical Society exhibition, and in a group show at the Knoxville Community Darkroom’s gallery. A literature professor by day, he also volunteers at the Community Darkroom.

Everything Fades by Rachel Deutmeyer
Rachel Deutmeyer’s series of photographs reflects landscape and life seasons in constant change. Images include quiet details and empty spaces alongside multiple exposures of the exteriors of houses across the Midwest. I am interested in reflections on one’s childhood memories through adult eyes. At the start of this photography project my instinct was to explore the small Midwest town that was my childhood home. Without access to the house, I found the surrounding town and landscape felt foreign. Inspired by Nancy Rexroth’s photography project Iowa, I let impulses of memory guide me… Change is often slow and unnoticed until it suddenly feels permanent and inevitable. Reflecting on this idea, I found beauty in things that were changing, as we all are changing. Everything Fades presents a poetic narrative that references a bygone time in my own life. I enjoy how photographs abstractly tied to my own childhood memories may also address collective ideas of change, home, and loss.

Raised in eastern Iowa, Rachel Deutmeyer graduated with a B.A. in Graphic Design from Ashford University and an M.F.A. in Integrated Visual Arts from Iowa State University. Her artwork has been regionally and nationally exhibited with a recent solo exhibition of Everything Fades at the Dubuque Museum of Art in Dubuque, Iowa. Deutmeyer currently works at Practical Farmers of Iowa in Ames, Iowa as senior video coordinator. https://www.rldeutmeyer.com and Instagram @rachel_deutmeyer

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-Thursday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM; Friday, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM; and Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. 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.