Calendar of Events

Kinky Boots
Book by Harvey Fierstein
Music and Lyrics by Cyndi Lauper
Clarence Brown Theatre
April 17 – May 5, 2024

A Tony-winning Broadway sensation packed with fun and a kick of pure joy! Looking to save the family shoe business, Charlie turns to his new friend Lola -- a cabaret performer and drag queen-- who gives him an outrageous idea that could change both of their destinies. Soon, this unlikely duo creates the most sensational footwear that’s ever rocked the runways of Milan… giving the factory and its hard-working family a sparkling new future.

Clarence Brown Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information/tickets: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com

6:00-8:00pm at Ebony & Ivory Brewing

Join The Bottom for an in-person book club opportunity, hosted by Bookshop Director, Annastasia. Note that we will be meeting at Ebony & Ivory! This month's book club will feature Erasure by Percival Everett. Attendees are asked to acquire the book and read by our meeting date on the 17th. Bonus points if you’ve seen the movie American Fiction.

Here's the premise: Thelonious "Monk" Ellison's writing career has bottomed out: his latest manuscript has been rejected by seventeen publishers, which stings all the more because his previous novels have been "critically acclaimed." He seethes on the sidelines of the literary establishment as he watches the meteoric success of We's Lives in Da Ghetto, a first novel by a woman who once visited "some relatives in Harlem for a couple of days." Meanwhile, Monk struggles with real family tragedies--his aged mother is fast succumbing to Alzheimer's, and he still grapples with the reverberations of his father's suicide seven years before. In his rage and despair, Monk dashes off a novel meant to be an indictment of Juanita Mae Jenkins's bestseller. He doesn't intend for My Pafology to be published, let alone taken seriously, but it is--under the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh--and soon it becomes the Next Big Thing. How Monk deals with the personal and professional fallout galvanizes this audacious, hysterical, and quietly devastating novel.

865-444-5915 or TheBottomKnox@gmail.com
https://www.thebottomknox.com/events-1/bottom-book-club-erasure

Streetcar Track Installation Photos: The McClung Historical Collection and the Knoxville History Project discuss collaborative efforts to help uncover hidden histories

When: Wednesday, April 17, 2024 @ 12:00 p.m. (and virtually)
At Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902

From 1904-1907, tracks were installed throughout Knoxville in preparation for streetcar service. Renowned local photographer Jim Thompson documented this work, in the process capturing unique views of Knoxville neighborhoods and areas at the dawn of the 20th century. These photos have not been publicly viewable until recently, when the McClung Historical Digital Collection digitized and made them available online. Jack Neely will join McClung Historical Collection Manager Eric Dawson and Archivist Joanna Bouldin to take a closer look at some of these images and their historic locations and discuss how collaborative efforts help uncover hidden histories. For more information on this talk and to register, visit https://www.easttnhistory.org/event/the-thompson-streetcar-track-installation-photographs/.

Brown Bag Lectures are made possible through the generous support of the Albers Family Foundation in loving memory of Harriet Z. and Edward S. “Bud” Albers, Jr.

Speakers
Jack Neely, Executive Director, Knoxville History Project
Eric Dawson, Manager, Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, ETHC
Joanna Bouldin, Archivist, Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, ETHC

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

This Black Creatives Meetup will be an evening filled with community building, sharing stories and connecting through music. Musicians Küf Knotz & Christine Elise will lead a short performance and share more on their experiences of channeling music as a form of therapy. This interactive workshop will center the power that music has to connect, to heal and to spark change. RSVP HERE
https://www.thebottomknox.com/events-1/the-art-of-storytelling-with-kuf-knotz-christine-elise

865-444-5915 or TheBottomKnox@gmail.com
2340 East Magnolia Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917

Gallery Exhibit: Maryville College Senior Show, at the Clayton Center for the Arts, Blackberry Farm & William “Ed” Harmon Gallery. Featuring art by Maryville College senior art and design majors. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Clayton Center for the Arts, 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Information/tickets: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

MFA Thesis Exhibitions - Group 3
In partial fulfillment of their graduation requirements, students pursuing the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree are required to mount a solo exhibition of work, and to defend their work during an oral examination in front of a faculty committee. Due to the number of graduate students enrolled in the UT School of Art, these exhibitions generally take the form of small groups of students presenting concurrent solo exhibitions in the gallery space.

Exhibiting students are Landin Eldridge, Abby Hedley, and Casey Wolhar
View this email in your browser

MFA THESIS EXHIBITIONS

April 15 - 22, 2023
Reception: Friday, April 19, 5-7pm
Ewing Gallery of Art + Architecture

Landin Eldridge
Prove It.

Prove It. is an installation of large and small-scale autobiographical drawings centered around the desire to be understood, heard, and loved. I take images and memories that hold significance (A photo of a class pet, a Valentine’s Day card from my mom, a voice recording from a friend) and translate them into ink, gouache, colored pencil, and pen. Certain moments are repeated throughout the room, allowing narrative to peek through dense visual information.

Casey Wolhar
A Held Breath

This installation features a combination of large and small scale videos surrounded by glittering kitsch materials. The exhibition addresses the uncomfortable process of claiming space for yourself by putting the fragmented body on display. The audience is then asked to search for comfort within the presented unease.

Abigail Rose Hedley
Felt

https://art.utk.edu/news-and-events/events-and-exhibitions/

Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: M-T-F 10-5, W-R 10-7:30, Su 1-4. Information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918

Reception Friday, April 12, 2024, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.

Free and open to the public, Gallery hours: 9:30-4:30 Monday through Thursday and 9:00-1:00 Sunday

Pamela Salyer: A View Through the Trees

This series uses mixed media (acrylic, collage, photo transfer) to explore the relationship between bare trees and their surroundings—how a tree, a group of trees, or even just a few branches, can change our perspective on the world around us. Pamela Salyer studied with UK’s Open College of the Arts and was juried in as a member of the Art Gallery in 2017. She has been part of many juried exhibits in the Knoxville area, including the Arts & Culture Alliance National Alliance National Juried Exhibition, Arts in the Airport, and The District Gallery’s “The Big Tiny Show.”

Jack Retterer

Jack Retterer says his goal as an artist is simple: “Use photography to help others experience and understand life more deeply and more completely by making it easier to ‘stop and smell the roses.’” He maximizes the emotional impact in his photography to increase the viewer’s awareness. Retterer is a fine art photographer, teacher and poet. His American Impressionist style photography and large canvas prints have been displayed at the Art Market Gallery, the Arts & Culture Alliance, Arts at the Airport, and many other locations in East Tennessee. He is an active member of both the Professional Photographers of America and the Professional Photographers of East Tennessee.

Featuring a variety of media by local artists.
Reception: Fri Apr 12, 6:30-8 PM with awards at 7 PM

Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Hours: Tu 9:30-3:30, W-R 9:30-4:30 or by appointment. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartcenter.com

Saturdays and Sundays, 12-5 PM, April 6 - 28 (or for appointment call 636-256-6555)

Come talk with the artist and explore examples of his fine art, sculpture, and furniture throughout his gallery home. Mr. Denninger is an internationally known artist, designer, and author. His work is part of the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Open houses are free. http://georgedenninger.com/

At 2109 Manor Road, Knoxville, TN 37920.

Tri-Star Arts is pleased to present the next exhibition in their Main Gallery at the historic Candoro Marble Building. A two-person show, Extended Materiality, featuring recent works by artists Mie Kongo (Evanston, IL) and Althea Murphy-Price (Knoxville, TN) opens Friday, April 5 and will run through Saturday, June 1, 2024. Curator: Brian R. Jobe.

https://www.miekongo.com/
https://www.altheamurphyprice.com/

An opening reception will be held on Friday, April 5, 2024 from 5:00—8:00 pm (artists in attendance). There will be an artist talk by Kongo and Murphy-Price beforehand at 3:30pm. The address is 4450 Candora Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37920 and admission is always free of charge.

The artists will also appear at an event at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center on Friday, April 5, 2024 from 12:00—1:00 pm. Attendees are welcome to bring their own brown bag lunch. The address is 1927 Dandridge Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37915.

Mie Kongo grew up on the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan, and now lives and works in Evanston, IL. She creates multidisciplinary works that have been exhibited nationally and internationally. This includes two solo exhibitions at 65Grand in Chicago, IL, a recent two-person Exposure booth represented by 65Grand at EXPO Chicago, and participation in NADA Miami represented by The Landing Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. Her other selected solo and group exhibitions were held at Harper College in Palatine, IL; Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, MO; Audible Gallery at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, IL; Devening Projects + Editions in Chicago, IL; Arts and Literature Laboratory in Madison, WI; and 4th Ward Project Space in Chicago, IL. She completed residencies at Shigaraki Ceramics Cultural Park in Shiga, Japan, and the European Keramic Work Center in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Mie Kongo received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA in Ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Currently, she serves as an Associate Professor, Adjunct, in the Ceramics Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Fellowship in 2021.

Althea Murphy-Price began her studies in Fine Art at Spelman College before receiving her Master of Arts in Printmaking and Painting from Purdue University, and later studying at the Tyler School of Art, Temple University where she earned her Master of Fine Arts. Murphy-Price maintains an active exhibiting practice. She has exhibited in venues throughout the country and abroad such as the Weston Gallery, Cincinnati, OH; Howard Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; Wellesley College, Boston, MA; Wade Wilson Art Gallery, Houston, TX; Indiana University Art Museum; The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA; The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, SC; and the Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN. International exhibits include the International Printmaking Exhibition, Jingdezhen China; the American Youth Printmaking Exhibition, Lui Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China; and Print Resonance, Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Japan. In addition to her exhibition record, she has been an artist-in-residence at the Frank Lloyd Wright School; University of Hawaii, Hilo; the Vermont Studio Center; and the Venice Printmaking Studio. Her writings and work have been featured in such publications as Art Papers Magazine, CAA Reviews, Contemporary Impressions Journal, Art in Print, Printmaking: A Complete Guide to Materials and Process, and Printmakers Today.

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

DUSK BY SHAHNAZ LIGHARI
Project Space, Apr. 5 - Jun. 1, 2024

Tri-Star Arts is pleased to present the next exhibition in their Golden Chain Gallery project space located at the historic Candoro Marble Building. Dusk by Shahnaz Lighari (Nashville, TN) opens Friday, April 5 and will run through Saturday, June 1, 2024, with a thematic focus on the transitional moment between day and night. This show is located within the unique architectural space of a narrow wooden stairwell.

https://shahnazlighari.com/

Shahnaz Lighari is an artist based in Nashville, TN. She is self taught as a painter but attended Watkins College of Art, Design, and Film where she became inspired by art history and film. Incorporating a cinematic time-based approach to 2D media her work embodies the process of creation highlighting the many phases and layers involved in the evolution of each piece. Her work has been featured in publications and has shown in galleries nationwide, especially in the southeast. She has taught painting and printmaking at Monthaven Arts & Cultural Center and recently attended a workshop on Byzantine Iconography and sacred arts.

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

Featuring nearly 40 pieces
Join the artist on First Friday, April 5.
115 S Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902

Patsy Ferrell White/Ferrell White Creative
https://www.ferrellwhitecreative.com
www.instagram.com/ferrellwhitecreative
https://www.facebook.com/patsyferrellwhite