Calendar of Events

6/21 • Full Moon Paddle
6/21 • Full Moon Hike
6/22 • Summer Tree ID: Beginner Workshop
6/22 • Caving Trip
6/22 • Terror in the Woods
6/23 • Forest Bathing Workshop
6/23 • Self Care Sunday Yoga
6/23 • Paint and Plant with an Opossum Workshop
6/23 • Summer Tree ID: Beginner Workshop
6/23 • Evening Paddle
6/27 • Moths and More: Ijams After Dark
6/28 • Pickin' on Nature with Clinch River Ramblers and True Blue
6/28 • Moths and More: Ijams After Dark
And more!

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Visitor Center open daily 10-6; grounds and trails open daily from 8 AM - dusk. Information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

Marble City Opera will present two site-specific performances of Il Tabarro by renowned composer Giacomo Puccini.

On Friday, June 21 at 7:00 p.m., we'll be at the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore for a performance next to the lake. VIP ticket holders will attend a pre-show reception.

On Sunday, June 23 a 7:00 p.m., we'll be in Melton Lake Park, 697 Melton Lake Drive in Oak Ridge for a performance overlooking Melton Hill Lake of the Clinch River. Food and Beer Trucks will be present for enjoyment before the performance.

General admission tickets are $40 each. VIP tickets are $50 each. VIP tickets include a pre-show reception with refreshments.

The story of Il Tabarro takes place in the 1910s aboard a barge anchored on the bank of the Seine River in Paris. Barge captain Michele correctly guesses that his wife Giorgetta is having an affair with one of his barge hands. Michele catches a longshoreman named Luigi on his way to meet Giorgetta late one night and operatic tragedy ensues. The singers in the cast of Il Tabarro are Marble City Opera's Executive Artistic Director Kathryn Frady as Giorgetta; Eddie Brennan as Luigi; Jacob Lassetter as Michele; Chris Plaas as Tinca; Maurice Hendricks as Talpa; Ema Mitrovic as La Frugola; Breyon Ewing as the Song Vendor; and Elena Klein as a Lover. The stage director for Il Tabarro is Marya Barry. The orchestra conductor is Andy Anderson.

Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at www.marblecityopera.com/tickets
Social Media links: FB: facebook.com/MarbleCityOpera
IN: @MarbleCityOpera
TW: @MarbleCityOpera

Burlington Branch Library
Jun 21, 10-5
Jun 22, 1-5

Since 1970 Friends has donated over $1M to the Knox County Public Library. Our used book shop and book sales raised nearly $98,000 in FY 2023. Some of the library programs currently receiving support from Friends of the Library include the new Storybook Trails program, the Children’s Festival of Reading, Summer Library Club, and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Knox County.
https://www.knoxfriends.org/book-sales/

At the Knoxville Expo Center
June 21, 2024 .......... 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
June 22, 2024.......... 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Quilt Turnings by Jan Wass & Merikay Waldvogel • FREE
Friday, June 21, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

Go Tell It! Video filming of quilt stories • Both days • Check in with The Quilt Alliance booth in the Vendor area • FREE
Vendor Sales and Demonstrations
Boutique Gift Shop by members of Smoky Mountain Quilters
Quilt Appraisals by Cindy Stuart - for an appraisal appointment please call 865-386-0940
Quilt Scavenger Hunts for the young ones and the young-at-heart

Admission: $10 Adults; Children under 12 are free; Two-day pass $15; Group admissions - Call
Free Parking and Handicapped Accessible Entry
https://www.smokymtnquilters.com/quilt-show.html

FRIDAY, JUNE 21 | 8:00PM
Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information/tickets: 865-522-0832, https://knoxbijou.org/

Knox County will once again host a series of free, friendly-family movie nights at several county parks this summer. Five screenings will be held at five different parks as part of the Sunset Cinema series. All screenings are free with activities beginning at 7 p.m. and the movies to begin at dusk.

June 21 - Migration @ French Memorial Park
July 19 - Barbie @ Powell Station Park
August 2 - Little Mermaid @ Tank Strickland Park

https://www.facebook.com/events/415675047994491/

Visit www.knoxcounty.org/parks for a complete list of events taking place at county parks in the coming months.

June 21 – The Fine Colombians: A Steely Dan Tribute
Show begins at 6:30pm. Doors open at 5:30pm. Admission is $20 at the Door.
Ages 12 & under are admitted Free. Ages 17 & under must be accompanied by an Adult.

Few bands have the nerve, let alone the talent to attempt to perform the music of Steely Dan, but this band does. Rolling Stone magazine called Steely Dan “the perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies.” We’re not really sure what that means, but we do know that even to this day, long after they broke up in 1981, the music of Steely Dan remains iconic and instantly recognizable with its blend of jazz, traditional pop, and R&B with cryptic and ironic lyrics. The music is also complex enough to intimidate most bands from attempting to perform it. About fourteen years ago in Knoxville, bassist Scott Robbins began pondering that possibility. Some years later, Robbins mentioned this dream to vocalist/pianist Kenneth Scott Eggert, a childhood friend whom he hadn’t seen in fifteen years until Eggert moved to Asheville, North Carolina. After finishing his doctorate in music in 2017, Eggert, aka “Dr. K,” began working on some arrangements for Steely Dan tunes, complete with horns and backup singers. That dream and band came together and now features Mike Spirko (trumpet), Dave Eckman (alto sax), Bob Knapp (tenor sax), Scott Fugate (drums), Jake Byrd (guitar) and backing vocalists Meredith Whitehead and Michele Williams, a.k.a. the "Babylon Sisters." The Fine Colombians: A Steely Dan Tribute were an instant hit, and they've continued to play for large, appreciative crowds ever since, including four fantastic performances at “Friday Night Live!” at The Concourse and their three performances at The Bijou Theatre.

4328 N. Broadway, www.concourseknox.com

FREE Tour Series
Wednesday, June 19, and Saturday, June 22, 2024, times varied.

Join us for special tours to commemorate Juneteenth. Mabry-Hazen House will share stories, objects, and research related to the historic house museum, local enslaved communities, and their stories of emancipation. Visitors will learn about the lives of African-Americans connected to Mabry-Hazen House, their achievements and struggles, and the various ways they gained their freedom. From self-liberation to the 13th Amendment, “...And Then I Became Free: Stories of Emancipation at Mabry-Hazen House” will explore the different methods enslaved people broke down the oppressive institution of American chattel slavery and fought to gain their personal liberty.

On Wednesday, June 19th, the museum will offer special Juneteenth tours at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm.
On Saturday, June 22nd, tours will be offered at 10:30am, 12:00pm, 1:30pm.

Admission is free, but tours are limited to twenty-four (24) visitors per tour.
Reservations are encouraged and donations are appreciated.
https://www.simpletix.com/e/and-then-i-became-free-stories-of-emancip-tickets-173716

Winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In a run-down movie theater in central Massachusetts, three underpaid employees mop the floors and attend to one of the last 35mm film projectors in the state. A hilarious and heart-rending cry for authenticity in a fast-changing world.

Jun 16 - 23, 2024
Central Cinema, 1205 North Central Street, Knoxville, Tennessee 37917
https://www.simpletix.com/e/the-flick-by-annie-baker-tickets-158344

Reception Friday, June 14, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.
Free and open to the public

“Indicia” is defined as indications, traces or evidence; something serving as a visible or tangible representation of a fact, quality or feeling. Mixed-media artists Emily Taylor and Jean Hess – long-time friends and colleagues -- make work about recollecting and reconsidering early memories, family history and chaotic life paths. They each gather and playfully experiment with found and natural materials along with traditional art media, aiming to surprise themselves and others.

Jean Hess’ work is in public collections including the Huntsville, Knoxville and Evansville museums of art as well as corporate and private collections. She writes about art, gives classes and opens her Knoxville studio and garden by appointment: www.jeanhess.com

Emily Taylor teaches studio art locally as an adjunct professor and in other workshop formats. She has shown her work locally, regionally and in group shows and private collections. Contact her to visit or come to an open studio in Bearden!
https://www.facebook.com/emilytaylorpaintings/
Instagram:@emilytaylor9515

Gallery hours: 9:30-4:30 Monday through Thursday, 9:00-1:00 Sunday
Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918

A two-person show, Outta Time, featuring recent works by artists Joshua Bienko (Knoxville, TN) and Lester Merriweather (Memphis, TN). Curator: Brian R. Jobe.

A preview reception will be held on Friday, June 7, 2024 from 5:00—8:00 pm. Additionally, there will be an artists’ reception on Friday, July 19, 2024 from 5:00—8:00 pm (artists in attendance). There will be an artist talk by Bienko and Merriweather beforehand on July 19 at 3:30pm.

Joshua Bienko (b. 1978, NY) received his MFA from the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia in 2008, and his BFA from the University of Buffalo in 2000. He has exhibited at NADA (NY), Dallas Contemporary (TX), Artpace (TX), Labor Ebertplatz (Köln), Vox Populi (PA), Big Medium (TX), OUTERSPACE (Facebook) and the Guggenheim Museum (in collaboration with YouTube Play Biennial). Most recently he has shown in New York, Portland, Baltimore, Brooklyn and Pittsburgh. He has also curated shows in Brooklyn, Queens, Seattle, and Gainesville and is one of the founding members of the artist-run space Ortega y Gasset Projects in Gowanus, and C for Courtside in Knoxville. He is a 2009 Tanne Foundation recipient, and a Hambidge Residency and V.C.C.A Fellow. Bienko is an Associate Professor in the School of Art at the University of Tennessee, where he teaches Drawing and Painting. “Who’s the G.O.A.T.? Jordan! Or maybe J.M.W. Turner. Yeah, Either Jordan or Turner.”

Lester Julian Merriweather (b. 1978) is a Memphis-based visual artist. He attended the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. He holds an MFA from Memphis College of Art and a BA from Jackson State University. Merriweather has exhibited extensively throughout the U.S. at various venues such as the Studio Museum (New York, NY), CAM (St. Louis, MO), TOPS Gallery, Crosstown Arts, and Powerhouse (Memphis, TN), Diverseworks (Houston, TX), Stella Jones Gallery (New Orleans, LA), and Atlanta Contemporary (Atlanta, GA). He has also exhibited internationally at the Zacheta National Gallery (Warsaw, Poland). Merriweather served as the first Curatorial Director of the Jones Gallery & the Martha & Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art at the University of Memphis from 2010-2016. He worked on the Board of Directors for Number, Inc. independent journal where he created the Art of the South exhibition series. He is a founding member of the ArtsMemphis Artist Advisory Council and the artsAccelerator Grant Panel. He served as the Curatorial Consultant for the PPF Contemporary Art Collection (Memphis, TN). He is Emeritus for the Advisory Panel of TONE Memphis. Merriweather is participating in Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage. Originating at The Frist Art Museum (Nashville, TN), the exhibition travels to The Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, TX) and The Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.).

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

This show is located within the unique architectural space of a narrow wooden stairwell.

A preview reception will be held on Friday, June 7, 2024 from 5:00—8:00 pm. Additionally, there will be another reception on Friday, July 19, 2024 from 5:00—8:00 pm (artist in attendance).

Michael Giles is a Venezuelan-American artist working primarily in painting and drawing. He has exhibited nationally including SITE: Brooklyn (Brooklyn, NY), Core New Art Space (Denver, CO), Channel To Channel (Nashville, TN), William King Museum (Abingdon, VA), Crosstown Arts (Memphis, TN), Walters State Community College, Carson Newman University, and Fluorescent Gallery (Knoxville, TN). Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, at the age of five he immigrated with his family to Baltimore, OH. He studied as part of the Reciprocal Exchange Program at Edith Cowan University (Perth, Australia, 1996) and received a BFA from The Ohio State University in 2000, and an MFA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2007. He is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN. He lives and works in Knoxville, TN, with his wife and son and various furry animals.

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