Calendar of Events

8/9 • Knoxville Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream
8/9 • Evening Paddle
8/10 • Knoxville Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
8/11 • Sound Bath Meditation
8/11 • Paint and Plant with an Owl Workshop
8/11 • Knoxville Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream
8/16 • Movies Under the Stars: Across the Universe
8/16 • Evening Paddle

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

DOCKDOGS International returns for the 8th Annual DOG DAZE at VILLAGE GREEN SHOPPING Center. A 3 Day Festival of fun, food, shopping and competition!

Smoky Mountain DockDogs is the local club that will be supporting this event. Club President Meredith Atkinson states; “We are ecstatic to host this East Tennessee competition for the eighth time! We expect teams from as far away as Ohio and Florida to compete throughout the weekend. Our Farragut event has become a premier stop for many of the serious Dock Diving Dog Teams!” In fact, all event registrations sold out in less than an hour last year. Additional time had to be added to the schedule to accommodate the demand.” Competitors love coming to the Dog Daze at Village Green event because of the atmosphere of the crowd, the local food trucks, and the level of competition this event brings. There will be over 400 jumps with 150 competitors.

Smoky Mountain DockDogs will also conduct a silent auction which will benefit the B.A.A.R.K. foundation. This is an organization that helps the DockDogs community in their time of need. Over 50 vendors will surround the competition pool including everything you need for your home, your family and especially your pets! There will be food trucks, retail shops, adult beverages, face-painting and children's rides - besides all tings canine!

https://www.shopfarragut.com/events/dog-daze-viii/

August 9-10: Farragut Branch Used Book Sale, 10:00-5:00

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/

Performed Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM; Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM; and Sundays at 3 PM.

Tom Sawyer may be the most famous resident of St. Petersburg, Missouri, but he’s a down to earth character who not only knows how to cure warts with stump water and live the swashbuckling life on the high seas, he can also whitewash a fence in no time flat. Mark Twain’s homage to the imagination and high adventure of youth on the mighty Mississippi features Tom and a cast of characters who live at the very heart of Americana: Huck Finn, Aunt Polly, Becky Thatcher, the Widow Douglas, Muff Potter, and more.

The play is performed by 17 talented young actors and designed by 9 talented young designers from ages 9 to 16.

KCT is East Tennessee’s leading producer of plays for children and families.
Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-208-3677, www.knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com

Join Nourish Knoxville and some of your favorite local restaurants, bars, breweries, and coffeehouses for an exceptional week celebrating our vibrant local food scene! With featured breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drink menu items across Knoxville highlighting local ingredients grown within a 150-mile radius, there will surely be something to delight every palate.

Need more reasons to join us? Check out which of your favorite spots are participating:

Baker Boy Pizza Company
Bistro by the Tracks (Bearden)
The Farmacy
Fly By Night
Frothy Monkey
Lilou
The Plaid Apron
Wild Love Bakehouse
+ more

Pro Tip #1: Be sure to ask for the Nourish Knoxville’s Restaurant Week dish or drink!
Pro Tip #2: While specific menu items are still under wraps, you can start planning your itinerary to hit all the locations listed on our website below.

https://www.nourishknoxville.org/restaurant-week/

First Friday Reception: August 2nd, 5:30 - 9 pm

A native of Virginia, Kathy Holland attended the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCUarts) in Richmond, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting and printmaking in 1978. The following summer she studied with master wood-engraver Blair Hughes-Stanton at the Central School of Art and Design in London, England. Ever since graduation from VCUarts, Kathy has worked continually as an artist, exhibiting drawings, etchings, relief prints, and paintings in juried national and international exhibitions and solo shows. In addition to her studio practice, she has worked over the years as a freelance graphic artist, medical illustrator, mura lpainter, portrait artist, art show juror, and drawing instructor. In 1986 she emigrated to Canada, lived in the small rural town of Deep River, Ontario for over11 years, and exhibited her work extensively in solo exhibitions at public galleries throughout Ontario and in juried shows across the US.

Debbie Corley of DC Pottery creates pieces that are mostly wheel thrown, but she constructs some hand-built pieces as well, focusing on functional ware that is intended to be used and enjoyed in daily life. Inspired by the dynamics of the outside world, the changing seasons, and the organic patterns and textures found in nature, her work includes surface designs are created by employing carving techniques to expose the clay material underneath underglazes, hand painting to emphasize and highlight to create contrast and interest, and layering of patterned transfers, textures, and decals.

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

This upcoming First Friday we will be showcasing “Sueños,” an exhibition that celebrates the artistry of Honduran artists Sergio Martínez, Valeria Martínez, and Estefano Martínez.

https://holahoralatina.org/current-exhibit/
865.335.3358

Emporium Center + Dogwood Gallery
Reception: August 2nd / 5-8PM
Details TBA

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com

Paintings by Lauren Adams, opening reception on Friday, Aug 2, 5-9 PM

RED Gallery, 130 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-524-0146 or https://www.facebook.com/REDgalleryKNOX/

The Arts & Culture Alliance, with support from Messer Construction, is pleased to present a new installation entitled WIN THE FUTURE! in the Emporium Center's main gallery throughout the month of August and opening on Friday, August 2, from 5:00-9:00 PM.

WIN THE FUTURE!, created by Jake Barton, is an immersive experience allowing visitors the opportunity to interact with their future selves and see how their current decisions shape Knoxville’s future health and well-being. As visitors make choices, they will walk among the trees of the Smokies; then, while inside an interactive DreamCube, they may be invited to extinguish a forest fire, clear flooded streets, or plant virtual flowers. This unique experience, focused on the climate crisis, helps visitors discover actions that can change the future, for better or worse. Preview the DreamCube at https://theaccelerator.studio/dreamcube.

The DreamCube serves as a "time machine" to save the future. It utilizes a customized algorithm to help visitors discover their highest impact climate actions by talking to their future self. The DreamCube also compiles solutions for systems change to not only create a shift in climate action but also in how we talk about it.

Jake Barton is principal and founder of Local Projects, a New York-based design firm which specializes in media design. Since 2006, Barton and his team have worked on creating the media design for the 9/11 Memorial and Museum; they also worked to develop the algorithm used to place names around the 9/11 Memorial itself. Other clients include the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Frank Gehry-designed Eisenhower Presidential Memorial and Cleveland Museum of Art. In 2013, Local Projects was named the National Design Award winner for Interaction Design, while in 2011 it was listed as the second most innovative design firm by Fast Company magazine. Barton designs museum experiences that bring complex topics to life, inspiring reflection and action.

WIN THE FUTURE! is sponsored by Messer Construction with support from the Arts & Culture Alliance and the Emporium Center. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9 AM - 5 PM or by appointment through Thursday, August 29.

As part of a special First Friday Block Party sponsored by the Alliance and City of Knoxville, the free opening reception on Friday, August 2 will also feature nearly 20 artist vendors and live music with Robinella outside along the 100 Block of Gay Street, which will be open to pedestrians only from 4-10 PM between Jackson and Vine avenues. Inside the Emporium, music will be provided by Rodney Lee and TOO EASY (Rachelle and Kenneth Navy).

The Emporium Center is located at 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

Featuring Artists: Patsy Ferrell White and Medha Karandikar

Opening reception: Friday Aug 2nd from 5-9pm

Broadway Studios and Gallery, 1127 Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Hours: Saturdays 10am-5pm, by appointment, or when the "open" sign is illuminated. Information: 865-556-8676, www.BroadwayStudiosAndGallery.com and www.facebook.com/broadwaystudiosandgallery/

BY LESLIE KIMBELL
Directed by Jill Stapleton Bergeron

Polly Porter, famous 1970s gospel singer of the group Polly Porter & the Praise His Name Singers, has gone on up to heaven. Her daughter, Caroline, has come home to Savannah, Georgia, to pack up Miss Polly’s house, but there is just one little problem (or two or three): Miss Polly was an extreme hoarder of epic proportions, Caroline’s useless siblings are totally MIA, and her three best friends from high school, former co-cheerleaders, have all shown up… unannounced! Lizzy now owns the Miss Georgia Belle Pageantry system, Donna Jo is the local community theatre diva, and Becca is having a late-in-life geriatric pregnancy with baby girl number five. The gospel music plays and the margaritas pour as the four ladies laugh, cry, scream and come together to pack up Miss Polly’s house, heal old wounds, and make new plans for their future.

With humor, wit and vulnerability, Packing Up Polly delves into themes of forgiveness, acceptance and the transformative power of letting go… unpacking the layers of our own lives to find healing and redemption.

Performances are Thu-Sat 7:30 PM and Sun 3 PM

Theatre Knoxville Downtown, 800 S. Central Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information & tickets: 865-544-1999, www.theatreknoxville.com