Calendar of Events

The Q Series features KSO’s String Quartets and Woodwind Quintet in six lunchtime performances on Wednesdays at 12 p.m. at the Elks Lodge. Lunch will be provided.

Knoxville Symphony Orchestra: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

MIKE BIRBIGLIA: PLEASE STOP THE RIDE
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11 | 7PM

Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information/tickets: 865-684-1200, www.tennesseetheatre.com

Trevor Wallace and Michael Blaustein present: Stiff Socks Live, Wednesday December 11, 7:00 PM at the Bijou Theatre.

Comedians Trevor Wallace and Michael Blaustein are taking the Stiff Socks Podcast on the road for the first time EVER and we're coming to Knoxville! Join us for a night of stand-up comedy followed by a live podcast taping of Stiff Socks with audience interaction, a Q&A, and surprise special guests!

Tickets at: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1B006127180C616E
Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information/tickets: 865-522-0832, https://knoxbijou.org/

*THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED* *update 12/3/24*

Link to Meetup event: https://www.meetup.com/the-creative-kind/events/304183458/

When: Wednesday, December 11th, 5:30-8pm
Where: RED Gallery, 130 W Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902
Cost: $25 suggested donation, $10 for students with ID

The Creative Community in Asheville was especially hard hit by the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Many artists lost their studios. The galleries that represent them were damaged, and, during what is usually the busiest time of year, fairs and festivals are still cancelled. So we’re hosting a special holiday card-making event to raise money for the excellent arts organization, ArtsAVL. We'll have all of the card-making supplies to inspire your creativity, from paints, colored pencils, and markers to collage materials, like papers, fabrics, found objects, and magazine photos.

We’ll be fueling our creativity with holiday treats and seasonal drinks, thanks to our awesome sponsor, TEKsystems.

There’s a $25 suggested donation at the door benefiting ArtsAVL’s Emergency Relief Grant. ArtsAVL is awarding stipends to arts professionals living in the 25 counties of Western NC impacted by Hurricane Helene. All of the funds that we raise will go directly to ArtAVL to support their work. Questions/want to get involved? email us at hello@thecreativekind.org

5-7 PM

Join us for Tavern Notes: Weekly live music outside of the Tavern at Maker Exchange

Makers Exchange, 710 Clinch Avenue, Knoxville
https://www.makerexchangeknox.com

Time: 6:00–8:00 PM
Location: The Kraken’s Cup

Join Reem, a Syrian artist who has found a new beginning in Knoxville, for a special paint and sip class at The Kraken’s Cup, where art bridges cultural divides. Reem shares her passion for watercolor painting as a means of connection and self-expression, helping participants see the world through a new lens.

• Create beautiful holiday watercolor greeting cards.
• Enjoy a two-hour session: practice techniques in the first hour and receive detailed guidance in the second.
• Materials provided, but attendees are encouraged to bring their own brushes, pencils, and preferred paper.
• Complimentary tea and butter cookies will be served.

Celebrate the joy of art and the season in this inspiring and creative workshop at The Kraken's Cup!
https://www.exploretock.com/the-krakens-cup-knoxville/event/509495/art-with-reem

We are hosting a VERY special Tree Walk entitled “Christmas Miracles.”

As we venture into the final days before Christmas, come learn about some trees that are lucky to still be with us this holiday season. Kasey Krouse, City of Knoxville Urban Forester, will take us downtown amongst the Christmas lights to talk about close encounters, unexpected turns, and unpredictable events that almost turned some of our resident downtown trees into mulch. Come hear stories on the challenges of getting trees to survive in one of the most harsh environments where trees live… a college town!

There will also be tree trivia for those who are up to the challenge! See y’all out there, may the best tree-lover win! No sign up needed, just show up!

At Charles Krutch Park at the Christmas Tree, 504 Market Street, downtown
5:30-7 PM
https://www.treesknoxville.org/

A brand new congregation in a beautiful old building. Located in historic North Knoxville.
Live acoustic piedmont blues with Buck Hoffmann (guitar and vocals) and Drew Fisher (harmonica, banjo, and vocals)

Doors open at 6
Music starts 7:30
$10 at door includes home cooked meal!

1323 N Broadway
https://www.facebook.com/events/1619679068900511/

Connect with Knoxville’s maker community! Come back often for our ever-changing schedule of maker presentations, performances, markets and meet-ups. https://www.makerexchangeknox.com/happenings/

December 10, 9:30AM - 3:30PM Artist in Action – Valerie Pearce
December 10, 12:00PM - 8:00PM Artist in Action – Brian Melton
December 10, 3:30PM - 7:00PM Artist in Action – Deana Fulton
December 10, 5:00PM - 11:00PM Tavern Notes: Live Music at Maker Exchange (5:00-11:00 PM) Willow Osborne, Jesse Blue Eads, & Cody Bauer
December 11, 10:00AM - 3:00PM Artist in Action – Brian Melton
December 11, 5:00PM - 7:00PM Tavern Notes: Live Music at Maker Exchange (5:00-7:00 PM) Fiddles and Flatpicks
December 13, 5:00PM - 7:00PM Tavern Notes: Live Music at Maker Exchange (5:00-7:00 PM) Holiday Carolers
December 20, 5:00PM - 7:00PM Tavern Notes: Live Music at Maker Exchange (5:00-7:00 PM) Holiday Carolers

CURATED BY DOGWOOD ARTS AT WORLD’S FAIR PARK
710 Clinch Avenue, Knoxville TN 37902
General · Makers: 865-637-4561
Tavern: 865-934-2983
Coffee Shop: 865-934-2985
Event Space · Sales: 865-934-2963
info@makerexchangeknox.com

Reception Dec 13, 6-7:30 PM with artist's talks at 6:30 PM
Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church
Free and open to the public

Yvonne Dalschen
After living for over 20 years in the “Secret City” of the Manhattan Project, I never learned how to stop worrying and love the bomb. I am surrounded by fences and signs, atomic nostalgia, selective amnesia and heritage tourism, and I sometimes seem to be the only one bothered by this. “Ghosts of the Manhattan Project” started during the clean-up of K-25. This uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge was the largest building in the world when built in 1944. My work is an ongoing exploration of the landscapes and archives of the atomic age, layering histories with observations into photographic palimpsests. I picture the invisible and the unthinkable, collecting the choices and promises made, the stories told, the stories forgotten and the fears that haunt us at night.

Yvonne Dalschen is a German photographer living in Oak Ridge, TN. She is interested in history of place, cultural landscapes and digital experimentation. She earned an MA in Comparative Literature from the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and a Photography Certificate from the University of Tennessee. Her images haven been exhibited nationally and internationally from Oak Ridge to Sydney, Australia, recently at the Knoxville Museum of Art, The Bascom Center and UGA’s Circle Gallery.

Debby Hall
“The Joy of Color” features paintings reflecting the artistry in nature through color and the spontaneity of alcohol inks and watercolors. Whether painting abstracts or more realistic mountains, flowers, landscapes or birds, Hall hopes her paintings bring people joy and a greater connection to the beauty around us.

Debby Hall is a self-taught artist whose paintings were juried into the Oak Ridge Art Center’s Open Show (September 2023) and the “Arts in the Airport” Spring 2024 show, where she received the Award of Merit. She exhibits often through Knoxville’s Arts & Culture Alliance and the St. Lucie Culture Alliance. She donates net proceeds from art sales to a non-profit charity, Saving Grace in Uganda, that rescues young homeless street children and gives them medical care, food, education, housing and hope in a country with virtually no social services. For more information visit her website, https://artforsavinggrace.com

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Gallery hours: M-Th 9:30-4:30, Su 9-1. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org

Join the Appalachian Ballet Company and Clara on a magical journey to the Land of the Sweets. Principal Artists, Laura Morton La Russa and James La Russa will be taking the stage as Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier, as well as welcoming back guest artists, Aaron Smyth and Alexandre Gonzaga. This production features live music by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for all public performances conducted by ABC’s Music Director, Mr. James Fellenbaum.

At Knoxville Civic Auditorium
Saturday, December 7th 2024 Evening Performance 7pm
Sunday, December 8th 2024 Matinee Performance 3pm

At Clayton Center for the Arts
Friday, December 13th 2024 Evening Performance 7pm
Saturday, December 14th 2024 Matinee Performance 3pm

https://www.appalachianballet.org/tickets

First Friday Reception: December 6th, 5:30 - 9 pm
December Featured Artists

Claire Bodnaruk, Glass
A Native Tennessean, Claire Bodnaruk has lived in Australia, Florida, Minnesota and Chicago, before returning to her home state of Tennessee in 2019. Following a career in advertising, film & video production, she explored different creative outlets while raising her two daughters. Claire has been working in glass for over 20 years. Her journey in glass began with becoming proficient in metal fabrication, incorporating colorful glass into unique jewelry. During travels to London, France and Italy, she was inspired by the beautiful Venetian and stained glass art that led to exploring glass on a larger scale. Learning from recognized glass artists across the United States in glass blowing to glass fusing, Claire’s current focus is in kiln formed glass, the manipulation of shaping glass in a kiln with heat and gravity. The process to produce one piece may involve several firings with many hours in the cycle, multiple techniques and manipulations, and cold working for a quality finish. Her work is both functional and nonfunctional glass art.

Allen Monsarrat, Painting
Allen’s art education began with three years training in architecture, but finished with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with a concentration in pottery at the Memphis College of Art. His first art career was as a studio potter in Friendsville, Tn for 25 years. That was followed by careers in decorative wall finishes, faux painting, cabinetry finishing and the occasional mural project. It was studying “trompe l’oiel” (fool the eye) imagery with French master craftsman Michel Nadai that nurtured his interest in creating representational art. “Creating a painting is always an exciting journey. I am never certain whether a painting will be as successful as I have envisioned it in my mind. I am more than a decade into developing my representational painting skills. I have honed my methodology into a procedure of how I develop a painting by breaking it into manageable steps. First choosing a subject with personal meaning based on my travels or a subject close to home here in East Tennessee. But the image must be a strong composition and contain a range of tonal values from darks to lights. This is worked out by doing an under painting by using only one color to establish a range of values. At this point I can concentrate on colors and brush application. Brush application refers to how apparent or not are the actual brush strokes. Slowly edging away from my original tendency toward photorealism, some of my new work has a more painterly feel to it. Yet, like a photograph, it retains a great deal of detail.
I have always been a student of art. The continuing passion I have for art is that I will never stop learning.”

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