Calendar of Events

Join us oat Addison’s Bookstore in Knoxville for a free interactive presentation by historian, writer, and podcaster Doug Sofer, Ph.D. Learn how thinking like a historian can add authenticity and depth to your writing. Perfect for writers of historical fiction, essays, and memoirs, this talk will explore how to transport readers to bygone eras with accuracy and imagination.

Time: 7:00 PM | Admission: Free (Donations welcome)
Visit www.findyourselfinhistory.com to learn more about Doug’s work.

For more information, please visit http://knoxvillewritersguild.org or contact us at info@knoxvillewritersguild.org.

MY MEMORY IS A MACHINE - AMBROSE RHAPSODY MURRAY
FIRST FRIDAYS | JANUARY 3, FEBRUARY 7, 5-9PM
Come meet the artist as part of the February 7th First Friday Art Walk.

Ambrose Rhapsody Murray (she/they) is a self-taught artist with roots in Florida and Asheville, NC. Through sewing, painting, material experimentation, film, and collaborative projects, they create stories to investigate our relationships to the colonial undercurrents of our lives, the charged symbology of black feminine bodies, and the ephemeral and layered qualities of memory and remembering. Ambrose received their Bachelor’s from Yale University, and was recently selected as Forbes 30 under 30 in the 2024 Art section. Their work lives in the permanent collection of The Studio Museum in Harlem and the Montclair Art Museum, and has exhibited across the US and abroad.

This exhibition and programming is co-sponsored by The Pride Center and generously supported by UT’s Office of Multicultural Student Life; Women, Gender, and Sexuality; The Department of Geography and Sustainability, and Africana Studies.

UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: W-F 11-6, Sa 10-3. Information: 865-673-0802, https://downtown.utk.edu

New members of 2024 will be featured during the month of January! A First Friday opening reception for the “New Members” exhibit is planned from 5:30-9pm, January 3rd, with complimentary refreshments and music.

New members:
Kimberly Collins - photography
Bonnie Colonna - fiber
Katharine Emlen - photography
Robin Ford - fiber
Paul Morris - wood
Katherine Schmoeller - fiber
Amber Purdy - drawing (2nd medium)
Claire Bodnaruk - glass
Christine Westbrook - painting
Deborah Etheredge - painting
Steven Varga - metal
Julie Boisseau-Craig - clay (3rd medium)
Alessandra Sutter Page - painting

The Art Market Gallery is a juried cooperative of over 50 East Tennessee artists dedicated to providing a vibrant marketplace for original art and fine crafts.

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

A Penny in Your Pocket: National Juried Exhibition, Part I
Opening reception: January 3, 5:00-9:00pm

Carrying a penny in your pocket into the new year is alleged to bring good fortune and prosperity. Kicking off the 2025 Arrowmont Gallery exhibition calendar, this exhibition explores interpretations of superstition. Held in two parts, Part I will be in January, opening to the public on First Friday, January 3rd, and Part II will be on view in February beginning First Friday, February 7th.

Juried by Rachel K. Garceau, Part I features work by the following artists: Celena Amburgey, Priscilla Bañuelos, Brittani Brown, Cindy Cheng, Jessika Edgar, Casey Engel, Noah Kiehne, M. Kobe, Lisa Kurtz, Ashlee Mays, Alena Mehic, Sung Eun Park, Kaleena Stasiak, Stacy Tabb, Scott Thorp, Sara Torgison, Hanna Washburn, Josh Winkler, Juanita Wyatt, Ashleigh York and Valerie Zimany.

For more information on this exhibition and others, please visit our site at: https://arrowmont.org/galleries/
110 S Gay St. Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
www.arrowmont.org

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville opening on Friday, January 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM. A free gathering with exhibiting artists will also feature live music with Evelyn Jack and Friends.

Anthony Donaldson lives in Knoxville and is a Knoxville Area Transit bus driver. He intensely studied art in high school and continued taking classes in college. Donaldson expresses himself through art as a writer would express oneself in a book. He asks himself whether art imitates life or life imitates art, and he feels the answer is both. Donaldson aims to tell a story with his art, and the recent work he will display features many subjects such as climate change, human trafficking, Harlem Renaissance culture, political and social issues, racism & classism, and more.

The exhibitions will be on display January 3-31, 2025 at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed Monday, January 20, for the holiday. Most of the works on exhibition will be for sale and may be purchased by visiting in person or the online shop at knoxalliance.store. For more information, please see 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 opening on Friday, January 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM. A free gathering with exhibiting artists will also feature live music with Evelyn Jack and Friends.

Diana Ferguson, known to the art community as “DiFergi”, graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from Stetson University. She then taught art in the public school system for eight years before she went full time as a studio artist. Diana can now be found in her studio almost every day of the week. One of the many highlights of her art career was being invited to a month-long residency in Hungary where she worked with eleven other artists from around the globe. She has shown on multiple continents and has had her work featured in multiple publications. Currently, she is an active advocate for the arts in East Tennessee.

My work is full of color, forms and layering. There is a plethora of characters to be found inside a world that is basically happy yet sometimes concerned about social and moral issues. My goal is to create a space for the viewer to connect in a way that is entertaining but also creates questions. Sometimes things make perfect sense and sometimes they do not. There is a strong sense of narrative in my work. My imaginary characters develop as I paint and I love exploring their oddities and proclivities. I hope that you are perplexed and smiling as you view my work.

difergi.blogspot.com | Instagram @difergiart

The exhibitions will be on display January 3-31, 2025 at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed Monday, January 20, for the holiday. Most of the works on exhibition will be for sale and may be purchased by visiting in person or the online shop at knoxalliance.store. For more information, please see 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 opening on Friday, January 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM. A free gathering with exhibiting artists will also feature live music with Evelyn Jack and Friends.

Stephen Phillips (b. 1988) was raised in the small town of Crawford, MS. He has always been intrigued by the arts whether music, dance, or visual arts, and his start in ceramics can be traced to his childhood enjoyment of mixing earth with water. He learned the fundamental skills of hand building and throwing at EMCC, receiving an Associate of Arts degree. He later attended Mississippi University for Women where he began to advance his throwing skills. He has trained under a national and international ceramics artist during his enrollment. While attending MUW, Stephen became the 1st place winner in the 2011 Mississippi Collegiate Show for the category of ceramics. He teaches classes and has given demonstrations and artist talks in various places. In 2015, he established Stephen’s Potter House Productions, a small studio space which can be seen in the countryside of his hometown in Crawford. His work has been displayed and sold in the MUW Eugenia Summer Gallery, the Rosenweig Arts Center, the R.E. Hunt’s Museum, and the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art. He currently has work displayed at EMCC in their permanent collection located in Scooba, MS. In 2021, he became a published artist and was featured in Sheen Magazine, Pottery Making Illustrated Magazine, and one book The Anatomy of a Good Pot.

In my recent work, I have explored the juxtaposition of textures and colors. I use underglazes as the base color and gloss glazes to give a differentiation between the textures and appearances provided by both. I use electrical tape to create patterns and geometrical shapes. When the tape is removed revealing the underglaze surface, these pieces are fired at cone 6 (around 2232 degrees F). Other pieces I create are raku fired for completion. The unglazed surface of the bisque pot will turn a matte black during the raku firing process allowing the differentiation between the unglazed surface and the glazed area. These pieces are finished using gold wax as an accent and cold sealed with a clear acrylic spray paint. Every piece created is considered as an individual that belongs to a large family or collection.

stephenspotterhouseproductions.com | Instagram @sphouseproductions

The exhibitions will be on display January 3-31, 2025 at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed Monday, January 20, for the holiday. Most of the works on exhibition will be for sale and may be purchased by visiting in person or the online shop at knoxalliance.store. For more information, please see 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 opening on Friday, January 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM. A free gathering with exhibiting artists will also feature live music with Evelyn Jack and Friends.

“Hidden Worlds” is a new exhibition based on the paper presented at Bridges 2023 and the Knoxville American Marketing Association conference, “Surface-tiling Curves.” The subject is the application of a space-filling curve segment to the faces of regular polyhedra. The work represents real-world examples of time slices in the iterative process of these curves as sculpture and print. Each piece exists as snapshot along the way from one to two dimensions. Glimpsing into these hidden worlds is a way of looking deeper without looking closer.

David Denton, originally from Knoxville, spent 40 years practicing architecture in California. Before starting his own design practice in 2000, he was the Design Director of San Francisco architectural firm Whisler Patri, and Managing Principal for the renowned architecture firm Frank Gehry and Associates in Los Angeles. In 2001 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Not knowing how quickly it would progress, he started planning for the future, seeking a way to continue to participate in the design world. Then he discovered the Virtual Reality platform Second Life. He knew immediately that the Virtual World was his future path. His early work in the Virtual World was featured in such publications as Architectural Record and The New York Times. His early designs were selected to be included in the archives of the Stanford University Library and the US Library of Congress. He has produced Virtual Reality designs in the areas of set design, trade show exhibits, experimental teaching tools, exhibition spaces, urban design, architectural design, videos, album covers, and business spaces. Much of his work on display is photographs of his 3D constructions in the Virtual World and then manipulated in Photoshop or initiated with a photograph he has taken and then also altered in Photoshop.

facebook.com/david.denton.583 | Read more

About Adam Rowe: Making a new artwork begins with a question I don’t immediately know the answer to. It ends with the artwork as proof that the answer I came up with is true. The middle part, figuring it out, is often more time consuming than shaping the actual piece, although it is the part I enjoy the most. After studying graphic design and working in this field for several years, my desire to take the principles of design and apply them to media other than paper or the screen has steadily increased. Most of my work is “math art,” although I am hesitant to claim I know much math.

adamrowe.com | Instagram @adamrowemusic

The exhibitions will be on display January 3-31, 2025 at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed Monday, January 20, for the holiday. Most of the works on exhibition will be for sale and may be purchased by visiting in person or the online shop at knoxalliance.store. For more information, please see 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 opening on Friday, January 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM. A free gathering with exhibiting artists will also feature live music with Evelyn Jack and Friends.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission is partnering with the Arts & Culture Alliance to provide the tenth annual juried exhibition developed to recognize local artists and, most importantly, honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The new exhibition will feature works by local artists reflecting the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and have pertinence to the themes of Unity, Community, Love, Reconciliation, Social Justice, and Civil Rights. The MLK Gallery of Arts Tribute exhibition will kick-off the 2025 celebrations (January 15-20). For more information, visit mlkknoxville.com.

Interested artists may submit work for consideration through Monday, December 30, at knoxalliance.com/mlk-tribute.

The exhibitions will be on display January 3-31, 2025 at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed Monday, January 20, for the holiday. Most of the works on exhibition will be for sale and may be purchased by visiting in person or the online shop at knoxalliance.store. For more information, please see knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.

NEW YEAR. NEW PLAYS. Celebrate the new year with an exciting series of groundbreaking new plays! Not only will you experience the performances, but you’ll also have the opportunity to engage with the playwrights about their creative process, share your insights with the creative team, and contribute to building these new works from the script up.

Staged readings will be held at the Clarence Brown Lab Theatre.
Table readings will be held at South Press.
All-Access Passes grant entry to all events. Seating is limited.

STAGED READINGS
ICED by Steve Sherman
Dramaturgy by Alex Drinnen
Facilitated by David Ratliff

SANDBAGS by Katie Myers
Dramaturgy by Emily Pope
Facilitated by Madison Mansouri

SNALLYGASTER by Barry Wallace
Dramaturgy by Harrison Young
Facilitated by H. Caitlin Corbitt

SWEETHEART DARLING HONEY BOO by Celeste Pelletier
Dramaturgy by Brady Craddock
Facilitated by Savannah Smith

TABLE READINGS
DECORATION DAY by Linda Parsons
RED, WHITE, AND BLACK by Greg Congleton

Phone: 865.546.4280
https://tennesseestage.com/newplayfest/

FLOWERS OF WAR: STORIES THAT BLOOM IN RUINS

This exhibit is meant to illuminate the reaction of the Ukrainian community and East Tennessee to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Each piece was created by those who have faced conflict: Ukrainian children, parents, refugees, international volunteers, soldiers, and local artists who felt the call to contribute. Everyone wanted to show the works that came out of tragedy and war. These works became flowers.

“You will find an authentic and unfiltered look at the harsh realities of today’s conflict. Join us to see through the eyes of those on the frontlines in Ukraine and those in the US who understand the footprint of this war.” Yaro Hnatusko
Executive Director, Restore Ukraine & Curator of “Flowers of war”

RECEPTION, December 22, 2-4 PM

The museum is located in downtown Knoxville at 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive and is open to the public Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Admission and parking are free. For more information, visit www.knoxart.org

Dec 14, 2024, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
The Bottom, 2340 E Magnolia Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917

This exhibition will feature quilts from members of our community who participated in The Sewing Circle program. Over the last 4 months, adult artists have gathered at The Bottom to gain new sewing skills, develop their artistic voices, and tell stories through quilt-making.

By exploring the important role that quilting has historically held in Black storytelling and community building, this exhibition presents a "full circle" moment that relates directly to our mission: to celebrate culture, engage creativity, and build community for Black Knoxville.

RSVP https://www.thebottomknox.com/events-1/the-sewing-circle-exhibition-reception