Calendar of Events

Presented by The Standford Eisenberg Knoxville Jewish Day School

Violins of Hope is a collection of over 50 violins that survived the Holocaust, played by Jewish musicians in ghettos, concentration camps, and even as symbols of resistance. Each violin, lovingly restored by Israeli master violin maker Amnon Weinstein and his son Avshalom, carries a powerful story of resilience and survival. These instruments bear witness to the indomitable spirit of their owners, whose music defied the darkness of one of history’s most tragic periods. The Violins of Hope project will feature performances, exhibitions, and educational programs that celebrate the enduring power of music and the human spirit. Through these events, communities will come together to reflect on the past and inspire a future rooted in hope, acceptance, and unity. Join us as we honor these extraordinary instruments and the stories they tell.

*A Big Ears 2025 Exhibition (one of four very special exhibitions of visual art on display during the festival weekend (Mar 27-30) and during the month leading up to it. Extended hours TBA.

Digital Motif, 108 S Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. (865) 214-6367 or https://digitalmotif.com/

7:30 PM
1st place winner, National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance

The Episcopal Church of the Ascension
(865) 588-0589 or info@knoxvilleascension.org
800 S. Northshore Dr., Knoxville, TN 37919

Friends of Music and the Arts, a support society for music at Ascension, augments the calendar of liturgical feast-days with concerts and organ recitals throughout the year. https://www.knoxvilleascension.org/foma

The UT Creative Writing Program is thrilled to present a reading by award-winning novelist Adam Ross. The reading will take place Monday, March 3 at 7pm in the Lindsey Young Auditorium of John C. Hodges Library on the UT Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

“Starting off 2025 with a novel this terrific gives me hope for the whole year.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“A gorgeous cat’s cradle of a book . . . The swirling vapors of Holden Caulfield are present in Playworld, for sure, but also Lolita, Willy Loman, Garp.” —Alexandra Jacobs, The New York Times Book Review

“Extraordinary . . . A beguiling ode to a lost era . . . Line for line the book is a revelation.” —Leigh Haber, Los Angeles Times

Adam Ross's debut novel, Mr. Peanut, a 2010 New York Times Notable Book, was also named one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New Republic, and The Economist. His story collection Ladies and Gentlemenincluded "In the Basement,'' a finalist for the BBC International Story Prize. His non¬fic¬tion has been pub¬lished in The New York Times Book Review, The Daily Beast, The Wall Street Jour¬nal, and the Washington Post. He was the Mary Ellen von der Heyden fellow in fiction at the American Academy in Berlin, as well as a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University. His widely praised current novel, Playworld, has been selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. He is the editor of the Sewanee Review.

https://english.utk.edu

Have you ever watched a Jack & Jill Dance Competition where random partners are paired up to dance to an unexpected song? That’s West Coast Swing! This fun, modern partner dance is all about creativity, connection, and musicality.

Join us on March 3rd from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM at Maple Hall for an exciting evening of West Coast Swing, presented by Marble City Ballroom. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced dancer, come ready to move, meet new people, and enjoy a fantastic night of social dancing!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1721543012101378

Knoxville artist Jean Hess offers a kaleidoscopic selection of work that ranges from celestial, to playful, to poignant. Starry skies and planetary motion. Plants, animals and gems. Appalachian coal miners, lost cultures and maps of lost lands. Hess works with socio-historical data, found artifacts and ephemera that enable her to invoke complex stories.

Westminster Presbyterian Church Schilling Gallery, 6500 S Northshore Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-R 9-4, Fri 9-12. Information: (865) 584-3957 or www.wpcknox.org

Bennett, 5308 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-Sa 10-5:30. Information: 865-584-6791, https://bennetthome.com/

The AVIFAUNA 2025 is a month-long benefit and celebration of local birds and their intersections with humans. Throughout Knoxville and East Tennessee, we will be hosting public birding expeditions, exhibitions, educational opportunities and more! Additionally, the Museum of Infinite Outcomes will be showcasing our annual exhibition of human-crafted homes for birds. In praise of wilderness, birds are a constant reminder that the human world is not separate from nature. Instead, the two are intricately braided together.

The AVIFAUNA - An Annual Showcase of Human-Crafted Homes for Birds
At Museum of Infinite Outcomes, March 1, 2025 - March 1, 2026

Virtual Dawn Chorus - Collective Listening Phenomenon with Tremont Bird Expert, Logan Rosenberg
At Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, March 1st, 6:30am - 8:30am

First Flight - Join the Bird Flock! Bird songs, bird games, and cocktails.
At Fly By Night, March 2nd, 5-9pm

Birds are Forever - Tattoo Flash Day for the Benefit of Birds
At Saint Tattoo, March 8th, 12-8pm

Symbiogenesis: A New Nature in the Anthropocene
An Exhibition of Regional Artworks that Engage the Living Landscape
Ijams Nature Center, March 1st - 31st, 2025
Reception: March 9th, 2-5pm

Animal Architecture: Bird House Building Workshops - Making Birdhouse Gourds for Purple Martins
At Arrowmont School, Gatlinburg | March 18th

Building for Biodiversity - Community Workday + Free Family-Friendly Habitat Workshop
Beardsley Community Farm, March 22nd, 9am-2pm

Living with Birds - Birding Expedition and Biophilic Design
At Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, March 23rd, 9am-12pm

Registration and details online:
https://museumofinfiniteoutcomes.com/avifauna

Fountain City Art Center is celebrating 20 years of art education. Join us for an exhibit of students' works.

Opening Feb 21, 6:30-8 PM

Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartcenter.com

Knoxville Children’s Theatre, in partnership with the Clayton Foundation, will present a live production of Mean Girls Jr. The musical will be performed from February 21 – March 9, with showtimes on Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM, Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM, and Sundays at 3 PM and 6 PM.
https://knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com/tc-events/mean-girls-jr/

Cady Heron grew up in Africa, but suburban Illinois is a whole new jungle. To take down queen bee Regina George, she goes undercover with The Plastics. As her real and fake selves blur, Cady must find her way back to her true friends—and herself. Adapted from Tina Fey’s 2004 blockbuster film and the Broadway smash hit, Mean Girls Jr. is sure to be SO fetch!

The production features 22 talented young actors, ages 11 to 16. The show is directed by guest director Madison M. Mansouri and designed by 15 student designers, ages 10 to 16.

Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-208-3677, www.knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com

Mondays @ 6:30 PM : Take on Tap Dance for Advanced Beginners and Beyond

Classes held at The Follies Girls Dance & Performing Arts Center, located inside the 1400 Building at 1400 N. 6th Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-214-7511 or www.thefolliesgirls.org

Reception on Saturday, Feb. 15
Details TBA
Showing all media and styles!
https://tnartists.org/

Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tu-F 9-5, Sa-M 1-4. Information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org

MAIN GALLERY
A solo show, Under The Branches, featuring recent work by artist Jered Sprecher (Knoxville, TN) opens Tuesday, January 28 and will run through Saturday, March 29, 2025. Curator: Brian R. Jobe.

An opening reception will be held on Friday, January 31, 2025 from 5:00—8:00 pm (artist in attendance). There will be an artist talk given by Sprecher beforehand on January 31 from 3:30—4:30pm.

Jered Sprecher is an artist who makes paintings, drawings, and installations that abstract the landscape to explore the precarious relationship between nature and technology. His work wrestles with the beauty and complexity of the environment and how we as humans interact with the world around us both directly and mediated through technology. He received his BA from Concordia University and his MFA from The University of Iowa. Sprecher has exhibited at The Drawing Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Des Moines Art Center, Hunter Museum, Asheville Art Museum, and Espai d'art Contemporani de Castelló. He has had solo exhibitions at Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York; Gallery 16, San Francisco; Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston; Kinkead Contemporary, Los Angeles; Whitespace, Atlanta; Ferrara Showman, New Orleans; and the Knoxville Museum of Art. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Bailey Opportunity Grant, and a Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship. Sprecher has been awarded residencies at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation, the Chinati Foundation, The American Academy in Rome, and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. He is a Professor at the School of Art at the University of Tennessee. He lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee.

PROJECT SPACE
My Art Is Fine, My Art Is Craft by Melissa Everett (Knoxville, TN) opens Tuesday, January 28 and will run through Saturday, March 29, 2025. This show is located within the unique architectural space of a narrow wooden stairwell. An opening reception will be held on Friday, January 31, 2025 from 5:00—8:00 pm (artist in attendance).

Melissa Everett is a self-taught quilter, textile artist, and caregiver living in Knoxville, TN. She received her BS from the University of Tennessee in Therapeutic Recreation in 2005. The philosophies of play permeate her process and journey as an artist. Her work is energized by textures, simple lines and shapes created by the human hand, rooted in tradition but continually pushing for freedom – and embracing imperfection. She creates surface pattern designs on natural fibers by utilizing fiber-reactive dyes, textile pigments and the traditions of quilt making. Each dyed, painted or printed textile, a unique piece of art, is often cut and deconstructed to be reconciled into a new work. Everett’s work has been exhibited in national and local shows including QuiltCon, Houston International Quilt Festival, McGhee Tyson’s Art in the Airport. She has also been published in QuiltFolk and Quilt Now magazines. Melissa was born and raised in the mountains of Waynesville, NC where craft, improvising and resourcefulness were a way of life for mountain folk; these values carry through her work and connect her to her ancestors.

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