Calendar of Events

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville opening on Friday, March 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM. A free gathering with the exhibiting artists will also feature live music by Sarrenna, Travis Bigwood and Nicholas Horner.

Born and raised in Chattanooga, Wayne White has used his memories of the South to create inspired works for film, television and the fine art world. After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University, White traveled to New York City where he worked as an illustrator for the East Village Eye, The New York Times, Raw Magazine and The Village Voice. In 1986, he became an Emmy-winning designer for his work on the hit television show “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.” He has also worked in the music video industry, winning Billboard and MTV Music Video awards as an art director for seminal music videos, including the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight” and Peter Gabriel’s “Big Time”.

For almost 40 years, White has been unleashing humor in all aspects of his career. His most successful artworks have been his word paintings, which feature oversized, three-dimensional text painstakingly integrated into vintage landscape reproductions. The message of the paintings is often thought-provoking and almost always humorous, with White commenting on vanity, ego and his memories of the South. Instagram @waynewhiteart

This exhibition is one of four special exhibitions of visual art on display in downtown Knoxville during the month of March as part of the Big Ears 2025 festival weekend (March 27-30): bigearsfestival.org

The exhibitions will be on display March 7-30, 2025 at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Gallery hours: Mon-Fri 9-5; Sat 10-1. Additional hours: Tue Mar 11, 6-9 PM (jazz performance); Fri Mar 14, 9 AM – 7 PM (Gallery 1010 opening); BIG EARS WEEKEND: Wed-Thu Mar 26-27, 9 AM – 9 PM; Fri-Sat Mar 28-29, 10 AM – 9 PM; Sun Mar 30, 10 AM – 8 PM. 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.

Showcasing the talent of student artists ages 15 - 21 in our. Guests will vote for their favorite piece on First Friday -- top three winners will get cash prizes.

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

HoLa Hora Latina, 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 112, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-335-3358, www.holahoralatina.org

First Friday Reception: March 7th, 5:30 - 9 pm

March Featured Artists
Yvonne Dalschen is a German photographer living in Oak Ridge, TN. She is interested in histories of place, cultural landscapes, complexities of memory, 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 have been exhibited nationally and internationally from Oak Ridge to Sydney, Australia, recently at the TVUUC Gallery, the Knoxville Museum of Art, The Bascom Center in Highlands, NC, and UGA’s Circle Gallery. She is a member of Art Market Gallery, Arts & Culture Alliance, Kinship Photography Collective, A1LabArts, PPETN, SANP and CCOR.

Sherrie Wilson is a life-long artist, specializing in fiber arts and silversmithing. Growing up in East Tennessee, she was influenced by her mother and grandmother, both exemplary needlewomen, to work with fabric and thread. She continued that journey through quilting and weaving. In 2022 Sherrie began working with silver to create hand forged jewelry. She has taken classes with Morning Sherrod at Arrowmont and has exhibited at the Foothills Craft Guild, Tennessee Craft, and the Art Market Gallery. Sherrie makes jewelry in her home studio in Powell where she lives after acquiring drivers licenses in 7 states from Massachussetts to Texas. She maintains a weaving studio as well, working in freestyle weaving to create clothing and wall pieces. Sherrie studied weaving in several studios in the US and at Saori no Mori in Japan. She maintained a teaching studio for several years and has taught weaving and sewing in Texas, California, and Tennessee. Sherrie is a member of the Art Market Gallery, Foothills Craft Guild, and Tennessee Craft.

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

Opening Friday, March 7 from 6-8

Casey Field is a portrait and figurative artist who lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her work blends contemporary sensibilities with classical techniques. She will be presenting the vibrancy of her studio walls to Awaken Coffee with a mixture of color studies and drawings alongside more fully refined paintings.

Please join us for some amazing art and of course great coffee!

Awaken Coffee, 125 W Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Open daily. Information: 865-951-0427, www.instagram.com/awaken_coffee or www.facebook.com/awakencoffeeoldcity/

Co-curated by Crafting Blackness Initiative’s Karlota Contreras-Koterbay
with Karen LeBlanc Sullivan and Lyn Govette
Reception: March 7, 5 to 7 p.m. with artist talks & curators reading of poems by Nikki Giovanni and Beauford Delaney. Followed by DJ Soularia set from The Bottom, 7 to 9 p.m.

The Arrowmont Gallery & Marketplace, 110 S Gay St. Knoxville, TN 37902. Gallery hours: Wed-Thu 10-5, Fri 2-9, Sat 12-5. Information: (865) 436-7511, https://arrowmont.org/galleries

Movie Night - Space Jam - Watch Space Jam on the event lawn.
Mar 5th | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST

LIVE MUSIC | DEVIN HARREL
Mar 7th | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM EST

SALSA/BACHATA in the taproom 9pm-1am
Mar 7th - 8th Mar EST

LIVE MUSIC | UTK MUSICAL THEATER GROUP
Mar 8th | 6:00 PM - 8:15 PM EST

LIVE. MUSIC | CHRIS MOREL BAND | MARCH 14TH | 6 - 9 PM

SALSA/BACHATA in the taproom 9pm-1am
Mar 14th - 15th Mar EDT

St Patrick's Day Celebration
Free Axe Throwing 2-6 PM 360 Photo Booth 2 - 6 PM Celtic Band 6 - 9 PM
Mar 17th | 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM EDT

Knox Social Speed Dating - Come find the one at Kern's Food Hall!
Mar 19th | 6:00 PM - 9:30 PM EDT

LIVE MUSIC | JAC CONLEY
Mar 21st | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT

LIVE MUSIC | CHELSEA SAMPLES
Mar 22nd | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT

LIVE MUSIC | DANIMAL PINSON
Mar 29th | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT

Live Music - JAZZSPIRATIONS
Mar 29th | 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM EDT

Kerns Food Hall, 2201 Kern’s Rising Way, Knoxville, TN 37920 | https://kernsfoodhall.com/

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/

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

The Smithsonian’s National Collection of Fishes X-rays represent more than 70 percent of the world’s fish specimens and is the largest and most diverse collection of its kind in the world. Although the X-rays featured in the national collection were made for research purposes, the strikingly elegant images demonstrate the natural union of science and art and are a visual retelling of the evolution of fish. X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out, an exhibition from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), showcases these dramatic prints exposing the inner workings of the fish.

The exhibition features 32 black-and-white digital prints of different species of fish. Arranged in evolutionary sequence, these X-rays give a tour through the long stream of fish evolution. The X-rays have allowed Smithsonian and other scientists to study the skeleton of a fish without altering the specimen, making it easier for scientists to build a comprehensive picture of fish diversity.

The exhibition also includes specimens from the collections of the McClung Museum, the Etnier Ichthyological Collection, and the Vertebrate Osteology Collection to highlight research happening with fish specimens at the University of Tennessee.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: Tu-Sa 9-5, Sun 12-4. Information: 865-974-2144, https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/

States of Becoming examines the dynamic forces of relocation, resettling, and assimilation that shape the artistic practices of a group of contemporary African diaspora artists in the United States. The exhibition is inspired by curator Fitsum Shebeshe’s 2016 move from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Baltimore, and subsequent firsthand experience with cultural assimilation. States of Becoming is a traveling exhibition curated by Fitsum Shebeshe and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York.

States of Becoming Opening Reception
Friday, January 31, 2025, 6:00-9:00 pm
Members Only Hour, 6:00-7:00 pm
Gallery Talk with Curator Fitsum Shebeshe, 6:15 pm
Reception Opens to Non-Members, 7:00 pm
Musical Performance by Artist Miatta Kawinzi, 8:00 pm
Food by Tarik’s North African + Cash Bar + Specialty Beverage
https://knoxart.org/event/states-of-becoming-opening-reception/

For additional information and updates, follow the Knoxville Museum of Art on social media:
Facebook: Knoxville Museum of Art, Instagram: @knoxvillemuseumofart, X: @knoxart

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tu-Sa 10-5, Su 1-5. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org. Admission and parking are free.