Calendar of Events

It's fun, free, and easy! The Hike-a-Thon is free to register and you can participate from anywhere in the world. This month-long competition in April supports the protection of our lands and waters—where people and nature can thrive. https://campaigns.tenngreen.org/event/hike-a-thon2025/

TennGreen Land Conservancy empowers landowners and communities to protect large, connected natural areas that support diversity of life, inspire appreciation of nature, and spark action to protect the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the land that sustains us all. To learn more, visit tenngreen.org.

2025 Featured Dogwood Trails: Holston Hills & Morningside. The Dogwood Trails are open annually from April 1-30th, just in time to showcase the beauty of spring in East Tennessee! Knoxville’s iconic Dogwood Trails date back to 1955 and today cover more than 90 miles in 13 neighborhoods throughout the city. Take a drive, a walk, or a bike ride and enjoy the scenic natural beauty of our region.

No RSVP required. Please email vbaumgartner@dogwoodarts.com or call (865) 637-4561 with questions or concerns.

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

AN ACOUSTIC EVENING WITH TREY ANASTASIO, Tuesday, April 1, 7:30, at the Tennessee Theatre.

Tickets at: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1B006176B8685566

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

Join the McClung Museum and the UT English Department for a presentation by Johnnie Diacon (Mvskoke). Diacon's art is featured in the exhibition, Homelands: Connecting to Mounds through Native Art, which is on view at the McClung as of January 2025.

About the Lecture from the Artist: "In the majority of my works I focus on my people, the Mvskoke, commonly referred to as Creek. I often depict my people as we are today in the 21 century, practicing our religious ceremonies as we have for thousands of years. Aside from dress, the ceremonies remain practically unchanged since the beginning when the Creator gave them to us. Our culture is a strong one that has endured many outside influences, many of which were quite brutal in their attempts to change or eliminate them. It is from this that I draw inspiration for my work. I try to depict my people in an honest and humble manner. For most non-Native people who have little to no experience with the Native People, and whose knowledge is based on Hollywood stereotypes as to what Indian culture is, I try to break this chain of misinformation. The lifeway of the Mvskoke is much different than, for example, the original people of the desert, plains, prairies, and coastal regions of this land. Our ceremonial dress, dances, and songs are not like the ones seen and heard at modern intertribal powwows, so images of the Mvskoke ceremonial ways do not always fit non-natives’ preconceived notions of what being “Indian” means. In my art I often attempt to break down cultural stereotypes by exploring the traditional stories and life ways of the Mvskoke and presenting them to the world in an artistic manner that translates in a way that is relevant and can be appreciated by both native and non-native alike, and I hope this will nurture an understanding between cultures."

About the Speaker: Johnnie Diacon is an award-winning artist with nearly 40 years of experience in fine art. He was recently named a Master Artist by the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Johnnie is Muscogee (Mvskoke), Thlopthlocco Tribal Town (Raprakko Etvlwa), and Deer Clan (Ecovlke) and currently lives Tulsa, Oklahoma on the Muscogee Reservation. He is a graduate of both Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he studied the flat-style of Native American painting, and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Better known for his 2D works in acrylic, oil, and watercolor, Johnnie has also done beadwork and 3d assemblages as well as sequential art for the graphic novels Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers Volume 1 and Chilocco Indian School: A Generational Story. His artwork is in various private and public collections around the world. His work can also be seen in several publications, on book covers, in videos, and they can even be seen in the sets of all three seasons of FX’s Reservation Dogs. Johnnie works in many different mediums and his work always reflects and honors the Mvskoke people.

Tuesday, April 1, 2025 6pm
https://calendar.utk.edu/event/artists-talk-johnnie-diacon

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/

This annual event celebrates the life of Sarah Jane Hardrath Kramer and her passion for the visual arts and learning, and recognizes her many years of tireless, enthusiastic, and dedicated service to the Dulin Gallery of Art and the Knoxville Museum of Art. The fund established by Sarah’s family, friends, and others committed to the arts supports lectures by a prominent artist, art historian, art educator, or expert in a related field. We hope that all who attend will share in Sarah’s love for the arts and for the museum.

Lecture by American street artist Caledonia Curry/Swoon 6:30-7:30 pm. Followed by a reception 7:30-8:30 pm. Cash bar. Free and open to the public!

Caledonia Curry, aka Swoon, is a Brooklyn-based street artist. Drawing on both realistic and fantastical elements, Curry has been transforming the world with her immersive installations, wheatpaste portraits, and community-based social justice projects for the last two decades. Her overarching aim is to create accessible art that transports audiences while simultaneously shedding light on pressing social and environmental issues.

https://knoxart.org/event/kramer-lecture-2025/

Home Runs & Home Teams - A History of the National Pastime in Tennessee
Rogers-Claussen Feature Gallery

As Tennesseeans, baseball is in our DNA, and although the game is common to us, it has never remained the same during anyone’s lifetime. Who were among the first to play baseball in Tennessee? How did 31 Tennessee towns come to host a MiLB team? What makes a day at a Tennessee ballpark an iconic experience? Home Runs & Home Teams provides an overview of the national pastime as it has played out in the Volunteer State. For every story included in the exhibition, there are hundreds more–from players to pennants, from bat makers to bat boys–that could have been shared. So as you “round the bases,” think about your connections to the game, your ties to the past. What does baseball mean to you and to your community? What baseball stories should libraries and museums preserve to share with future Tennesseans? Let’s play ball!

601 S Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902
https://www.easttnhistory.org/exhibitions/home-runs-home-teams/

You can find our full listing of events by visiting our Events Calendar: https://music.utk.edu/events/
Can't attend in-person? Check out our Livestream. https://music.utk.edu/livestream/

Wind Ensemble Concert
Thursday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Alumni Memorial Building, Cox Auditorium

Chamber Singers & Concert Choir Spring Concert
Tuesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Alumni Memorial Building, Cox Auditorium

Musicology Distinguished Lecture Series: Professor Timothy D. Taylor
Monday, March 31 at 4:30 p.m.
Natalie L. Haslam Music Center, Powell Recital Hall

Men's & Women's Chorales Spring Concert
Tuesday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Alumni Memorial Building, Cox Auditorium

BY PHILIP DAWKINS
LAB THEATRE

A magical fable with music. This exciting new play tells the story of the Fail family and their seemingly difficult challenge to just stay alive around blunt objects, disappearances and the odd case of consumption. Sometimes you just never see death coming. In this upbeat, tuneful, magical fable you can either worry about the ever-impending death or you can live, love, and sing some songs along the way.

Clarence Brown Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information/tickets: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com

First Friday, 5-8 PM on March 7
Seven Decades in Bloom reflects on the 70-year journey of Dogwood Arts, with an immersive retrospective honoring our rich history, evolution, and impact on the region.

123 W. Jackson Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902
Regular Gallery Hours: M-F | 10AM-5PM

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/

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

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