Calendar of Events

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at The Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from September 3-24, 2021. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, September 3, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features an outdoor concert by Knoxville Opera musicians. All visitors to the Emporium are required to wear a mask and maintain physical distancing guidelines. Most of the works will be for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition by visiting in person or the online shop at www.knoxalliance.store.

The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturdays, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM (NEW!). CLOSED Mon Sep 6.

The 3 Ring Circus is a phrase that immediately captures the imagination and transports the mind to an ephemeral world in which the impossible is possible, the unimaginable exists, and humans are convincingly what they are not. The circus in 21st century America exists in a form very different from the creature that it once was. It does not travel by night rail to coalesce in a field or parking lot only to vanish just as quickly. Gone are the acts of cruelty to harshly captive animals. The freak shows encouraged by humankind’s unkindness have been replaced by compassion and the respect of science. You can no longer run away to join the circus. And yet, the mystique of the circus survives. The 3 Ring Circus is a new exhibition that features The Dreamweaver (woven works by Judi Gaston), The Painted Lady (painted works by Cynthia Markert), and The Miniaturist (miniatures by Jolie Gaston). These artists were collectively influenced by a Cirque du Soleil performance - a surrealistic experience which could only be expressed by visual conjurings of their own.

Judi Gaston is a self-taught fiber artist, working with fibers for many years. She was declared a State Treasure in 2011 when she was inducted into the Tennessee State Museum Fashion and Textile Institute. In her handwoven studio line of wearables she endeavors to bring the past into the present with the use of vintage embellishments, handwork, buttons, etc.

A Knoxville resident, Jolie Gaston has made her home in places as diverse as Orange County, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Detroit, Michigan; Darwin Australia and Macau, China. A miniaturist since the age of 10, Jolie pursued scale miniatures as an avocation until 1999, when she opened an online and retail show miniatures business. Jolie has been a member of the International Guild of Miniature Artisans since 1999 and has attended IGMA’s Guild School in Castine, Maine for 21 years. Beginning in 2011, Jolie has helped stage a holiday display of contemporary miniatures at the Knoxville Museum of Art in the Thorne Rooms Gallery during the month of December.
Instagram: JPWinx

Cynthia Markert has painted her mixed media portraits on wood for over twenty years, exhibiting in San Francisco, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Charleston. She exhibited and represented a group of artists at the World's Fair in Knoxville and her images were marketed by Images Conscious, San Francisco. She is a Charter Member of the National Museum in Washington, D.C. where her work is represented in the archives. Markert presently exhibits at Kress Emporium in Asheville and RALA and Knoxville Museum of Art gift shop in Knoxville.
www.cynthiamarkert.com

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.