Calendar of Events

Foxfire Women: Stories of Landscape and Community in the Mountain South
March 29, 2023 @ 12:00 p.m.

Kami Ahrens will introduce us to the women featured in Foxfire's newest publication, The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Women: Stories of Landscape and Community in the Mountain South. This edited volume features twenty-one oral histories from Appalachian women from the Foxfire archive, magazine, and book series. These remarkable narratives, as told through oral histories, illuminate a diverse regional culture held together by the threads that are woven between women and place, and across generations. Told sometimes with humor, sometimes with sadness, but always with a gripping rawness and honesty, the stories recount women’s lived experiences from 1967 to the present, in Georgia and the Carolinas. As a collective, the stories speak against the regional stereotypes and offer instead a sampling of the many expressions of their strength.

Kami Ahrens joined the Foxfire Museum in 2017. She is responsible for curating artifacts and archival materials, developing exhibits and publications, as well as managing programs at the Foxfire Museum. She hosts and produces the organization’s podcast, “It Still Lives.” Kami also serves as executive editor for the Foxfire Magazine and oversees the organization’s hallmark leadership program for local high school students. Originally from the St. Louis area, Kami attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for graduate school before relocating to Georgia.

https://www.easttnhistory.org/events/foxfire-women

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Information: 865-215-8824, www.eastTNhistory.org/lights-camera

CMOR @ 50: Past, Present, Future
in the Imagination Gallery

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge with this special exhibition that features historical photos, objects from the Museum’s collection, and a chance to think about what the Museum means to our community. This exhibition is curated by Mary Klages, CMOR’s Gallery Coordinator, with assistance from Caitlynn Fine, the Museum’s Collections Assistant.

Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, 461 West Outer Drive, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: T-Sat 10-4, Sun 1-4. Information: 865-482-1074, www.childrensmuseumofoakridge.org

Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 10:00am - 4:00pm

Join the Historic Ramsey House during March for a special look at our quilt collection! "Piecing Together History: A look at the Ramsey House Quilt Collection" will highlight some of our rarely displayed collection pieces that showcase a rich and vibrant textile history! Throughout the month, we will have several different workshops and lectures happening, so be sure to mark your calendars!

The Historic Ramsey House’s permanent collection is home to more than 50 historic quilts and other textiles dating from the early 1800's to the mid 1900's. From the Pickle Dish to the Rose and Bud, these beautiful works of art, help to tell the story of East Tennessee families, from all walks of life, one stitch at a time. Our ongoing effort to protect and store the collection is integral to ensuring its survival for future generations.

https://www.ramseyhouse.org/system/events/view/38/piecing-together-history-temporary-exhibit

Historic Ramsey House, 2614 Thorngrove Pike, Knoxville, TN 37914. Information: 865-546-0745, www.ramseyhouse.org

A Colossal Experience, Millions of Years in the Making

Prepare for a Jurassic exploration at Zoo Knoxville! March 1 through September 4, a pack of prehistoric creatures will be stationed throughout the park. Bring your young paleontologists and discover hidden truths about the era "terrible lizards" walked the earth. https://www.wildlyfun.com/

Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open 9 AM - 4 PM everyday. Information: 865-637-5331, www.zooknoxville.org

The McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture is proud to announce the special exhibition, The Sculpture of William Edmondson: Tombstones, Garden Ornaments and Stonework, in partnership with Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. The exhibition is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Division of Diversity and Engagement and will run from January 13 to May 14, 2023.

The exhibition reexamines and recontextualizes the life and work of African American artist William Edmondson (1874–1951). Edmondson is the most significant sculptor to emerge from Tennessee during the 1930s and 40s and remains one of the leading American artists of the twentieth century.

This is the first large-scale museum exhibition of the artist’s career in over twenty years. During Edmondson’s life, he was well known for his yard art, including whimsical birdbaths, fanciful "critters," sculptures of everyday people, and grave markers he carved for African American families.
https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/2022/12/13/mcclung-museum-to-feature-one-of-the-most-significant-collections-of-tennessee-artist-william-edmondson-in-new-exhibition/

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-2144. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday 12–4 p.m.

Our relationship to moving images is constantly evolving. Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, for example, our use of–and reliance on–streaming services to access Hollywood blockbusters not only changed how we watch movies but also disrupted traditional models for financing and distributing such productions.

How did our relationship with moving images begin? What technological and cultural events sparked our interest in motion pictures as entertainment? And what role has East Tennessee and its people had in moviemaking?

Lights! Camera! East Tennessee!, a new feature exhibition at the East Tennessee History Center, answers these questions by chronicling Knoxville’s contributions to film from the promotion of Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope in 1895 to its use as a location for major productions currently in development. At the heart of the story is 35 mm film, shown both in urban theaters and suburban cineplexes and shot by itinerant filmmakers, documentarians, industrial filmmakers, and news reporters. Multiple screens featuring highlights from these genres anchor the exhibition.

Equally intriguing are the stories of how Knoxvillians made Hollywood history. Learn about Clarence Brown, a graduate of Knoxville High School and the University of Tennessee, who became one of MGM’s most prominent directors. And see why James Agee, known to us today as a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, was better known as a film critic and screenwriter during his life.

Lights! Camera! East Tennessee! will also spotlight the numerous actors from across East Tennessee who became Hollywood A-listers and the variety of films that were shot in East Tennessee, including A Walk in the Spring Rain (1970) and That Evening Sun (2009), both of which premiered in Knoxville.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Information: 865-215-8824, www.eastTNhistory.org/lights-camera