Calendar of Events

Annual Used Book Sale: March 8-16, 2014

Over 100,000 books go on sale each March at the Knoxville Convention & Exhibition Center, 501 W. Henley Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. The sale is located in Exhibit Hall #1 on the downstairs level of the Holiday Inn Select, facing World’s Fair Park Drive. All proceeds benefit the Knox County Public Library.

Members Only Day: Saturday, March 8, 2014, 11-6
Reserved for Friends members who are invited to shop on the opening day of the sale. For more information or to become a member, call (865) 215-8775

Special Bag Sale for Teachers & Educators: Friday, March 14, 3-7
Teachers get first chance at bag sale shopping in our early bird special!

Bag Sale Weekend: Saturday March 15, 11-6 and Sunday, March 16, 1-6
During the final two days of the sale, customers can fill a bag with books of their choice for $5.
http://www.knoxfriends.org/

Blount Mansion is proud to host the works of East Tennessee’s own Richard LeFevre. He focuses on the history of the American Civil War (1861 – 1865) through 32 of its most significant battles. LeFevre combined his love of history and his skill as an illustrator, using inventive mixed-media techniques to create powerful images inspired by his personal investigation into that most terrible and definitive era. As part of the First Friday’s the opening reception will be from 5:00 to 7:30 on Friday March 7th here at the Blount Mansion Visitors Center at 200 West Hill Avenue in Knoxville. There will be drinks and light refreshments available. It is a free event and all are welcome. The exhibition is on loan from Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, University of Tennessee, and is supported through the Tennessee Arts Commission & Knox County Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. www.knoxcivilwar.org and will run through the end of May 2014. More information is available at our Facebook page, facebook.com/blountmansion

Blount Mansion Visitors Center, 200 West Hill Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37902; 865-525-2375 or www.blountmansion.org

Free and open to the public. Opening reception March 7 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists’ talks at 6:30 p.m. Exhibit runs March through April 2014.

Terri Swaggerty: Where Soul Meets Body (from the song “Soul Meets Body” by Death Cab for Cutie)
Where soul meets body . . . the first time I heard those words on the radio they resonated deep within my being. I realized those four words were the perfect articulation of where I exist when I am discovering or creating art. I can dwell there for hours, or just for a moment. The journey begins with looking and seeing. Sometimes I am actively looking for art but more often, not. I find art, or maybe it finds me, at any moment any day. Traversing a sidewalk in Apalachicola, or strolling through our city, I discover it. Driving down a country road I find it. Walking through the woods, looking at the beauty, the contrast, the compositions, textures and patterns around me, I am living there . . . where soul meets body. Often during my creative processes the tangible becomes abstract. Sometimes the colors begin to blaze and complement and breathe new life into old structures. And sometimes the magic is already there and the image is perfect for the beholding. Terri Swaggerty is a native of Knoxville, TN. She studied Fine Art at the University of Tennessee and has worked as a professional photographer for the past 16 years.

Christine Beard: The Nature of Graphite
I am a pencil artist. I have been drawing my whole life. During my school years and growing up I took every art class that was offered. As an adult I took several drawing courses at the local community colleges, but for the most part I would have to say I am a self-taught artist, always learning new and different things every time I create a new drawing. Graphite pencil is my medium of choice. It’s all about the detail for me; I create each piece with as much detail as possible. Graphite is such a versatile medium and can also be very forgiving. Various techniques can be executed with graphite, such as layering, shading, blending with blending stumps and lifting out areas with an eraser. In the art world I feel there can and should be more recognition for works done with graphite pencil. Hopefully I can change that with each and every graphite drawing I create.

Where: Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Gallery
2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918

Paulk + Co. presents a unique First Friday Event this March 7th, 6-10pm, featuring artisan food in addition to the Fine Art of Denise Stewart-Sanabria. The show Eat Me Two will be on exhibit in the newly renovated Paulk + Co Alternative Art Space. Sushi Academy of TN will be demonstrating the art of sushi making. Organic produce and artisan baked goods will be available from local vendors. Free, covered parking is available adjacent to Paulk + Co. in the City lot under the bridge.

Eat Me Two
An exhibit of Paintings of Culinary Drama, by Denise Stewart-Sanabria
Humans do things that amaze, entertain, and occasionally horrify Stewart-Sanabria. If she documented them literally, she would probably have constant censorship issues. As a solution to this dilemma, she uses food as a stand in for humans, figuring that not only would it be amusing, it could even be delicious! Over the years, she hasimpaled maraschino cherries on nails, had pears enact Inquisition scenes, and encouraged donuts to enact the seven deadly sins and various fertility rites. Still Lifes, or Vanitas, which is the genre these works most closely fit in with, were originally domestic images containing items symbolic of life and death. The items in Stewart-Sanabria’s act out dramatic narratives.She is also known for her life size charcoal figurative drawings on plywood, which are cut out, mounted on wood bases, and staged in installations. Several of these will also be on exhibit. Denise Stewart-Sanabria was born in Massachusetts and received her BFA in Painting from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst. She has lived in Knoxville, TN since 1986. Recent exhibits include: Continuāre: The Figurative Tradition in Contemporary Art at Ewing Gallery at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the 55th Mid-States Art Exhibition, Evansville Museum of Art, Evansville, IN,In the Flesh, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA, The 26th Tallahassee International, at theFlorida State Museum of Fine Arts, 2012 Red Clay Survey at the Huntsville Museum of Art, 2012: Contemporary RealismBiennial at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, American Art Today:Figures, at The Bascom, Highlands, NC, and "From These Hills: Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands", at the William King Museum, Abingdon, VA, 2013. Denise Stewart-Sanabria: www.stewart-sanabria.com, www.denisestewart-sanabria.blogspot.com

After March 7, call for a viewing appointment: 865-414-8641.
510 Williams Street, Knoxville, TN 37917, events@paulkandco.com.

Photographer Dennis Sabo and jeweler Kristine Taylor are the Art Market Gallery’s featured artists for March. Their recent works will be on exhibit at The Art Market Gallery through March 30, with an opening reception to be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m., Friday, March 7, during the monthly First Friday Art Walk in downtown Knoxville. At the opening reception visitors may enjoy complimentary refreshments and live music performed by Sunshine Station.

Dennis Sabo of Loudon is an award-winning fine-art photographer specializing in natural contemporary abstracts and landscapes.

Kristine Taylor's jewelry art has evolved into a contemporary look inspired by the ethnic cultures she grew up around in California and the beautiful natural colors of East Tennessee.

Owned and operated by 63 professional regional artists, the Art Market Gallery, at 422 S. Gay St., is a few doors from Mast General Store and next to Downtown Grill & Brewery. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday; 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday. The gallery is wheelchair accessible, and parking in the abutting garage and on the street is free on weekends and after 6 p.m. weekdays. For more information, call 865-525-5265, or visit artmarketgallery.net, or facebook.com/Art.Market.Gallery.

Bliss Home is pleased to present Knoxville artist, Rick Whitehead, for March's First Friday. Bliss Home, located at 29 Market Square, will host an opening reception on Friday, March 7th from 6pm to 9pm. Complimentary Steamboat Sandwiches will be provided and Rick's art will be featured for the month of March.

Richard Whitehead was classically trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in painting and drawing. Rick's work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States, and In Antwerp, Belgium, and Murcia and Barcelona, Spain.

Rick's March exhibit will tell a story of exploration, which is told through compressed charcoals, solarized photos of clouds and paintings inspired from aboriginal art.

Bliss Home, 29 Market Square, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-329-8868, www.shopinbliss.com

At Rala 323 Union Ave Knoxville, TN 37902
Opening Reception: First Friday March 7, 6-9pm
Work on display through March 30

Artist Statement: Back in Knoxville, there are hand-painted signs all over, my favorites being an ice-cream cone and miniature football players holding up a giant hoagie. I go square dancing and watch hipsters dance with silver-haired sweethearts. And then there is this other side of things. I drive around singing the lyrics of catchy pop songs and follow some of the world's most famous fashion designers on Instagram. Some artists use innovation as their driving force while others have tradition in mind. Some people paint a sign without thinking too much about anything at all. Through my artwork, I give a nod to what is esteemed today while delving deeper into the rich heritage of The South. http://withbearhands.com/withbearhands/2014/3/5/art-opening-march-7-at-rala

The Arts & Culture Alliance proudly presents “Hand Made Here: A Tennessee Craft Chapter Exhibition,” featuring original works of basketry, clay, fiber, glass, wood, metals, leather, handmade paper, mixed media, printmaking, photography, and more by artists who are current residents of Tennessee. The 27 selected craft artists were chosen by the Tennessee Craft Plateau Chapter. The purpose of the exhibition is to help promote inter-chapter activity and membership involvement and to strengthen Tennessee Craft’s presence in East Tennessee.

Works will be displayed in the main gallery of the Emporium Center from March 7-29, 2014. A public reception will take place on Friday, March 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d’oeuvres available and chocolate fondue provided by the Melting Pot of Knoxville. The First Friday reception also features a flamenco dance performance by Pasión Flamenco from 6:00-6:45 PM and a Jazz Jam Session hosted by Vance Thompson and Friends from 7:00-9:00 PM, both in the Black Box Theatre.

“Hand Made Here: A Tennessee Craft Chapter Exhibition” is on display March 7-29, 2014 at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00AM - 5:00 PM and Saturday, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit our Web site at www.knoxalliance.com.

The Arts & Culture Alliance proudly presents “A Bird in this World,” a new exhibition of mixed media works by the Southern Art Soul Sisters (SASS) Collective. Featured artists in the exhibition include Karen Bertollini, Lynn Corsi Bland, Cynthia C. Cox, Susan Edwards, Betsy Hobkirk, Suzanne Wedekind, and Jennifer Willard; their works will be displayed in the Balcony of the Emporium Center from March 7-29, 2014. A public reception will take place on Friday, March 7, from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d’oeuvres available and chocolate fondue provided by the Melting Pot of Knoxville. The First Friday reception also features a flamenco dance performance by Pasión Flamenco from 6:00-6:45 PM and a Jazz Jam Session hosted by Vance Thompson and Friends from 7:00-9:00 PM, both in the Black Box Theatre.

The Southern Art Soul Sisters Collective came together in 2012 when a group of local Knoxville women artists met in a printmaking class at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Members of the SASS Collective are dedicated to supporting each other as artists and to sharing their work and vision through group exhibitions. “A Bird in This World” is the collective’s first gallery exhibition in Knoxville. This southern saying captures the spirit of SASS members who draw from eclectic influences and explore a variety of themes.

“A Bird in this World” is on display March 7-29, 2014 at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturday, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit our Web site at www.knoxalliance.com.

Paul Krainak is an abstract painter who also works with plywood and corrugated plastic installations. For "Topology", he has produced a series of painting studies on plywood panels and clustered them throughout the UT Downtown Gallery. "Topology" employs elements of early modern logic and its attendant forms in art and technology. It considers aesthetic and industrial incentives originating in rural America and calls into question modernism's strictly urban mythology. Grids, cruciforms, and wood grain details are embedded in extended patterns calling to mind Constructivist and Bauhaus Schools' principals of industrial hybridity and utopianism. But the site of industry here is agriculture with distilled forms taken from domestic textile design, land management diagrams, and vernacular architecture.

About Paul Krainak
Paul Krainak is an artist, critic, and Chair of the Art Department at Bradley University. He has exhibited widely in the US including the Southeast Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC, The Ukrainian Museum of Modern Art and The Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, Fay Gold Gallery in Atlanta, the Bemis Center for the Arts in Omaha, Artist Image Resource Center in Pittsburgh, Semaphore Gallery in New York City and NEXUS Gallery in Philadelphia. He has lectured at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, Czechoslovakia, The Academy of Art in Bratislava, Slovakia, The Academy of Fine Art and Design in Bejing China and the School of Fine Art in Nanjing China. His work is represented by Ingrid Fassbender in Chicago. His writing has been published by Indiana University Press, Afterimage, New Art Examiner, Dialogue, Sculpture Magazine and Artpapers where he is the St. Louis Editor.

Please join us for this opening reception on March 7 from 5-9 PM. All events are free and open to the public.

UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: Wednesday-Friday: 11AM - 6PM, Saturday: 10AM - 3PM. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

Opening reception - Friday, March 7, 5-7pm

Susan Roberts is Associate Professor of Art at Walters State Community College.
One image is attached.

The Rose Center, 442 West Second North St., Morristown, TN, 37814. Information: 423-581-4330, www.rosecenter.org

Tic Toc, a World Premiere comedy by Gayle Greene presented as the featured production in the seventeenth annual New Play Festival, produced by the Tennessee Stage Company in collaboration with Tiger Lily Theatre and the Wild Thyme Players. Follow Debra, a successful photographer, as she sets out on a journey to fill her own photo album with memories, in "Tic Toc" a fast-paced romantic comedy by Knoxville's own Gayle Greene. Time flies, especially when you're having fun!

Performances are Thursday-Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday at 3:00 PM.

For more than 10 years, the Tennessee Stage Company has presented a New Play Festival including World Premiere performances as well as readings and staged readings of new, un-produced scripts. With one paid adult admission per child, 10 Knox County children up to 18 years of age can purchase a ticket to the performance for $0.01.

At Theatre Knoxville Downtown, 319 N. Gay Street. Tennessee Stage Company: 865-546-4280, www.tennesseestage.com