Calendar of Events

A reception will take place on Friday, May 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork.

In 1963, the Knoxville Watercolor Society began when the head of the University of Tennessee’s art department, Kermit (Buck) Ewing, invited watercolor artists exhibiting at the university’s McClung Museum to form the nucleus for the organization. The purpose of the organization is to educate the members as well as the community to the understanding of watercolor as a significant art form. Active membership is juried by the members and consists of Knoxville area artists who are currently active in the serious pursuit of aqueous painting and meet regularly to share knowledge and new techniques.

KWS donates a yearly scholarship to a University of Tennessee student majoring in watercolor, maintains membership in local art organizations, and contributes to watercolor awareness by funding awards for the Tennessee Watercolor Society's biennial exhibit and grants for other worthwhile art associations and programs. Additionally, grants have been made to the Arts Council of Greater Knoxville, the Knoxville Museum of Art, the Tennessee Resource Center, and the Tennessee Art Association High School Scholarship Program. Recent exhibitions have been held at the University of Tennessee Conference Center, the Oak Ridge Community Art Center, the Art Market at the Candy Factory and the Knoxville Museum of Art.

Members exhibit with the Tennessee Watercolor Society, other state watercolor organizations, the Southern Watercolor Society, Watercolor USA and the American Watercolor Society and consistently win regional, state and national awards. Local watercolor artists interested in joining KWS have the opportunity to apply for active membership each October and submit paintings to be juried by the membership at the November meeting. For more information, please visit www.knxvillewatercolorsociety.com.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, May 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork.

Booder Barnes has been sculpting for 20 years, developing a style that uses texture and motion to express character in figure. His exhibition will feature a sample of these sculptures. His heads are from an imaginary community called Heresville, and his performance characters are from a series of acrobats called Mudman Circus. Currently, he is working on grotto scenes of dramatic poses imitating religious scenes.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, May 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork.

This biennial exhibition provides an overview of what is happening with Latin American contemporary art and seeks to continue promoting cultural integration and diversity. Curated by Dina R. Ruta, the exhibition features thirteen art masters and emerging artists from seven countries who have excelled in their careers, having been consecrated winners of biennials and international competitions.

The featured artists include:
• Argentina: Masters Eduardo Lozano and Liliana Jones and Ángel Barón Da Conte
• Colombia: Master Orlando García Camacho
• Honduras: Master Santos Arzú Quioto and Luis Landa
• Peru: Master Pedro Fuertes Bolaño, Dora López Prieto and Guido Garaycochea
• México: Master Jose Luis Malo and Veronica Jimenez
• Venezuela: Master Patricia Quevedo
• United States: James Taylor

Each work presented is a range of multiple colors and meanings with well-elaborated symbolism, suggestive shapes and images. “The works unfold in a varied gesture and give us an effect of delight, of constant movement, of not belonging to a place,” says Dina Ruta. “The works speak of the artist, but like magic, a viewer of another country or culture is able to feel identified in it.” The works create a poetic link between the emotional universe of the artist and the viewer.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, May 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork.

Debbie Wills is inspired by the beauty of the world around her, memories, moments in time and the many emotions that are experienced in life. Color has the ability to move us in so many different ways; it can bring us to tears or fill our hearts with joy. It can capture our souls and take us to another level. Color is a beautiful commonality shared by all.

Debbie Wills’ passion for art began the moment she was able to pick up a crayon and create. Since then, she has expanded to alcohol inks, acrylics, watercolor and mixed media and enjoys trying new techniques and mediums. Wills studied at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. She also taught art classes and enjoyed it wholeheartedly. “Art has always been a constant in my life,” she says. “It fills a place in my heart that nothing else can. I am almost an empty nester, and because art is therapy for my soul, I plan to create as much as possible in this new season of my life.”

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

A reception will take place on Friday, May 4, from 5:00-9:00 PM as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork.

Photography has been Richard Jansen’s passion since 1970 after he returned home from Vietnam. As a freelance photographer, his motivation comes from his surrounding world. “It is what I believe to be a beautiful gift from God,” says Jansen. Scenic and landscape photography is his main area of interest, and he enjoys the spontaneity of creative photography. After his experience in Vietnam, he realized how much he had taken for granted in his environment. “I began to look beyond the everyday routine views and became a very visual person, which thus transformed my way of seeing and understanding the world around me.”

Richard Jansen was born and raised in Kansas, attending Wichita State University before doing a tour of duty in Vietnam. In 1971, he enrolled at University of Washington, Seattle and also attended the University of Colorado, Boulder. He completed Command & General Staff College in 1987 and retired as Lieutenant Colonel in 1997. He has been a freelance photographer for over 45 years. His work has appeared in numerous publications, and he is an active member of the Arts & Culture Alliance and Broadway Studios & Gallery.

His new exhibition will include a combination of scenic, landscape, close-up and creative photography. For more information, visit www.accentphotographyrj.com.

On display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

Opening Reception: Friday, May 4, 5-9PM with awards at 6:30 PM

Art Source 2018 is a contemporary art exhibition that highlights the artistic endeavors of Knox County Schools Art Educators. Hosted in partnership with the UT Downtown Gallery, the show will be on display to the public from May 4th through May 18th.

UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: W-F 11-6, Sa 10-3. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

Art Source 2018 is a contemporary art exhibition that highlights the artistic endeavors of Knox County Schools Art Educators. Hosted in partnership with the UT Downtown Gallery, the show will be on display to the public from May 4th through May 18th. Opening reception Friday, May 4, from 5:00-9:00PM. Awards ceremony at 6:30.

UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Hours: W-F 11-6, Sa 10-3. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

Wednesdays from 11 am – 2 pm
Saturdays from 9 am – 2 pm

The Market Square Farmers’ Market is an open-air farmers’ market located on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. Everything at the MSFM is grown or made by the vendor in the East Tennessee region. Products vary by the seasons and include produce, eggs, honey, herbs, pasture-raised meat, bread, baked goods, salsas, coffee, artisan crafts, and more. With interactive fountains, delicious local food, and surrounded by shops and restaurants, the MSFM is a perfect family destination.

Free parking is available on Saturdays at several parking garages downtown including the Market Square, Locust Street, Walnut Street, and State Street Garages, as well as in commercial loading zones. Parking is $1 per hour on Wednesdays in all four garages. Short-term parking meters around Market Square are in effect Wednesday and Saturday, and are $1.50 per hour. See downtownknoxville.org for more information on downtown Knoxville parking options. https://www.nourishknoxville.org/market-square-farmers-market/

Grow with us! Pre-school kiddos are invited to Story Thyme in the Garden every Wednesday morning at 10:30am now through October! Participants will explore the garden, read a story book, and do a fun craft.

Story Thyme is located in our Every Child Outdoors Garden at the Center for Urban Agriculture, 2649 Boyds Bridge Pike.
For more information: 865-862-8717, www.knoxgarden.org

You are invited to view more than 20 examples of southern mountain rifles and pistols at an upcoming temporary exhibit at the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend, Tennessee, from May 1 to October 25, presented by the Kentucky Rifle Foundation. These 18th and 19th century tools were essential for the survival of pioneers in the frontiers of Eastern Tennessee and Western Carolina.

These southern mountain rifles fully evolved in the last quarter of the 18th and the first quarter of the 19th centuries, as pioneers and settlers moved into what is now Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina. In the original colonies during this time, the Kentucky rifle was becoming an art piece in its “Golden Age,” while on the frontier, the southern mountain rifle had become an unadorned, iron-mounted utilitarian piece.

Baxter Bean, whose work exemplified the typical southern mountain rifle, was a third-generation gunsmith who worked in the Jonesboro, Tennessee, area. One of Baxter’s rifles, which will be on exhibit, was brought into Cades Cove by Wilson “Wilse” Birchfield, who named the rifle “Old Bean.” Wilse chose to live high in the mountains just under Gregory’s Bald. When he moved out of the Cove into the mountains, the old timers told him the bears would eat him alive. Wilse’s response to this was, “Old Wilson may eat some, too.”

For more details and to learn about special programming, call 865-448-0044 or visit www.gsmheritagecenter.org. This exhibit is included in the cost of daily admission to the Heritage Center or FREE to GSMHC members.

Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, 3/4 mile east of traffic light at the Highway 321 and 73 intersection towards the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Townsend, TN. Hours: M-Sa 10-5. Information: 865-448-0044, www.gsmheritagecenter.org

The Town's May/June 2018 Featured Artist is Quebec native Jill Crociata. Her colorful textile art is influenced by 1930s cottage and garden design, but with a contemporary twist.

Jill emphasizes texture through techniques of layered fabric and hand stitch. Using hand-dyed fabrics and threads, she creates engaging red-roofed cottages, forested landscapes and gardens that sparkle with beads and combinations of unusual threads. She is a member of the FreeStyle interest group of the Knoxville Chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild.

Each month, the work of an artist or group of artists is featured in specially-designed cases on the second floor of the rotunda in Farragut Town Hall. For more information about this exhibit or to access a Featured Artist application, visit townoffarragut.org/artsandculture or

contact Brittany Spencer at ParksandRecInfo@townoffarragut.org or 218-3378.
Farragut Town Hall, located at 11408 Municipal Center Drive directly across from the Farragut Branch Post Office, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Reception June 28th 5-7pm

In the Geoffrey A. Wolpert Gallery
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org