Calendar of Events

Work by Pellissippi State Studio Art students

Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Bagwell Center Gallery hours: M-F 9 AM - 9 PM. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

By Tom Stoppard. Lab Theatre

Attending the premiere of a new murder mystery, two feuding theatre critics soon find themselves inside the play-within-a-play and implicated in the lethal activities of an escaped madman.

Clarence Brown Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com. For tickets: 865-974-5161, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

"Burls and Baskets", curated by Kari Woolsey & Everett Hoffman

Burls and Baskets is an exhibition curated by two of Arrowmont’s current Artists-In-Residence Kari Woolsey and Everett Hoffman. The show was conceived as a way to activate the newly renovated Jerry Drown Wood Gallery and highlight the unique and diverse work in Arrowmont’s permanent collection. Traditional baskets like the White Oak Basket by Lydia Whaley (Aunt Liddy) highlight the history of the school and its cornerstone to Gatlinburg history; while contemporary baskets like John Garret’s Flora’s Slipper Basket with its neon colors and alternative materials draw attention to the current work being made on the same campus almost 100 years later. The exhibition simultaneously features a wide range of wood sculptures and turned bowls donated by Jerry Drown for which the gallery is named. Wooden blows like Liam’ O’Neil’s Bowl made from bog oak is complimented by the unique use of laminated wood in Purple Shadows created by Virginia Dodson. The exhibition underscores the deep traditions that Arrowmont is founded on and looks forward to how contemporary artist are building upon that tradition.

GEOFFREY A. WOLPERT GALLERY, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

Marilyn Kallet, City of Knoxville's Poet Laureate

*March 22, noon: Poetry reading for WDVX, inaugural show for the new series. Visit Knoxville, 301 South Gay Street, Knoxville.

*March 22 and 23, 7 p.m.: Discussion leader with Dawnie Steadman, Regal Cinemas, premiere of “To Dust,” featuring Matthew Broderick, set at the Body Farm.

March 28, 4 p.m., Poetry workshop, ETSU, hosted by Jesse Graves. GRAVESJ@mail.etsu.edu

*March 28, 6 p.m., Poetry reading and workshop, “Writing Praise Poems in Troubled Times,” Johnson City Public Library. 100 West Millard Street, Johnson City.

*April 4, 7 p.m. Poetry reading with Donna Doyle, Knoxville Writers’ Guild. Central United Methodist Church, 201 Third Avenue, Knoxville.

April 13. Reading for the Botanical Gardens, in Linda Parsons Marion’s garden! 11-1 p.m., 2909 Fountain Park Boulevard, Knoxville. lindaleeparsons@gmail.com (Fundraiser for the Knoxville Botanical Gardens).

April 21: 11:15-12:30, Reading with Patricia Clark and Alice Friman, North American Review poetry conference, Bartlett Hall, Room 1000. University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls.

April 26, noon, poem for the Mayor’s State of the City address.

April 27-May 5, residency, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar.

May 2nd, 6-8:30 p.m., Marilyn Kallet will be honored by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts at the Soirée, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard, Richmond. For tickets, contact VCCA Executive Director Joy Heyrman, jheyrman@vcca.com. (Fundraiser for the Virginia Center).

June 7-18, Mentor for “Writing the River” residency in Auvillar, France. Sponsored by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Information: mkallet@utk.edu or http://marilynkallet.com/

Reception: Wednesday, April 24th 5:00-7:00 PM
"69th Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Artist of the Year: Judy Lavoie"

The Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is an annual five-day event in Great Smoky Mountains National Park offering professionally guided programs which explore the region’s rich wildflowers, wildlife, ecology, culture, and natural history through walks, motorcades, photographic tours, art classes, and indoor seminars. Each year, an artist is selected to be featured on the cover of the SWP brochure, T-shirt, and are honored with a solo exhibition at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. This year’s SWP Artist-of-the-Year is Judy Lavoie.

Lavoie’s artwork has won many awards, including Best Of Show in the prestigious 2018 Tennessee Watercolor Society Juried Exhibition. Today she is grateful for the opportunity to indulge in her passion for painting. Inspiration comes from her surroundings, a rural Tennessee community in the Appalachian foothills. In the forest surrounding her home, Judy has identified more than 100 wildflower varieties – an endless source of painting subjects. View her work and learn more on her website and art blog, at www.judy-lavoie-art.com.

GEOFFREY A. WOLPERT GALLERY, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

Featuring artist Alan Jones (Theophilus)

At Burlington Library, 4614 Asheville Hwy, Knoxville TN 37914

Reception: Friday, April 12, from 6-8 pm, free and open to the public

Featuring the works of 2018-2019 Artists-in-Residence Sasha Baskin, Alyssa Coffin, Everett Hoffman, Stephanie Wilhelm and Kari Woolsey

These 5 artists working in divergent materials and ideas find common connections pulling this work together for the exhibition. From the installations by Kari Woolsey referencing items found in the home on a daily basis, to Everett Hoffman’s queer forms of altered found objects alluding to domestic space. Pattern and repetition seen as a connecting line between Sasha Baskin and Stephanie Wilhelm through ideas of utilizing the rose from “The Bachelor” to an exploration of ornamentation and form based off the history of decorative ceramics. While Alyssa Coffin questions the realities of what it means to be human through responding to the story of the landscape. All artists connect through their shared experience at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

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

Oil and Watermedia Paintings

Westminister Presbyterian Church, 6500 S Northshore Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: M-R 9-4, F 9-12. Info: (865) 584-3957 or www.wpcknox.org

Get Ready to Take Action! Join Ijams for "Take Action! Big and Small Ways to Save the Planet," a new initiative focused on environmental conservation. Free or low-cost classes, workshops and volunteer workdays will show you how to reduce your carbon footprint and protect natural resources. There's something for everyone in this series, so spread the word, bring your family and friends, and get ready to save the world. Attend two activities and you'll get to celebrate your accomplishments at an Action Heroes Conservation Celebration sponsored by Cherokee Distributing and Sierra Nevada Brewery. http://ijams.org/take-action-big-and-small-ways-to-save-the-planet/

Paintings by David Wolff. Survey of recent work.

Fluorescent Gallery, 627 N. Central Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: https://www.facebook.com/fluorescentknoxville/

Free and open to the public
Reception Friday, February 22, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.

Kate McCullough
“There is so much freedom in being able to create,” says Kate. “The world of painting is a magical place where the looking glass is only limited by my imagination. The goal for my art is to not only reach that deeper place, but to offer something to the viewer that could reach a place in them that has meaning as well.”
Kate began painting in watercolor about 15 years ago, after a 35-year hiatus from art. Initially her studies at Villa Marie College and SUNY College at Buffalo included general design, art history and oil and acrylic painting. When she returned to painting, she decided to explore watercolor. She took courses with Marcia Goldenstein and Whitney Leland at UT, and then moved on to workshops at Arrowmont with Don Lake and Sue Archer; Kanuga with Linda Baker, Keiko Tanabe and Don Andrews; Cheap Joe’s with Linda Kemp; three workshops with John Salminen and a couple with Paul Jackson. McCullough now teaches watercolor classes at the Fountain City Art Center and the Oak Ridge Art Center. She is the former president of the Knoxville Watercolor Society, a member of the Art Market Gallery in downtown Knoxville, a signature member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society and Vice President of the Art Guild of Tellico Village.

Roy McCullough
Roy says that painting is a process of discovery. When he and his wife, Kate, travel, they invariably bring cameras and open minds, and often jockey for position to capture their own version of the same scene. When they paint, they usually express the same subject in far different ways. Roy prefers somewhat earthy subjects to the purely picturesque. He is inspired by often-overlooked commercial illustrations from the advertising industry. These illustrators work under stressful deadlines, yet consistently produce outstanding, insightful and delightful work at the highest level. “When I find a subject that could make an interesting subject for a painting, I might conjure an untold background story,” says Roy. “I look for unexpected situations that reveal something universal. Sometimes it could be interesting lighting, shapes or color. And when people are involved, I ask, ‘What’s going on? Does it suggest a narrative?’ There is always a challenge involved in making a picture come to life. Sometimes I surprise myself and a painting works on multiple levels. When that happens, I feel I have succeeded.”

Roy’s love of art began in grade school and continued thorough his career in advertising. He studied art history in college and still enjoys museum- and gallery-hopping wherever he travels.

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Gallery hours: M-Th 10-5, Su 10-1. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org

This exhibition celebrates the uncommon aesthetic vision and philanthropic impulse of June and Rob Heller, who are among Knoxville’s most active, adventurous, and generous art collectors.

The selection of more than 50 sculptures and paintings attests to the couple’s journey as collectors over four decades. Lure of the Object pays tribute to the Heller’s accomplishments as collectors, their significant role as KMA patrons, and the many key sculptures and paintings they have donated to the museum. Some of the featured objects have been gifted to the KMA, while others are promised gifts. International contemporary glass is a particular area of focus, and the exhibition features works by William Morris, Richard Jolley, Bertil Vallien, Oben Abright, Dante Marioni, Therman Statom, and Stephen Rolfe Powell. Complementing sculptural works are paintings by Jim Dine, Frank Stella, Christo, and Paul Jenkins.

Before settling in Knoxville, the Hellers moved frequently as dictated by career assignments in London, Geneva, Singapore, and other major cities around the world. In each location, they made a practice of exploring galleries, art fairs, museums, and auctions with a sense of openness and adventure. Increasingly, they discovered works of art they could not live without. They were not bound by any set medium, period, or theme, but rather acquired works that provoked a strong emotional response. As their collection grew, so did the challenge of transporting objects—many of them quite large—from home to home. Soon after moving to Knoxville, they became involved in the city’s art scene. They patronized area artists, and became staunch supporters of the Knoxville Museum of Art. In particular, they became outspoken advocates for the KMA’s efforts to build a collection of contemporary sculpture which glass is a primary material. They supported the museum by donating funds as well as works from their extensive collection of modern and contemporary art.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM, Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org