Calendar of Events

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from January 3-31, 2020. A reception will take place on Friday, January 3, 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. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition. The opening reception features music by Kelle Jolly & The Will Boyd Project.

Stephen R. Hicks has been a full-time artist since 2010. He works in several genres including sculpting clay, driftwood carving, exotic leather and acrylic painting. His clay sculptures are inspired by ancient prehistoric art, and his driftwood carvings increase awareness of recycling through use of organic material from local lakes and rivers. He loves that art has no limits.

Hicks has shown works in numerous local and regional exhibitions, including at the Knoxville Museum of Art and with HoLa Hora Latina’s Casa Hola gallery at the Emporium Center. For more information, visit www.stephenrhicks.com, follow him on Instagram @powersourcecreations, and like his Facebook page under Stephen R Hicks - Artist.

On display throughout the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed January 20 for the holiday. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from January 3-31, 2020. A reception will take place on Friday, January 3, 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. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition. The opening reception features music by Kelle Jolly & The Will Boyd Project.

Artist statement: Early on a January morning in 2018, I called my friend Carol whose husband had passed away some months before. It seemed right that we should collaborate: she having a sudden large and empty house, and I suddenly losing my studio. We created a very energetic symbiotic liaison, each working on their own healing processes. This exhibition is the end result of my personal healing, growth and choices. Ravens, according to folk lore, are the harbingers of change, so it therefore seemed like an appropriate title to a celebration of personal change as well as an exploration of my artistic barometer. Returning to the canvas after a long hiatus proved to be satisfying and a little surprising. I decided to abandon the brush, in large part relying on a potter’s best tool: the hands. There is very little brush work here, relying on instinct, color saturation, mass, texture and a creative energy born of turbulence… a rather large body of work sprung into being. I hope the viewer finds within these works a bit of themselves, a memory, a feeling, a chuckle; there is no wrong answer.

Gale Stryker was born and raised in a small town in Connecticut. In the summers, she swam in the crossing of the rivers where Lake Zoar and the Housatonic collide; in the winters, it was a frozen playground for skating and bonfires. As a young child, a book with Van Gogh’s self-portrait beckoned the slumbering artist in her. She attended a Community College where she majored in Fine Art and discovered clay, however painting proved to be her most dominant interest at that juncture. She also attended ETSU, earning a BFA with a concentration in ceramics.

On display throughout the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed January 20 for the holiday. Information: (865) 523-7543 or www.knoxalliance.com.

The UT Downtown Gallery is pleased to present recent work by Knoxville artist and gallery owner, David Wolff.

David was born in San Francisco, CA and received his BFA from University of Tennessee. He founded Fluorescent Gallery in 2005, and he has exhibited work all across the country including the Knoxville Museum of Art. His work deals with surreal gestural subtractions created from methodically pulling oil paint across paper.

Join us January 3rd from 5-9pm at the UT Downtown Gallery for a reception with the artist.

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

Reception Friday, Dec. 20, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.

Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918. Free and open to the public, Gallery hours: 10 AM – 5 PM, Monday through Thursday and 10 AM – 1 PM, Sunday

Alex Bonner says, "To talk of your own work is to inevitably speak of oneself. What a collection of witches, blood-caked vultures and fruit-eating bats says about me, I'm not entirely sure. Certainly themes of folklore and mythology and animal imagery dominate my work.” Bonner begins with rough scratchings of pen or pencil on paper, which he does not share. After many other attempts, his vision is realized and finalized in ink. Bonner’s began drawing long ago, when his favorite media was a pen, and he has never cast it aside. After taking a class in printmaking at John C. Campbell Folk School, he warmed to the complexity and messiness of that medium. His undergraduate degree is in graphic design, and he is currently a graduate student in Landscape Architecture at the University of Tennessee.

Medha Karandikar brings to her work the colors and sensibilities of her home country, India. Some of her work is in a folk-art style from Western India that is a happy depiction of the daily life of simple folk. She has adapted that style to include unusual subjects and colors. Drawing is her strong suit, and the use of vivid colors is the hallmark of her paintings. Collage is a medium that Karandikar has explored extensively, and she says that her best work has always started with an absent-minded doodle. Karandikar is a self-taught artist working in multiple media and styles. Her work has been featured in several galleries in and around Knoxville as well as for ten years at James-Ben Gallery and Art Center in Greenville, TN. For more information, go to www.medhaonline.com

In this season full of holidays, family and remembrance, our collection serves to connect our current Art Center family and those who worked to sustain and preserve our program in the past. Among them are artists, collectors, and family and friends of both. Selections from the Permanent Collection will represent individuals who created, those who collected, and those who contributed to our ability to share the amazing variety and diversity of art with our regional community. Each group represents many memories—funny, fond, and maybe a few not-so-fond—of the individuals who helped make the Art Center a community asset and keep it viable for us to enjoy today.

We are assembling a group work that represents all three of these groups of people—artists, collectors and contributors. Many of the artists represented have been or were members of the Art Center, or have been associated with our program. Others have been, or were, instructors at the Art Center and/or have shown with us in their careers.

We will have a wealth of wonderful pieces to represent the collectors in our midst. Lovingly collected by members and individuals from around the region the pieces were later donated to the Art Center to leave a lasting impact on the cultural tenor of our region. Work included in this group are both regional and international in scope. Sharing these works with our visitors and their delight in viewing work of this caliber in our area is very special. This promises to be a delightful walk down memory lane with some of our favorite people and their memories.

Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tu-F 9-5, Sa-M 1-4. Information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org

Geoffrey A. Wolpert Gallery, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Gallery hours: M-R 8:30-5, Fri 8:30-4, Saturdays call ahead. Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

Awaken Coffee will host an opening reception for Austin Bradford Friday, Dec. 6 from 6-9 pm.

Austin's passion is photography and he specializing in landscapes and portraits.

Please join us for some amazing photos, light refreshments and of course great coffee!

Awaken Coffee is a live music venue, espresso bar, craft beer & wine bar and organic restaurant in the heart of downtown. Awaken Coffee, 125 W Jackson Ave, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902

Hours: Mon-Thu 7 AM - 9 PM, Fri 7 AM - 10 PM, Sat 8 AM - 10 PM, Sun 2-8 PM
(865) 951-0427 or https://www.facebook.com/awakencoffeeoldcity/

ZOO KNOXVILLE OFFERS $5 OFF WINTER ADMISSION
Kroger Discount Days offered December 1 through February 29, 2020

During Kroger Discount Days, guests can discover why winter is an enjoyable time to visit the zoo. Many animals, including red pandas, river otters, elephants, gorillas, red wolves, lions and tigers, enjoy the cooler temperatures. On days when the temperature drops below 40 degrees, some animals will be moved indoors, but visitors can still see most in their indoor viewing areas.

Discounted tickets can be purchased at the zoo ticket window during regular zoo hours and online at zooknoxville.org. Discounted admission tickets must be used by Feb. 29, 2020, and cannot be combined with any other promotion, discount, or coupon.

Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open every day except Christmas. Information: 865-637-5331, www.zooknoxville.org

"It’ll Tickle Yore Innards!”: A (Hillbilly) History of Mountain Dew

Special Members Preview: Thursday, June 27, 2019, from 4:00-6:00 p.m.

The exhibition highlights the drink’s history, from the origins of the term “mountain dew” and the development of the marketable hillbilly image that influenced media and culture, to becoming the third most popular soft drink brand.

The exhibition includes more than 200 artifacts highlighting the drinks history, moonshining, and the hillbilly image. The exhibition begins with video footage of early moonshine busts and a visit to a moonshine still in Cocke County in 1938. A variety of liquor jugs, dating from as early as the 1890s are on display with other moonshine paraphernalia. There is an assortment of artifact reflecting the early color writers and their effects on the hillbilly image, as well as artifacts from Knoxville’s 1910 Appalachian Exposition. One case contains a variety of “hillbilly” memorabilia, including Beverly Hillbillies dolls, comic books, Lil’ Abner items, and a pair of Hee Haw overalls.

The exhibition features a 1900 carbonation machine from the Roddy Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Knoxville and a sizeable display of rare and highly collectable bottles, including a few dating to Knoxville in 1927, a progression of Mountain Dew bottles over the years, and a variety of other vintage soft drinks from around the region. Of special interest are the “Barney and Ally” bottles, which were the first Mountain Dew bottles ever produced. In 1951 and 1952, the Hartman Beverage Company produced 7 oz. green and clear bottles. The applied color label’s bare the name of the creators of Mountain Dew. In the early 1950s, green bottles were reserved for “colorless” flavors, while clear bottles were used for drinks where the color would reflect the actual flavor. Mountain Dew was originally bottled as a set of flavored drinks and not as a specific flavor like today. Also displayed are a variety of items relating to the Hartmann family.

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

Dogwood Arts Art In Public Places - Temporary Sculpture Exhibition

An exhibition of large-scale outdoor sculptures in downtown Knoxville, the McGhee Tyson Airport, Zoo Knoxville, and Oak Ridge. The annual rotating installation is one of many Dogwood Arts programs focused on providing access to the arts for everyone, promoting awareness of the strong visual arts community thriving in our region, and creating a vibrant and inspiring environment for residents and visitors to experience.

Sculpture installation will take place March 22-23, 2019.

Dogwood Arts, 123 W. Jackson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-637-4561, www.dogwoodarts.com