Calendar of Events

Saturday, April 1, 2023

Sequoyah Birthplace Museum: Lecture Series: Author, Lin Stepp

Category: Free event, History, heritage, Lecture, panel and Literature, spoken word, writing

Join us on Saturday April 1st at 1 pm to 4 pm with Author Lin Stepp for a book signing of her latest book Seeking Ayita.

Dr. Lin Stepp is a New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon best-selling international author. A native Tennessean, businesswoman, and former faculty member at Tusculum College, Lin has over twenty published novels set around the Smoky Mountains near her home and at the South Carolina coast. Her latest mountain book, SEEKING AYITA, is set in Cherokee, NC. She and her husband J.L. also write regional guidebooks and have published a guide to Smoky Mountain hiking trails and two guidebooks for TN and SC state parks. Lin enjoys hiking and exploring out of doors, speaking for events, and sharing about her work and interests through her monthly blog and newsletter, both on her website at: www.linstepp.com

This free lecture will be held in the multipurpose room.

Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, 576 Hwy 360, Vonore, TN 37885. Information: 423-884-6246, www.sequoyahmuseum.org

Children's Museum of Oak Ridge: 50th Anniversary Gallery Exhibition

  • March 12, 2023 — July 30, 2023

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, History, heritage and Kids, family

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

Zoo Knoxville: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Category: Festivals, special events, History, heritage, Kids, family and Science, nature

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

McClung Museum: The Sculpture of William Edmondson

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Fine Crafts, Free event and History, heritage

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.

Jubilee Community Arts: Mountain Jubilee with Paul Campbell

Category: Free event, History, heritage and Music

Mountain Jubilee airs Saturdays from 9-10 PM on WUOT 91.9 FM
www.wuot.org

Host Paul Campbell - Latest releases of regional music with historic recordings and highlights of Laurel Theater concerts.

For more upcoming events see www.jubileearts.org

East Tennessee Historical Society: Lights! Camera! East TN!

Category: Exhibitions, visual art, Film, History, heritage and Kids, family

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