Although summer doesn’t end for another three weeks—and we have the hot, humid weather to prove it—there are major signs that the Fall music and arts season is upon us. Not only do we have First Friday this week, but there are heavy visual and sonic appetizers being served up this week and into the Labor Day Weekend. What follows here are only a few of the many choices—make sure to read through to the end.
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Tri-Star Arts: Three New Exhibitions Open on September 1
Tri-Star Arts, based at the Candoro Marble Building in South Knoxville, has announced three new exhibitions opening on Friday, September 1, 2023. Free
Untitled Ham, a solo show by Milwaukee-based artist Michelle Grabner is in the Main Gallery.
Griffin Allman, a Knoxville-based, UTK MFA candidate, is offering Moving In Between. It is the next exhibition in Tri-Star Arts Golden Chain Gallery project space at the Candoro Marble Building. This show is located within the unique architectural space of a narrow wooden stairwell.
Root by Jason Sheridan Brown is the next outdoor sculpture installed on the grounds of the historic Candoro Marble Building. Root will remain on view through Tuesday, December 31, 2024. This large sculpture has been placed in sync with the exhibitions on view, extending the conversation outdoors to an accessible public space adjacent to the driveway entrance.
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Graphic Novel Inversion Nominated for an Ignatz Award
Lily Thu Fierro and Generoso Fierro are experimental comics creators based in Knoxville. Since the release of their debut comic, Vessel, in January of 2022, they’ve co-created two graphic novels, Inversion, which was released in October of last year, and Chua. Inversion was just nominated last week for an Ignatz Award in the Outstanding Story category.
The Ignatz Awards winners are decided by a voting process open to the public, and there is a ballot request form online for those wanting to support deserving Knoxville artists with a vote: https://www.smallpressexpo.com/ignatz-ballot-request/
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Knoxville Symphony Orchestra on the Square
Thursday evening at 7:30 PM finds the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in Market Square for a free concert conducted by KSO resident conductor James Fellenbaum. The concert will feature a mix of classical music (Mozart and Beethoven) and familiar pop tunes, including a medley of Beatles’ songs.
Tip: Arrive early and bring blankets and lawn chairs. As always, parking is FREE after 6 p.m. in the city-owned Market Square, Walnut Street, Locust Street, and State Street garages.
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Central Cinema: Limited Run of Documentary KING COAL
Central Cinema will be hosting award-winning filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s Appalachian essay doc KING COAL for a week-long limited Knoxville run. An opening night Q&A with McMillion Sheldon takes place on Friday, September 1, moderated by her University of Tennessee colleague Paul Harrill. [English • 2023 • 80 minutes • NR]
“A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, KING COAL meditates on the complex history and future of the coal industry, the communities it has shaped, and the myths it has created. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon reshapes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking in a spectacularly beautiful and deeply moving immersion into Central Appalachia where coal is not just a resource, but a way of life, imagining the ways a community can re-envision itself.”
Central Cinema, 1205 N Central St – SHOWTIMES
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Knoxville Jazz Orchestra: Jazz @ the Emporium
Jazz @ the Emporium wraps up its July and August appearances this Tuesday, August 29, 7:00 – 8:30 PM—before moving back outside for Jazz on the Square in September. Individual charcuterie servings, desserts, coffee and bottled water will be available for purchase from Above and Beyond Catering. Patrons may also BYOB. The Emporium is located at 100 South Gay Street in Knoxville. (Scroll down for First Friday openings at the Emporium)
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UT College of Music: Guest Artist Recital
Guest Artists: Young Kim, Lin He, & Arisia Gilmore; piano, violin, and horn
The performance features Brahms’ Horn Trio, Florence Price’s Fantasie No. 1 for Violin & Piano, solo piano works by Claire Cowan, and other works by historically excluded communities.
Tuesday, August 29 at 7:30pm
Natalie Haslam Music Center, Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall, FREE
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September Openings at the Emporium Center
These exhibitions open on Friday, September 1 with a 5:00-9:00 PM reception at the Emporium Center, under the auspices of the Arts & Culture Alliance. Regular gallery hours: Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
• Beyond Landscapes: Lauren Adams & Ilina Arsova
• The Big Camera!: Obscura III
• West Fifth Studios: Field Trip
• Tonya Wade Wunder: Distortions and other Non-Realities
Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Downtown Knoxville
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Lilienthal Gallery: Metamorphosis
Lilienthal Gallery‘s next exhibition is Metamorphosis featuring the work of Eszter Bornemisza, Alke Reeh, Martha Rieger. Curated by Ilana Lilienthal, Tally Ben Sira & Anat Ahouvi-Baruch, the show opens on Friday, September 1, with a reception from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. It will continue through November 26 at the regular gallery times of Thursday – Saturday, 12 – 6 PM.
Lilienthal Gallery, 23 Emory Place, Downtown Knoxville
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Dogwood Arts—Shaped Like Light: Annie Rochelle & Summer Small
Opening Reception: Friday, September 1, 2023 At 5 PM – 8 PM
Regular Gallery Hours: M-F— 9:00 AM-5:00 PM
“Shaped Like Light is an exploration of the cultural and physical landscape of East Tennessee. These paintings shimmer though landscape and folklore in a mirage of incandescent color and pattern.”
Dogwood Arts Gallery, 123 W. Jackson Avenue
