The School of Art at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville will host artists Richard W. James and Dariusz Nowak for lectures on Feb. 20 and 26.
James, a 1996 alumnus of UT Martin, is an assistant professor of sculpture and ceramics at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He was the recipient of the 2019 James Renwick Alliance Chrysalis Award for emerging artists in the contemporary craft as well as the Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist Award in 2018. James will give a free public lecture at 7:30 p.m. in the McCarty Auditorium of the Art & Architecture Building.
Nowak is a faculty member in sculpture at the Eugenisuz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw, Poland. He is visiting the UT School of Art for one week through an exchange program funded by Erasmus+, which encourages educational and cultural exchanges between European Union countries as well as with universities outside of Europe. His lecture is Feb. 26.
For more information on visiting artist lectures or events, visit the School of Art’s page.
TCDE to debut ‘Resilience’
The Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble will present its 2020 season opener at 8 p.m. Friday Feb. 28 and 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium.
Knoxville audiences will have the first opportunity to experience the new slate of dances that make up the Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble’s 2020 touring season, dances that will inspire audiences in Tennessee and worldwide. Irena Linn is the group’s artistic director.
This year’s theme is “Resilience” and includes proven audience favorites such as “Fly Again” and “Black Snow,” along with the popular “Now Arriving” and “Lights Out” by Courtney Massey Kohlhepp. This year Knoxville can experience firsthand the world premiere of five new and exciting works, including “Savannah Grass,” which is dedicated to the animal victims of the Australian wildfires, and “Trying Times,” both choreographed by Associate Director Amy Wilson as well as “I Believe,” choreographed to the popular music of Lauren Daigle, and “Waiting on Change” by resident choreographer Sarah Lynch.
Randy Duncan, former artistic director of the Joseph Holmes Dance Company and dance chair for Chicago’s High School for the Performing Arts, who has long delighted Knoxville with world premieres of his stunning dances, returns this year to offer the premiere of “Release,” a classic fast-paced work that leaves one amazed and breathless, and as always with Duncan, inspired.
Adult tickets are $28. Child and student tickets are $14. There will be discounted (and abbreviated) performances at 9:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28. Adult tickets for those shows are $10, while child and student tickets will be $6.
For tickets, group sales or more info, call 865-207-1954 or email cheri@dancerstudioknox.com.
Arts in the Airport call
The Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville and the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority are calling for entries for the 22 nd Arts in the Airport, an exhibition developed to allow regional artists to compete and display work in the most visited site in the area.
Approximately 40-45 fine art works encompassing all styles and genres from both emerging and established artists will comprise the exhibition in the secured area behind McGhee Tyson Airport’s security gate checkpoint from March 24 through a TBA end date in August.
The deadline for entries to be received is midnight Monday, Feb. 24.
Prizes include at least $1,000 in cash awards.
Info and an entry form are online at www.knoxalliance.com/airport-entry/.
The call for entries is open to all artists 18 years and older residing in the 33 counties of East Tennessee. Each artist may submit up to five entries, which must be original works in the following categories: 2-D (painting, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, photography) and 3-D (sculpture of all media). The nonrefundable entry fee is $30 for up to five works (free for Arts & Culture Alliance members), and it includes a six-month membership with the Arts & Culture Alliance.
The juror is Jim Scarsella, an artist and arts administrator who resides in Sevierville and has exhibited and taught sculpting, woodturning and woodworking throughout the United States. He is deputy director at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg and will assume the role of executive director in April.