2019’s second first Friday arrives tomorrow, and downtown will be packed with music and visual arts.
The Arts & Culture Alliance will have three new exhibitions at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay St. An opening reception set for 5-9 p.m. will feature music by Tanasi Winds and composers/performers William Wright and Jorge Variego.
In the main gallery and atrium will be “A Man Who Thought in Color: The Pat Roddy Collection.” More than 50 paintings created by and from the personal collection of the late James Patrick Roddy III will be on display. An additional reception, sale and live auction on Saturday, Feb. 23, will benefit the Arts & Heritage Fund.
Roddy ran the Roddy Coca-Cola Bottling Co. most of his life, and his family said that he always sketched while on the phone. After he retired in 1993, Roddy began painting and took part in exhibitions hosted by the Tennessee Watercolor Society and the South Carolina Watercolor Society. He loved his painting and used many mediums, including watercolors and oils. He died in 2009.
Since 2012, the Arts & Heritage Fund has supported individual artists and made general operating support grants to qualified arts and culture nonprofits in Knoxville, helping them make an even greater economic and educational impact on the community. It grants out 100 percent of funds raised and has distributed more than $2.6 million to local artists and arts and culture organizations in its first seven years. Every penny of the artwork purchased from the Roddy Collection will go directly into grants to local artists and nonprofit arts and culture organizations.
To RSVP for the Feb. 23 sale and auction, please call (865) 523-7543.
In the Emporium’s upper galleries will be the National Juried Exhibition of 2019, featuring works from 43 artists from around the state and across the country. Now in its 13th year, the exhibition provides a forum for local artists to compete on a national scale and encompasses all styles and genres. More than $1,000 in cash awards will be announced at a 6 p.m. awards ceremony Friday.
Exhibiting artists include: Wesley Miller of Alcoa, Carrie Pendergrass of Chattanooga, Hannah Oakes of Jefferson City, Shaun Whitson of Kingsport, David Boruff, Raeus Jae Cannon, Elle Colquitt, Bill Cook Jr., Denise Cumming, Virginia Derryberry, Judi Gaston, Michael Giles, Suzanne Jack, Chuck Jones, Anne Kinggard, Andreas Koschan, Roy McCullough, Kate McCullough, Clay Pardue, Hei Park, Annie Rochelle, Steven Escar Smith, Denise Stewart-Sanabria, Bill Timm, Marilyn Avery Turner, Mitchell Williamson, and Rodney Yardley of Knoxville, LuAnne DeMeo and Susan B. Miller of Lenoir City, Brooke Craig of Lookout Mountain, Anna Ambrose and Martica Griffin of Nashville, Seth Haverkamp of Norris, Paula E. Campbell, Yvonne Dalschen, Dawn Hinesley Jones and Herbert Rieth of Oak Ridge, Kelsey Dillow of Sevierville, Marty McConnaughey of Sharps Chapel. Out-of-state artists include Todd Fife of Bowling Green, Ky., Pat Kumicich of Naples, Fla., Alexander Diaz of Saint Augustine, Fla., and Hannah Rivers of Rose Hill, Va.
The third Emporium exhibit features “Debbie Whelan: Dancing Pots and Whimsical Clocks” in the display case. All pieces are hand thrown of porcelain, as well as white and brown high-fire stoneware, by local artist Whelan. Many pieces are altered after being thrown: squished, pushed, darted, pinched, clay taken away, clay added. All glazes and slips are hand mixed and are created by altering recipes to achieve different colors and textures.
Exhibition hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit the website.