The Emporium Center
100 S. Gay Street
Knoxville, TN 37902
(865) 523-7543
Map

---

For directions and other information: www.knoxalliance.com

---

Main Page

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions - Events

The TAA Annual Fall Juried Show
September 3-24

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a new exhibition by the Tennessee Artists Association titled “The TAA Annual Fall Juried Show” and featuring original art by more than 40 Tennessee artists including oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, photography, and mixed-media.

• An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities on September 3 from 5:00-9:00 PM, and awards for the show will be given at 6:00 PM.

“This is TAA’s second show at the Emporium Center, and we are very excited about the opportunity to present the breadth and quality of Tennessee artists’ works represented by our members,” says Joanne White and her co-chair, Steve Black. Sponsors of this show, including FastFrame, Jerry’s Artarama, The Town Framery, Franklin Gallery, Cheap Joe’s and CMI Moulding, have made it possible to provide awards and recognition to the artists.

Founded in 1974, The Tennessee Artists Association (TAA) is a civic organization of fine artists with 55 current members. The Tennessee Artists Association encourages each individual artist to grow and develop through fellowship with other artists, educational programs, opportunities to exhibit and sell art, and to serve the community through classes. TAA hosts a spring art sale, fall juried show, an exhibition of new artwork every three months at the Knoxville Chamber Partnership on Market Square, and numerous workshops for children and adults throughout the year. Membership is open to anyone eighteen years and older who is a resident of the state of Tennessee. Dues are currently $50 for single membership, $60 for family and $15 for students. Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 6500 Northshore Drive, and include a business meeting, a program (often with a guest speaker), and time for fellowship and refreshments. Guests are welcome to attend. For more information, visit www.tennartists.org.

---

Let’s Play with our Emotions
September 3-24
Balcony

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present a collection of new works titled “Let’s Play with our Emotions” by Rafael Casco, the current Betsy Worden Memorial Artist-in-Residence at the Emporium Center. The exhibition features works created during the time of Casco’s residency (April through September 2010) that were inspired by the Toltec tradition in which people learn to have and show total respect for themselves and those around them. Toltec tradition guides people to take care of their bodies, souls, and the planet. “I use my imagination and art work to create a reality in which the world is a place of justice and happiness,” says Casco. The exhibition includes acrylic paintings, airbrush technique, mixed media, plaster masks and sculptures, and hand-painted furniture and plates. Casco will also display a series of masks created by students with whom he works.

• An opening reception will take place as part of First Friday activities September 3 from 5:00-9:00 PM.

Rafael Casco was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras where he received a degree as an art teacher from the National School of Fine Arts in Honduras and studied psychology at the National Autonomous University. He has participated in different art events in Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, and throughout the United States. He uses his art to design pottery, furniture, and to create and install custom murals; his collection also includes carving, molds, caricatures, and drawing. Casco taught art to at-risk children and adults in Latin America and the U.S., including his work with the YWMCA in San Jose, CA, where he used art as a gang prevention strategy with low-income Hispanic youth. After living in Los Angeles for a few years, the destruction in Honduras from Hurricane Mitch compelled him to return to his home country. He worked with children living on the street and used his skills in art therapy. He also taught art in the high schools while continually searching for ways to show his own art. In 2005, he returned to the U.S. to pursue his dream of exhibiting and selling paintings.

Casco sends some of his paintings to the Institute of International Languages in Honduras to be sold for scholarships for children who want to learn to speak English but cannot afford the tuition. He currently shows work at Earthspeak Studio and Creative Spirit Crafts in Gatlinburg and for the past three years has participated in the Artist-on-Location and Latino Art Exhibition at the Knoxville Museum of Art. In 2010, Casco served as a panelist for the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Arts Education – Community Learning grants. He was also recently selected to be one of ten artists from East Tennessee participating in a TAC program called Arts360° being piloted in five Knox County schools. Arts360° emphasizes arts integration in which math, science, reading and other subjects are integrated with and taught through music, dance, visual art, theatre and creative writing. Casco and the other artists will provide residencies and serve as peer coaches.

“Let’s Play with our Emotions” will be on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM with additional hours on Saturday, September 4, from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Please note, the Emporium will be closed on Monday, September 6, for Labor Day.

---

Penny Performances
The Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville in cooperation with the local arts community is proud to announce Penny Performances, a new program developed to meet the local arts community’s long-term goal of serving and educating East Tennessee's children. Penny Performances provide every child in Knox County, including home-schooled and private-schooled students, an opportunity to attend local arts and culture events/activities by more than 28 organizations at the maximum cost of ONE PENNY when accompanied by an adult during the 2010/2011 academic school year. Concerts, plays, dance performances, historic home tours, fairs, museums, festivals, arts workshops, radio broadcasts, movies, and more are part of Penny Performances. Organizations whose admission is regularly free are offering special programs or gifts for attending Knox County students. Notices announcing this program will be given to every Knox County public school child with their First Day Packets.

A schedule of participating performances is listed on the Penny Performances web site at www.Penny4arts.com.

Families may register on this site to receive weekly e-mail reminders about participating events. Most participating performances will allow one paying adult to bring up to three students for one penny each. Proof of Knox County residency (driver's license) will be required for each adult accompanying children ages 5-15. Students ages 16-18, not accompanied by an adult, must show proof of Knox County Residency and if in a group, at least one in the group of up to four Knox County students ages 16-18 must purchase a regular adult admission/ticket (if applicable) for the group to be able to participate in Penny Performances. Each participating organization’s specific guidelines are also listed on the Penny Performances web site.

The following organizations are participating in Penny Performances: Bijou Theatre, Blount Mansion, Carpetbag Theatre, Circle Modern Dance, Clarence Brown Theatre, Dogwood Arts Festival, East Tennessee Historical Society, Fountain City Art Center, Frank M. McClung Museum, HoLa Hora Latina, James White’s Fort, Joy of Music Youth Music School, Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum, Knoxville Choral Society, Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville Opera, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Zoo, Mabry-Hazen House, Marble Springs State Historic Site, Ramsey House Plantation, Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble, Tennessee Stage Company, Tennessee Valley Fair, WDVX and The WordPlayers.

.For more information, please visit www.Penny4arts.com, or contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or info@knoxalliance.com