Knoxville
Arts and Culture
If art and culture are you're bag of tea, then you're on the right path. Here are some great ideas to add spice to your spirit and flavor to your life.
Knoxville Museum of Art:
This is great place to start if you're wanting to see displayed artwork of more popular and renowned artists. Right now the KMA has a really cool M.C. Escher exhibit, and admission is only $5 for college students, woo-hoo! The KMA is located in downtown Knoxville and has a cool park, Fort Kid, just across the street.
Some other interesting art viewing locations:
McClung Museum, located on UT campus, has a more historical selection of art
Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, also on UT campus, often features student
and guest teachers and artists to the university.
There are several dance companies centered in Knoxville that have performances seasonally and for special events. Check out these company sites more info on exact performance dates and such.
Circle Modern Dance
This is a company all about the power of dance. They just recently put on their spring performance, Wide Open, and it was fabulous. There is always a healthy mix of emotional and funny pieces included in each performance. Each year they have a candlelit Christmas show, that gets better every time. The company also offers dance classes.
Tennessee Children's Dance Ensemble
This company is made up entirely of children under the age of eighteen. Don't let this deter you from seeing them perform though, because they are amazing. They are also Goodwill Ambassadors for our country and have travelled all over the world performing.
The City Ballet
This is Knoxville's professional ballet company. They put on more traditional works, such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, and have performances at the Civic Auditorium.
Knoxville is also to home to several famous authors, and is mentioned in some of their literature. Alex Haley, for example, lived much of his life in Knoxville. This statue of him near downtown in Morningside Park, is an interesting place to visit and climb around. James Agee is another well known author who resided in Knoxville. Just last year a street in the Fort was named after him in honor of his old stompin' ground. An english teacher in high school also rumored that Agee is buried in a cemetary in north Knoxville, just off Tazewell Pike, but I've never seen the proof!?! Find out more about Haley and Agee by clicking on their names.
Theatre arts are also strong here in Knoxville. UT has a large program and they put on a play about every month. Right now they are running They're Playing Our Song,
which lasts until April 29th. Early this year they did Hamlet in cooperation with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, and it was quite cool. The plays are almost always entertaining and students can purchase tickets for a measely five dollars. Check out the schedule for the 2000-2001 season on their webpage.
There are several musical arts groups around Knoxville, too. A few are:
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra : This is the professional orchestra in town, and is directed by Kirk Trevor. The KSO has quite a few performances throughout the year, and puts on a Pops series that is a little more fun than traditional orchestra music.
Knoxville Opera Company : The opera company in Knoxville just recently put on Tosca, which I hear was good. I do not really know anything about opera though, and the one time I did go to one, I fell asleep and left at intermission! I would go back though, because anything artsy deserves at least 2 shots before giving up on it!
Laura Beth with questions, etc.