Gatlinburg Announces Smoky Mountain Spring Festivals & Events
 
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Gatlinburg Announces Smoky Mountain Spring Festivals & Events

Cindy Dupree # State
Emporium

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Arts & Culture Alliance presents five new exhibitions April 6-27 at the Emporium Center.

A reception will take place 5-9 p.m. Friday, April 6 as part of First Friday activities downtown to which the public is invited to meet the artists and view the artwork. The reception will also feature music by Anne E. DeChant 6-8:30 p.m. Most of the works are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition.

Joe Longobardi: Mind heart and the City in the lower gallery

Mind heart and the City documents downtown Asheville, North Carolina's most recent iteration of gentrification as it strives to maintain the diversity of its bohemian mountain culture. The images reveal a people and culture experiencing a paradigm shift as it transitions into the new millennium. The genesis of this project began approximately ten years earlier, and did not come to completion until 2017. The photographs in the exhibition and the two accompanying books were captured completely on film, shot over a 10-year period. Although the use of film is not the main focus of the project, Joe Longobardi’s intent was to rediscover the 20th century humanist approach to street photography via the utilization of old manual film cameras to explore and document city life.

Joe Longobardi is a photographer, writer, musician, and illustrator who has worked professionally as a documentary and street photographer since 2008. He studied graphic design and Illustration at The Art Institute of Boston. He was also a founding member of the recording and touring Metal band Attika releasing several album in the U.S, Europe and Japan. Longobardi’s photography has been exhibited at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts; the Biltmore Estate; Southeast Gallery of Photographic Art, Vero Beach, FL; CREGS Lens on Gender and Sexuality Exhibition, San Francisco, CA; Lenoir-Rhyne University; and the Asheville Art Museum. Solo exhibitions include Living Art at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, and Urban Photography from the Streets of a Bohemian Mountain Town at UNC Asheville. His photos have appeared in numerous publications including Our State Magazine, The New York Times, F-Stop Magazine, Shelterforce Magazine, Mel Bay Publications, and the Laurel of Asheville Magazine. For more information, please visit http://joelongobardiphotography.com.

Creativity and Parkinsons - Their Stories and Their Art in the upper gallery

Recent research has demonstrated definitively that Parkinson’s Disease, along with dopamine-based medication is actually causing some people to be more creative. Many people report that before being diagnosed with the disease they had not engaged in any particular creative activity, and after the onset of the disease, they took up creative activities such as poetry, painting, and photography, while those who were already creative have reported a surge in creative output. The research has concluded that when involved in an intense creative activity, the brain produces more dopamine and the symptoms of the disease are reduced.

This exhibition will feature the work of several individuals who have experienced this. Most of these participants are not professional artists. Works include painting, photography, poetry, furniture making and more. The displays are designed as a traveling show and will be displayed in the future in hospital lobbies. The project is designed by Architect David Denton and sponsored by Dr. Michele Brewer, MD.

As part of the Arts & Culture Alliance’s Professional Development Seminars, an initial opening event will take place on Wednesday, April 4, with a light reception at 5:30 PM. David Denton will speak at 6 p.m. about his experience, and artists will be on-hand to discuss their personal experiences.

Expressions by Derrick Freeman in the display case

Derrick Freeman is a self-taught artist diagnosed with Autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired verbal and non-verbal communication. By age two, he was completely non-verbal and unable to learn and use language like most children his age. By age three, art became his only form of communication, and he learned to express his perceptions of life and everyday living through drawings and artwork. Each piece of art tells the story of his journey with Autism. Freeman continues to break down the barriers of Autism through sharing his unique artistic talents with the community as well as advocating for more social inclusion for individuals with Autism.

Over the years, Derrick Freeman’s artwork has been featured on WVLT-TV (Channel 8), at the Dogwood Arts Festival, the Knoxville Museum of Art Artists on Location, the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, the Tennessee Disability Mega Conference, the Art Fair of Madisonville, Very Special Arts (VSA) of Tennessee, East Tennessee Historical Society, Blount Mansion, Davis Art Studio, Beck Cultural Exchange Center and Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center at Austin Peay State University. In addition, Derrick’s art has been featured in several newspapers and magazines throughout Tennessee including: City View Magazine: Annual Arts Magazine and in the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities Breaking Ground magazine.

Mike C. Berry: New Works on the North Wall

This small exhibition will highlight the recent work of Mike C Berry. Considered a versatile painter who works in vibrant colors, bringing energy and rhythm to each work, Berry creates urban compositions that bend and twist the cityscapes that have become his identifiable style. His paintings consist of gestural brushstrokes and pure bright color. Recently, he illustrated a children’s book, “The Curious Adventures of Wickl Wackl and his Friends” written by his friend Renee D’Elia-Zunino.

Mike C. Berry was the 2007 Dogwood Arts Festival Limited Edition Print Artist and received the Best Visual Artist in Knoxville award by the Knoxville News Sentinel Readers Poll in 2009. He has exhibited his work in numerous group exhibitions and a solo exhibition, Something Blue, in September 2017. He earned his MFA from the Savannah College of Art & Design. Berry is the gallery manager for the UT Downtown Gallery and is represented by The District Gallery in Knoxville and The River Gallery in Chattanooga. He and his wife Leah live in Knoxville with their daughter, Orly. For more information, please visit www.mikecberry.com.

A Total Eclipse of the Heart by Eric Thompson in the Atrium

Eric Thompson has been a musician and photographer in the Knoxville area for over 20 years. He was described by his mentor and instructor in the 1990’s as being a natural. His sense of detail and perceptiveness to his surroundings allows him to capture the physical, emotional and reactive responses of his subjects in real time. He also has a photo-journalistic nature and loves to chronicle any momentous occasion in a way that expresses a complete story. For more information, please visit www.photographybyerick.com.

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Exhibition hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. For more information, contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at 865-523-7543, or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

About the Arts & Culture Alliance

The Arts & Culture Alliance serves and supports a diverse community of artists, arts organizations, and cultural institutions. The Alliance receives financial support from the Tennessee Arts Commission, the City of Knoxville, and First Tennessee Foundation.