Celebrate local artists presenting new exhibitions at the Emporium. Beginning Friday, June 5, a number of artists will be featuring their artwork from 5:00-9:00 pm at 100 S. Gay Street. The event is hosted by the Arts & Culture Alliance.

Dream Thesaurus Curated by Lynne Marinelli Ghenov - Balcony Gallery

Dream Thesaurus presents the work of Mikel Elam, Risa Hricovsky, and Caroline Santa. These three artists each use a surplus of materials to create layered surfaces loaded with innovative texture and color combinations that invoke contemplation and introspection.

Mikel's work extends beyond the medium specificity of painting into collage and mixed media using found objects and a variety of materials, making the components of each work generously complex. Along with his impetus for a dreamlike quality, Mikel further reimagines and reconfigures portraits, interspersing them in patterns tangled in pigment. His work summons histories that have long been made invisible, paralleled with personal experiences and stories.

Risa challenges the traditional use of ceramics through her material medleys that resemble soup-like petri dishes, amassed with a banquet of broken ceramic and glass pieces, a variety of unknown morsels and particles that lure you in. The work feels futuristic and unruly, eliciting a kind of curiosity one gets when looking into a snow globe or a fish tank.

Caroline's paintings and drawings are made by building assemblages and substrates from a variety of her own saved scraps of fabric, paper, and ephemera, mirroring snippets of what she sees in her everyday life. These, often extra-small "clusters," are packed with a powerful energy that requires the viewer to stand close, examine, and be present.

Lynne Marinelli Ghenov is a visual artist who primarily creates drawing, collage, and other works on paper. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in New Jersey, Lynne now lives and works in Knoxville, TN. She co-founded and co-directed C for Courtside Gallery, an artist-run curatorial space in downtown N. Knoxville, from 2017 to 2020. Lynne received her BFA in sculpture from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA (1998), and studied at Temple University Rome in Italy (1996). Lynne is the Associate at Loghaven Artist Residency in Knoxville, TN.

Terra Madre - Women in Clay Lower Gallery

Terra Madre is a juried group of female clay artists that was founded in 2000 by a handful of like-minded potters in Knoxville. Their mission is to uplift one another in our clay journeys, to inspire a greater appreciation for ceramics in East Tennessee, and to encourage excellence in clay artistry and craftsmanship.

Terra Madre currently has 35 members and is a diverse blend of passionate women who celebrate mutual support and the joy of creativity. Membership is open to women ceramic artists living in specified counties in the Knoxville, Tennessee area. 

Instagram: @terra_madre_women
Facebook: /TerraMadreKnoxvilleTN

Let's Get Whimsical! Larry Cole - Atrium

Let's Get Whimsical! is a collection of works from the artist's walk on the playful side. These paintings are comical, sometimes outrageous, and intended to induce a chuckle and a smile. Created when more serious studio work got bogged down, or inspiration wouldn't come, they are products of the artist's attempt to break through creative slumps. They are pure amusement and represent faces of characters the artist has encountered over a lifetime of "people watching". So, take a break from reality - look, laugh, and come on ... let's get whimsical!

Larry Cole, a native Tennessean and retired banker, is an abstract expressionist painter who studied art at the University of Tennessee and is the former owner of Gallery House Art in the Bearden Arts District near downtown Knoxville. Vivid colors and conspicuous brush strokes are typical of his works. He is perhaps best known for his vibrantly colorful oils depicting abstract and intentionally ambiguous subjects ranging from landscapes to human forms. He currently works from his studio in West Knoxville. His paintings have been featured in galleries and solo exhibitions in Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and throughout the MidAtlantic region.

Cam de L’àmé Chet Overall - Display Case

Cam de L’àmé, French for ‘Camera of the Soul’ - is a photo project started by Chet Overall, Fall of 2024. Rooted in conceptual / storytelling photography, the project aims to show the more ‘gritty’ side of society, to show a more street, real life approach to the art of photography.

Chet is a native Tennessean, raised in Athens, just south of Knoxville. Chet spent a decade in New Orleans, where he worked as a musician and photographer, documenting the ever cultural and dynamic life - of what it’s like to call New Orleans home. Now back in his roots of Tennessee, Chet is thrilled to show his work from all the years he spent traveling and living in many different, various places.

Cam de L’àmé can be found on Instagram at: @cam_de_lame

First Friday will feature live music with Nick Marlow from 6-9 pm.

Looking for parking? Free nights & weekends