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The Art Center is supported under an agreement between the Tennessee Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. We thank the Tennessee General Assembly and the Tennessee Arts Commission for their support.

• creative visual arts programs • ongoing exhibitions	• art and craft classes • educational public programs
• special events
Join us and experience the possiblities of visual creative expression!

Now Showing
Now through June 23

Knoxville Watercolor Society Spring Show

Watercolor is one of the most widely used and extremely varied painting
techniques artists can employ. It can be utilized in thin layers relying on the
paper to shine through the paint and create glowing lighter hues and all whites,
as in the classic approach called transparent watercolor. It can also be used in
the more contemporary style that relies on saturated, more opaque, often vivid,
colors and greater contrast. Between the two ends of that spectrum, there is a
huge range of styles that can be found by combining the approaches. It is in this
range you will find the pieces in the current Knoxville Watercolor Society
exhibition. Pieces represent recent work by members of the society.

COMING SOON: "TN Creates at the Secret City Festival"

Mark your calendars now! June 8 & 9 -
TN Creates at the Secret City Festival Friday and Saturday, 10 am-7 pm in the Oak Ridge Civic Center Gym. The Annual Secret City Festival has fast become one of the major summer events in Tennessee, attended by 20,000 to 25,000. The two-day festival combines music, food, antique and unjuried crafts vendors (all outside in tents), plus World War II re-enactments, activities for children, and evening concerts.

By popular demand, the Festival added a juried inside show several years ago sponsored by the Oak Ridge Art Center, "Tennessee Creates." Truly a juried fair, participation is dependent on acceptance of work by the jury committee from the Oak Ridge Art Center. All work submitted to jurors and for sale must be original.

Download the 2018 prospectus HERE

The Annual Fund

In the past several years, the Arts in Tennessee have been blessed with a dedicated stream of funds from "vanity plates" - specialty license plates that individuals may elect to purchase. This "splurge" for most of us, is a perfect way to

symbolize and fund the individual and sometimes very creative side of Tennesseans. Who wouldn't love seeing "CRE8TIV" on a Tennessee tag?

These funds by law were dedicated to the arts in Tennessee and have been used for arts grants to Tennessee agencies across the state, like the Art Center. This year, the funds dropped significantly, like a million and a half dollars worth! The effect was a big hit to the grants for all arts agencies and we were no exception. Although we ranked 1st in our category, our grant award was significantly lower than expected - creating about an $8,000 shortfall in our budget that we must address. This makes our Annual Fund, a main stay of our program in normal years, even more important this year. The Art Center is not funded by the City of Oak Ridge or the County government so your assistance is vitally important.

Monthly Contributions
We have several members who have elected to contribute to the Annual Fund on a monthly basis. Monthly contributions enable these special members to contribute at a higher level without breaking their monthly budgets and helps the Art Center maintain a consistent funding stream. This wonderful assistance is a terrific way to help support the Art Center for those who can participate. Our sincerest thanks to monthly contributors from last year: Dot and Robert Hightower, Jan Hill, Cleva Marrow, Lorene Sigal, and Phil Stumbo & Janie Hiserote.

Every Gift Counts
Every gift to the Annual Fund is both important and appreciated - no matter the size. It is through the generosity of our members and friends that we maintain our programs today. We hope you will consider a gift to the Art Center and help us continue to be a strong visual arts presence into the future.

Come and join the fun at the 1st Friday Stuudio! No matter what your media, spend the evening working, sharing ideas and socializing. You do not need to be enrolled in a class to attend, just an Art Center member!

What's Coming?

Art à la Carte

Art à la Carte, the Art Center’s brown bag luncheon and learning series, meets the fourth Friday in each month at 12 noon. This is a free event.

201 Badger Avenue
Oak Ridge, TN 37830
(865) 482-1441

The Oak Ridge Art Center is open to the public seven days a week. Admission is free, but donations are very welcome.

Hours:
Tuesday - Friday:
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Saturday - Monday:
1 - 4 p.m.

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Director:
Leah Marcum-Estes

Board of Directors:
Kathleen Alexander
Ryan Braby, Secretary
Janet Brudecki
Mary Ann Damos
Linda Ducamp, President
Nicole Ferrara
Pat Fitchpatrick
Debra Gurney
Janie Hiserote
Roger Lankford
Louise McKown
Janice Shannon, Treasurer
Dawn Sherrill, Vice President
Betsy Spooner
Phil Stumbo
Darrell Thomas
Susan Wojnar

Advisory Board:
Bill Capshaw
Judy Kidd
Ruth Prince
Sue Brasel Thomas

Join us and experience the possiblities of visual creative expression!

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