The State of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra
I reached out to Vance Thompson, Executive Director at the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra. I wanted to know the impact of the pandemic on the orchestra and its current status. It’s been a hard road for many,...
Culture
Boyd Foundation Grants $75,000 to Restore the Craighead-Jackson House
There aren’t many 200-year-old buildings in downtown Knoxville. Blount Mansion is, I believe, the oldest still standing where it was built, which was 1792. One cabin at James White Fort dates to 1786, but it was...
Romping Around High Ground and Fort Dickerson Parks
Kids need to get outside. They need to burn their extra energy and connect to the natural world. They need to feel a sense of place outside their four walls. And I’ll be the first to...
Juneteenth Reflections from Local African-American Leaders
For a number of people, particularly white people in our country, the word “Juneteenth” has only recently become known. In the wake of the George Floyd protests and President Trump’s initial plans to hold a rally...
New Sculptures Added to Krutch Park
One of the initial complications of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shut down was it all hit just about perfectly at the time we would normally see an influx of new sculptures to Krutch Park....
Music for a Pandemic (or Anytime) from the Sedonas and R.B. Morris
We may only be touching the tip of the music and other art made during or released during the pandemic. We might expect that artists isolated during this time might tap the muse for inspiration and...
Find Your Books: Downtown Library, Union Avenue Books Open With New Twists (Plus a Weekend Recommendation!
Today the Lawson McGhee Library is open for business downtown, as well as seven other of the nineteen Knox County Public Library locations across the county. Each branch and the downtown library will open up to...
Downtown Knoxville Through the Creative Eyes of David Denton
I’ve taken photographs during the pandemic to preserve some of the sights and scenes and I’ve shared some of them here. My friend, architect, downtown denizen and sometimes contributor to this site, David Denton has used...
Checking In With Becky Hancock and the Tennessee Theatre
I spoke with Becky Hancock, Executive Director of the Tennessee Theatre. I asked if she would talk us through those early days when they realized this would be a significant event, through what transpired over the...
Checking in with River and Rail and the Old City Performing Arts Center
While many businesses have developed clever ways to deliver some semblance of their services while on shutdown, others simply do not work with the restrictions we’ve had in place. As the restrictions are slowly removed, more...