Summer Wheat, pictured in her Ridgewood, N.Y., studio, will be the visiting artist at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in February.It's a new year and local and regional arts centers are lining up new exhibits and events, including a new speaker series at the Hunter Museum of American Art, a controversial political cartoon exhibit at the Jewish Cultural Center and a whimsical tribute to 1980s pop culture at the Arts Center in Athens, Tenn.
Here is a preview of exhibits coming in 2013, in alphabetical order.
ARTCRAFTERS
* Location: 1356 Market St., Dayton, Tenn. 423-775-1401
* Jan. 5-17: "Winter Frolic and Fun," paintings and photos by Dee Grove and Kimberly McMillian.
* Jan. 19-31: Derrick Keeton, acrylic-abstract selections
* Feb. 2-14: Jim Murphy, art creations
* Feb. 16-28: Carol Hill, photos
* March 2-14: Jane Campbell, paintings and hand-carved dolls
* March 16-30: Peggy Thurman, paintings
* April 6-17: Nell Moretz, paintings
* April 20-May1: Cissy Price, stained glass
* May 4-31: Rhea Arts Council spring arts and music festival
THE ARTS CENTER
* Location: 320 N. White St., Athens, Tenn. 423-745-8781
Program director Pat Armstrong calls Mitchel de la Garza's exhibit a whimsical tribute to the pop culture of the 1980s, which greatly influenced the artist while he was growing up.
"Befuddling notebook margins and homemade book covers with various band names, song lyrics and drawings of devils and demons influenced by old heavy-metal hand-me-down album covers and a group of friends who played Dungeons & Dragons every weekend, the young artist took to adding his own details," she says.
* Jan. 15-Feb. 25: Mitchell de la Garza
* March: Annual high school student art exhibit
* April: "Mask," an exhibit of masks made by International Organization on Arts and Disability participants
* June: Photographs by Sheila Chesanow of Athens
* September: Paintings by Ellen Zahorec
ASSOCIATION FOR VISUAL ARTS
* Location: 30 Frazier Ave., Chattanooga. 265-4282
* Jan. 4-Feb. 23: Knoxville Arts and Culture Alliance Member Show
* March 1-April 27: National installation exhibition
* June 28-July 27: AVA All-Member Salon Show
* Sept. 7-Oct. 12: AVA Emerging Artist Exhibit
* Nov. 1-30: John Stone exhibit
* Dec. 6-31: AVA Juried Members Exhibition
CREATIVE ARTS GUILD
* Location: 520 W. Waugh St., Dalton, Ga.; 706-278-0168
"We have three exhibitions that open Jan. 4 with a reception for all three shows from 5:30 until 7 p.m. In our Main Gallery is a retrospective exhibit from artist and retired Chattanooga art educator Lolly Durant. Her show will feature the fine arts and crafts she has created over the course of her three-year career," says Bradley Wilson, gallery director.
"Gallery 111 will feature hand-carved and painted canes by Georgia artist John McPherson. Our Performance Hall Gallery will display photographs by members of Dalton's Carpet Capital Camera Club."
* March: 50th annual Student Arts Expo
* April: Creative Arts Guild's 50th Anniversary Exhibit; Gallery 111 Spigel Award Winner
* October: Sara Morales-Morgan and William Temple
HARRIS ARTS CENTER
* Location: 212 S. Wall St., Calhoun, Ga. 706-629-2599.
Director Toni Molleson says the year's exhibits open with the work of Beverly Patrick, "a beloved art teacher, having taught for decades in Calhoun," and Lee Fields, graphic artist for Rome News Publishing.
* Jan. 2-Feb. 1: Palette Artistry Guild, Beverly Patrick and students, and Lee Fields
* Feb. 4-March 1: Middle School Art Show
* April 20-June 7: Joe Glasser Retrospective in oil landscapes; watercolorist Don Maier and folk art sculptor Will Linn.
* June 10-July 19: Julia Knight's bronze sculptures and abstracts of Paul Fontana
* July 22-Aug. 30: Regional Art Show
* Sept. 2-27: Nature's Eye Photography Show
HOUSTON MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS
* Location: 201 High St., Chattanooga. 267-7176
* January-February: As Seen on Television
* March-April: Victorian Botanicals
* May-June: Rockingham Pottery and Cast Iron Banks
* July-August: The Dog Days of Summer
* September-October: Textiles, Coverlets and Quilts
* November-December: Holiday Glass
HUNTER MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
* Location: 10 Bluff View, Chattanooga. 267-0968
The Hunter is starts with year with two current exhibitions -- "Beauty Beyond Nature" and "Exploring the Land." But it's also beginning its first major speaker series, "Art Wise: Distinguished Speakers at the Hunter Museum," says Daniel Stetson, executive director at the museum. The series will bring such artists and art professionals as glass artist Paul Stankard, mixed media painter and installation artist Whitfield Lovell, Crystal Bridges Museum Executive Director Don Bacigalupi and sculptor Albert Paley.
* January-April 21: Beauty Beyond Nature: The Glass Art of Paul Stankard
* January-April 28: Landscapes from the Hunter Collection, a selection of 19th- and 20th-century paintings, works on paper, glass and photographs depicting the American land.
* May 16-Oct. 13: MacArthur Fellowship recipient Whitfield Lovell will create a site-specific installation based on Chattanooga's black history.
JEWISH CULTURAL CENTER
* Location: 5461 North Terrace Road; Chattanooga. 493-0270
Program director Ann Treadwell says the center launches the new year with a political cartoon exhibit that "contains material that will challenge viewers and lead to discussions about extremism, the Middle East and the role of the United States."
The collection, collected by the Anti-Defamation League, is culled from various Arab media, she says.
"Political cartoons are a form of art that effects our lives on a daily basis. We want to cause conversation and dialogue in a safe and nurturing environment."
* Jan. 7-Feb. 1: "Another Point of View: How Israel and the United States are Portrayed by Arab Media."
UTC CRESS GALLERY
* Location: UTC Fine Arts Center, corner of Vine and Palmetto streets, Chattanooga. ruth-grover@utc.edu
Gallery director Ruth Grover says that, in addition to work by University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Department of Art students and faculty, the eighth annual Diane Marek Visiting Artist Series in early spring will bring artist Summer Wheat to Chattanooga.
"Pushing the limits of material and process, Wheat expressively 'sculpts' and 'sews' with paint. Interested in the dichotomy of high and low culture, and society's notions of beauty, Wheat's subject matter centers upon the figure and narrative, both imagined and recollected, to explore the vulnerability and contradiction of life and story with sincerity and generous curiosity, and a warm touch of humor," says Grover.
* January: UTC Department of Art Annual Juried Student Exhibition
* Feb. 12-March 22: Summer Wheat in Diane Marek Visiting Artist Series
* April 2-12: UTC Department of Art BFA Senior Thesis Exhibition Group One
* April 16-26: UTC Department of Art BFA Senior Thesis Exhibition Group Two
* June 10-July 26: Selections III: Work from the UTC Permanent Collection of Art
* Aug. 27-Oct. 4: UTC Department of Art Biennial Faculty Exhibition