Bill Shores Frames & Gallery, 307 Manufacturers Road, will celebrate Earth Day with American Indian events beginning Thursday.
Daniel Bigay, an award-winning American Indian artist and musician, will be at the gallery 6-8 p.m. Thursday. Bigay’s CD “Birdsong” received a nomination for Best Flute Recording at the 2005 Indian Summer Music Awards. He creates his artworks from gourds, shell and copper and handcrafts wood and rivercane flutes. His art is available for sale and will remain at the gallery for one month.
On April 23 from 6 to 8 p.m., Dr. Michael Abram, executive director of the Cherokee Heritage Museum and Gallery, will present “A Cherokee View of the Night Sky: The Mystique of the Moon and Stars.” He also will introduce a visiting exhibit featuring the work of Robert Maney, a traditional and somewhat reclusive artist with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
The Maney exhibit, on loan from the museum’s permanent collection, is titled “The Three Worlds of the Cherokee: Expressed in Stone Gorgets, Pendants and Sculptures.” It will remain at the gallery for two months.
On April 24, a Native American Workshop will feature presentations by Michael Abram, M.D., on “Origins of Cherokee Medicine: From Legends to Daily Practice” and Susan Abram, Ph.D., on “Cherokee Women: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” Tammera Hicks, with the Tennessee Commission on Indian Affairs, will speak about the current status of American Indians in Tennessee. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Raccoon Mountain Room of the University Center at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.