it's grown from home

Annnnddd..... it's First Friday!

If you're reading this blog, I probably don't have to explain the basics of First Friday in Knoxville. Art, cheese, wine, people watching...etc.

April's First Friday is usually the first time weather permits for a really good turnout, and the galleries around downtown usually put on their A Game. Tonight is no exception. In a sort of double explosion of creative coolness, concurrent to FF we also have Rhythm N' Blooms Festival this weekend. Definitely check it out.

On the Art end of things, I'd like to suggest two very Knoxville things to go see. Tonight at the Fluorescent Gallery a show called HOMEGROWN is going on. If, like me, you're interested in the way objects are made, or like to explore the fuzzy boundary between design and fine art, or wonder if the South can have as vibrant of a creative scene as either coast... then HOMEGROWN might just be the show for you.


Some art shows here try to be as Brooklyn or San Francisco as they can get, so that you forget you're in Knoxville, Tenn. We aspire to be "as good" as those idolized "creative centers". HOMEGROWN is not one of those shows. Instead of trying to transplant an outside design attitude to the South, HOMEGROWN is trying to show the creativity that's already here... with objects that could only be from here.


I think that soon the draw of "creative centers" like New York will diminish and that the arts and design scene will be more grassroots oriented, spread out across the U.S. in second and third tier cities. HOMEGROWN is a harbinger of that.

Second, also filed under "only in the Knoxville", is the Knox Heritage Salvage Show. Basically, artists (and the occasional economist) are making objects out of Knox Heritage's pool of architectural salvage pieces, and a portion of the proceeds goes to help Knox Heritage's very important work. Thrifty artistic re-purposing of architecture into regional contextual art? Uhhh yes please!


So if you want to see some creativity that will make you proud of our town and region, this First Friday is a must. See you out there!