This week in the Arts:
Special Events
Spark, April 11-21. Spark is a multi-day showcase of all facets of creative culture. From nationally recognized artists to local performers, all will be represented during this celebration of artistry and creative works.
The Taste and Sound of Italy, a dinner, concert featuring Stella Zambalis and Michael Smith and silent auction to benefit the Chattanooga Girls Choir, will be held Friday at 7 p.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. To register, please call 296-1006 or visit www.chattanoogagirlschoir.com/cgcdinner.
Ira Glass, radio producer and host of This American Life, will present a lecture on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Tivoli Theatre as part of the Benwood Foundation's George T. Hunter Lecture Series. Visit www.benwood.org or the series' Facebook page for more information.
AVA's 4 Bridges Arts Festival will take place Saturday-Sunday, April 13-14, at the First Tennessee Pavilion and will feature over 140 of the nation's most talented artists exhibiting painting, glasswork, jewelry, textiles, photography, sculpture and more. A preview party will open the Festival on Friday, April 12, at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.4bridgesartsfestival.org.
Art 120 will present The Scenic City Art Car Weekend, with art car artists from across the country bringing their uniquely mobile masterpieces to Chattanooga, on Saturday, April 13, beginning at 9 a.m. with a tailgate party at West 14th and Market Streets. A parade will be held at noon on Main Street, and the Art Car Ball will take place at Miller Plaza from 7-10 p.m. For more information or to volunteer, visit www.art120.org.
Theatre, Music & Dance
The Chattanooga Boys Choir will perform with local band The Pool on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the UTC Fine Arts Center in a concert entitled "The Living Years." For more information, please call 425-4601 or visit www.utc.edu/music.
The Chattanooga Theatre Centre's Youth Theatre production of How I Became A Pirate will open on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and continue each weekend through Sunday, April 14. The Children's Hour will be presented beginning Friday, April 12, with an opening night reception at 7 p.m. and continue each weekend through Sunday, April 28. Call 267-8534 or visit www.theatrecentre.com for ticket information.
The CSO Pops series concludes with "Simply Swingin'" and vocalist Steve Lippia on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Tivoli Theatre. Visit www.chattanoogasymphony.org or call 267-8583 to purchase tickets.
The Hunter Museum of American Art and Lee University will conclude the fourth season of String Theory at the Hunter on Thursday, April 11, with a concert featuring a performance by New York-based string quartet Brooklyn Rider. To purchase tickets, call 267-0968 or visit www.stringtheorymusic.org.
The Wrest Trio will perform Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at the Barking Legs Theater. For ticket information, visit www.barkinglegs.org.
The Tennessee Valley Theatre will present their production of The Odd Couple Friday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.tennesseevalleytheatre.com or call 365-PLAY.
Sabrina Fair will be presented by the Lee University Theatre Program on Friday-Saturday and Thursday-Saturday, April 11-13, in the school's Dixon Center. For ticket information, please call 614-8343 or visit www.leeuniversity.edu/theatre.
Comedienne Chonda Pierce will perform at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium on Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at www.chattanoogaonstage.com.
The Amabilé String Quartet will perform as part of the Southside Casual Classics concert series on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at The Camp House. Please visit www.southsidecasualclassics.weebly.com for more information.
The UTC Percussion Ensemble will present "Catch the Groove" on Monday at 7:30 p.m. and a choral concert featuring The Chattanooga Singers, Women's Chorale and Men's Chorus will take place Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the UTC Fine Arts Center. Please call 425-4601 or visit www.utc.edu/music for more information.
Lee University's School of Music will host a clarinet recital performed by Dr. Peter Cain on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Squires Recital Hall. For more information, call 614-8240 or email music@leeuniversity.edu.
Graduates of Chattanooga State's Professional Actor Training Program will present Ishmael Reed's play Savage Wilds Thursday-Saturday, April 11-13, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 14, at 2:30 p.m. at the Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga. For further information, please call 697-3246.
A student voice recital featuring Samantha Nixon, soprano, and Janelle McDonald, piano, will take place Friday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Chattanooga State Humanities Theatre. Call 697-3383 for more information.
Comedian Bill Cosby will perform at the Tivoli Theatre on Sunday, April 14, at 7 p.m. Tickets may be purchsed by calling 642-TIXS or visiting www.chattanoogaonstage.com.
The Chattanooga Bach Choir and Orchestra will present a concert featuring Magnificat by J.S. Bach and other pieces on Sunday, April 14, at 3:30 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church. For more information, visit www.chattanoogabachchoir.org.
The Chattanooga Music Club, AGO Chattanooga, and the City of Chattanooga's Education, Arts & Culture department will host an organ concert featuring the Austin Pipe Organ at Memorial Auditorium on Monday, April 15, from 12-1 p.m. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/events/124601547730525/?fref=ts.
Visual Art & Film
The Art Wise: Distinguished Speaker series continues Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Hunter Museum of American Art and will feature Don Bacigalupi, president of the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Bentonville, AR. To learn more, visit www.huntermuseum.org or call 267-0968.
AVA needs volunteers for the 2013 4 Bridges Arts Festival to be held April 13-14. For more information, please visit www.4bridgesartsfestival.org.
A Wheel Throwing for Beginners pottery workshop will be held each Tuesday and Thursday through April 13 from 6-9 p.m. at the EAC Pottery Studio. For more information, contact David Chambers at chambers_d@chattanooga.gov.
The North River Civic Center is hosting an exhibit by the North Georgia Sky Painters Society entitled "Sky Rhythms" through Thursday, May 30. For more information, visit www.chattanooga.gov/education-arts-and-culture/north-river-civic-center.
The opening reception for "Express Yourself," an exhibit featuring works by over 20 artists from Tennessee Watercolor Society Region III, will be held Thursday from 4-7 p.m. at Reflections Gallery. Call 892-3072 or visit www.reflectionsgallerytn.com for more information.
The Athens Area Council for the Arts will present VSA TN's "Greek Masks of the Golden Ratio Project," an exhibit featuring masks created by young people with autism, beginning Thursday at The Arts Center. For more information, call 745-8781 or visit www.athensartscouncil.org.
The opening reception for "Souvenirs. More than Memories ... Inspiration" will be held on Friday from 5-8 p.m. at In-Town Gallery. Call 267-9214 or visit www.intowngallery.com for additional information.
River Gallery will host the opening reception for the "Following Form" exhibit on Friday from 6:30-8 p.m. Call 265-5033 ext. 5 or visit www.river-gallery.com for more information.
The entry deadline for the "Local Hero Project," a mini-film festival focusing on the greater Chattanooga area's outdoor experience, is Friday. For more information, visit www.atomicfilms.com/theheroproject.
A classical cast drawing workshop with Angela Cunningham will take place Monday-Friday, April 8-12, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and a small works painting workshop with instructor Cindy Procious will be held Saturday-Sunday, April 13-14, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m at Townsend Atelier. Call 266-2712 or visit www.townsendatelier.com to register.
Shuptrine's Gold Leaf Designs' first annual Scenic City Paint Out, a week-long Plein Air painting festival, will take place Friday, April 12, to Friday, April 19, from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. each day. For more information, call 266-4453 or visit www.shuptrines.com.
Writing, Literature & Poetry
Journalist and teacher Janis Hashe will offer a series of classes entitled "Shakespeare for the Elizabethan Impaired" at The English Rose Tea Room each Tuesday through April 16 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. To register and for more information, call 622-2862 or email jhashe@epbfi.com.
Chattanooga State Community College's Writers @ Work series will host poetry readings by Ishmael Reed on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Chattanooga Public Library and Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Bessie Smith Hall. In addition, the Intersection of Poetry and Jazz: Interpretive and Hip Hop dance exhibition will take place Thursday, April 11, at 7 p.m. in the Chattanooga State Humanities Theatre, which will be followed by a Behind the Writer interview and book signing. For more information, visit "Writers at Work" on Facebook.