Contact: Erin Slocum
Phone: [865] 637.4561
Email: eslocum@dogwoodarts.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2015 Dogwood Arts Festival
Calendar of Events
March 16, 2015 [Knoxville, Tenn.] – Since 1961, Dogwood Arts has celebrated the natural and cultural beauty of
East Tennessee by producing a dynamic Festival featuring blooming gardens and trails, visual arts, music, crafts,
theater, culinary arts, dance, film, and literary arts. Dogwood Arts Festival promotes and celebrates our region’s
arts, culture and natural beauty year-round.
A Very Special Arts Festival
April 1, 2015: A Very Special Arts Festival is a one-of-a-kind event that celebrates the artistic endeavors of Knox
County school-aged students having diverse mental and physical challenges. The event is not a competition, but
an event that provides an opportunity for students with disabilities to share their talents, works of art, and
accomplishments with an interested audience. The event includes a variety of activities in music, drama, dance
and visual arts. West High School – 3300 Sutherland Avenue
East Tennessee Synergy: Art Educator & Student Exhibitions
April 2-30, 2015: Synergy is an art exhibit that celebrates the relationship between the student and their art
teacher. This exhibition will expose the results of the artistic student-teacher synergy that occurs in East
Tennessee schools daily. Clayton Center for the Arts – 502 E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy, Maryville 37804
Art in Public Places Knoxville
April 3, 2015-March 19, 2016: A world-class exhibition of large-scale outdoor sculptures enlivens public parks,
downtown Knoxville and the McGhee Tyson Airport. We are honored to welcome back renowned sculptor, art
promoter and artist activist, Kenneth M. Thompson, as the Juror for the 2015-2016 exhibition.
Regional Fine Art Exhibition
April 3-25, 2015: The finest progressive artists of our region will showcase their work in the Regional Fine Art
Exhibition! Fine art encompassing all styles and genres from both emerging and established artists will be
selected by renowned juror, Julie Levin Caro, for exhibition. Emporium Center for the Arts – 100 South Gay Street
Dogwood Luncheon
April 8, 2015: The Dogwood Luncheon is an invitation-only event kicking off the opening of the Dogwood Trails
and Open Gardens. The event will take place Wednesday, April 8 at Ijams Nature Center.
Dogwood Trails, Open Gardens, and Camera Sites
April 8-26, 2015: These specially-selected gardens are works of art to be shown off during peak blooming season
in April. There are scenic views to take in throughout all open gardens, public parks, area gardens and camera
sites. Enjoy the beautiful spring season and the joy that it brings.
Walking Trails
April 8-26, 2015: Emphasizing natural spring beauty with breathtaking flora along historical architecture and
inviting people to stroll through the neighborhood, Dogwood Arts is adding new and revamped walking trails to
the 2015 Festival. With walkers stepping out into our community, the trails are at least 1 mile in length. Folks are
encouraged to walk, run or bike these additional trails.
Rhythm N’ Blooms
April 10-12, 2015: Rhythm N’ Blooms will feature a variety of local and national artists. This year’s music festival is
set for Friday, April 10 through Sunday, April 12, and concerts are held at various venues downtown. Pass
required.
Chalk Walk
April 11, 2015: Downtown sidewalks become the canvas for more than 100 professional and student artists and
families during this street-painting festival in Market Square and Krutch Park.
Dogwood Art DeTour
April 11-12, 2015: The creative process can be just as interesting as the finished product, when it comes to art.
Dogwood Art DeTour provides a live, behind-the-scenes look into local artists’ working studios. Visitors are
invited to watch as the artists produce some of East Tennessee’s most spectacular works of art.
Dogwood Arts Festival in Market Square
April 17-19, 2015: The Dogwood Arts Festival in Market Square, formerly known as the Market Square Art Fair, is
the Festival’s most treasured tradition. The Festival transforms downtown Knoxville into a lively street fair with
more than 60 local and regional artists exhibiting and selling their work in Market Square and Krutch Park
extension. There will also be live entertainment on multiple stages, including a Children’s Creation Station. There
will also be culinary arts experiences with cooking demonstrations and delicious wine and beer tastings and
pairings throughout the weekend.
Bikes & Blooms
April 25-26, 2015: Experience the Dogwood Trails the lean and green way on a bicycle by way of an organized or
self-guided ride! As one of the Festival’s Covenant Health Official Health and Fitness events, Bikes & Blooms is a
family-fun way to encourage people of all ages to pedal toward a healthier lifestyle. Bikes & Blooms is produced in
partnership with Outdoor KnoxFest.
Dogwood Arts Featured Gardens
April 25-26, 2015: Select homes with distinguished and remarkable gardens open their ground to the public for
this weekend only.
Dogwood Arts, presented by ORNL Federal Credit Union, is a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to promote
and celebrate our region’s arts, culture, and natural beauty.
Most of the Festival’s wide range of arts events, performances, and exhibitions are offered to the public free of
charge. For more information, including a complete Festival Calendar of Events and ticket information, visit
dogwoodarts.com or call [865] 637.4561.
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Knoxville residents Betsey Creekmore, Martha Ashe and Betsy Goodson began cultivating the Dogwood Trails in
1955 after New York travel journalist John Gunther breezed through town, writing that, “Knoxville is the ugliest
city I ever saw in America, with the possible exception of some mill towns in New England. Its main street is called
Gay Street; this seemed to me to be a misnomer.” Naturally, that wouldn’t do. Those women, in addition to the
Knoxville Garden Club and concerned citizens, have transformed the Dogwood Trails into what they are today. The
first Dogwood Arts Festival was to take place six years later, in 1961. Since that time, Knoxville residents have
taken pride in the natural and cultural beauty that the city and surrounding area exude. Paul Harvey reflected in
1995 that, “Knoxville, Tennessee read the rude rebuke of a hit and run writer and got mad, and closed ranks, and
got even. And then thus motivated, and now mobilized, irresistible Knoxville waits to seduce all who may pass that
way with a golden crown of Smoky Mountain moonlight and a negligee of white lace.”