The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present three new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville opening on Friday, May 1, from 5:00-9:00 PM. A free gathering with the exhibiting artists will also feature live music by Nick Swatson
Time and Place by JoEl Levy & Laura Chenicek in the Lower Gallery
Time and Place focuses on memories and how those memories relate to specific locations for two Nashville based artists, JoEl Levy LoGiudice and Laura Chenicek. JoEl Levy LoGiudice perceives Time as an abstract that resides in memories. Imagined time is fluid and best portrayed with an improvisational approach. LoGiudice interprets Place as both a physical and an emotional space.
In her St. Bridgid’s Well series, she utilizes photographs taken at the site in County Clare, Ireland, and imbues them with religious reverence. The work honors the visitors who frequent this Holy Well. The work is grounded in the depiction of a real place, and the pieces gain strength from the imagined voices.
Laura Chenicek addresses the concept of time and place from a different vantage point. To Chenicek, Time equates to the formation of memories. Her work references her childhood experiences and how she now perceives them. Place is represented in her memory by two childhood locations: a lake the family stayed near on summer vacation and her bedroom with its floral wallpaper.
Chenicek’s most recent work are fiber pieces that allude to the comfort and safety of home with their quilt format. The floral motif is the actual pattern from her bedroom wallpaper. As a child, she would fall asleep imagining creatures and natural forms emerging from the pattern. In part, she attributes her creative development to that experience.
JoEL Levy LoGiudice
Facebook: https://facebook.com/RagtimeDesignsWeaving
Instagram: @logiudice.joel
Laura Chenicek
Website: https://www.laurachenicek.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/laurachenicek
Instagram: @laurachenicek
JOINERY by Amanda Mohney in the Display Case
JOINERY is a series of brightly colored fabric wall hangings illustrating the joys and frustrations of needing people. These pieces have percolated through a filter of ancient handicraft and other folk art, the embarrassment of riches that is Persian textile design, and the delightful and quirky tradition of children’s Valentine’s Day flat cards. The fuzzy fabric and chunky embroidery deliver warm and unrefined texture, while the animal pairings in various stances draw out the variety within our relationships—to each other, to our own many facets that may or may not always get along, and to the ways that even the closest bonds refuse to stay put.
Amanda Mohney is a visual artist based in Knoxville, Tennessee. She studied art and semiotic theory through the interdisciplinary College Scholars program at the University of Tennessee and founded A Fine Lion (formerly Paloma Karwinski Illustration) in 2018. Her commercial clients include Nourish Knoxville, The Maker City, A Dopo, Tinca Tinca and The University of Tennessee Foundation. She has donated work to organizations such as PeckaKucha Night Knoxville, WUOT-FM and the UT Gardens, in addition to organizing local collaborative group and solo hangings. Her arts writing appeared in Metro Pulse, and she founded and operated The Pigeon Parade Quarterly from 2020-2022. She continues to illustrate for others, publicly practice animation in her newsletter, and pursue her own studio art.
See more of Amanda’s work at afinelion.com and afinelion.substack.com, and keep up with her on Instagram @a.fine.lion.
Sense of Wonder by Dennis Duchon in the Atrium
Dennis Duchon explores the intersection of beauty and visual impact through painting and photography. He is drawn to moments that arrest the eye – fleeting compositions of light, design, and form that evoke a sense of wonder. Duchon’s paintings, particularly the landscapes, are not literal depictions, but emotional terrains.
Duchon’s works aim to distill the essence of place into layered abstractions that invite the viewer to wander, reflect, and interpret. He manipulates poured, liquid paint onto the canvas to create organic, unpredictable patterns that echo the spontaneous rhythms of nature. The resulting surfaces often resemble aerial views, geological formations, or dreamlike vistas – each one a unique exploration of imagined geography.
“I believe abstract art has the power to pause time, to highlight the extraordinary in the undefined, and to invite reflection through aesthetic experience.”
See more of Dennis Duchon’s work on his website: www.duchonart.com
What We Carry: Meaning, Memory, and the Human Experience curated by Jordan Ahlers Continues in the Balcony Gallery
What We Carry brings together nine contemporary artists whose work explores the emotional and conceptual forces that shape human life. Through photography, painting, sculpture, glass, and mixed media, the exhibition examines themes of love, memory, environmental responsibility, identity, and transition. Each artist approaches these subjects through a distinct visual language, yet all engage a shared question: how do we process experience and give form to what we carry within us? Together, the works invite viewers to reflect on the ways personal histories intersect with broader cultural and environmental narratives.
Participating artists include: Patty Carroll, Seth Clark, Tom Eckert, Jennifer Halvorson, Heather Hietala, Pam Longobardi, Robert F. Lyon, Samantha Keely Smith, and Tim Tate.
At its core, this exhibition considers a question fundamental to artistic practice: why do artists make work at all? Across differences in medium, scale, and aesthetic language lies a shared impulse—to process lived experience, to grapple with the forces that shape our lives, and to translate emotion, memory, and inquiry into visual form. What we carry, individually and collectively, becomes both subject and substance.
Collectively, these artists are united not by medium but by inquiry. Each body of work reflects a distinct response to the experiences we carry through life—love and loss, memory and transformation, responsibility and belonging. Ultimately, What We Carry proposes art as a site of reflection: a space in which personal histories intersect with broader cultural and environmental narratives, allowing viewers to encounter not only the artist’s perspective, but their own.
Jordan Ahlers is the owner and director of Momentum Gallery in Asheville, NC, one of the leading fine art galleries in the southern United States. With over three decades of experience in the art world, Ahlers has collaborated with thousands of professional artists nationwide, helping to advance their careers and place works in prominent private and corporate collections. He has curated hundreds of solo and group exhibitions across a wide range of media and has partnered with numerous museums to develop and facilitate traveling exhibitions. Known for his discerning eye and thoughtful approach, Ahlers has designed and successfully implemented multiple gallery spaces. Prior to founding Momentum Gallery in 2017, he served as gallery director at Blue Spiral 1 (1999–2017), earning a reputation for his expertise, integrity, and market insight.
These exhibitions will be on display May 1-29, 2026, at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. In May, the Emporium is open to the public:
Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM (through May 16)
Additional hours Fri May 8 and 15, 5:00-7:00 PM for Gallery 1010.
Many of the works on exhibition will be for sale and may be purchased by visiting in person or the online shop at https://www.knoxalliance.store. For more information, please see https://www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.
About the Arts & Culture Alliance
The Arts & Culture Alliance serves and supports a diverse community of artists, arts organizations, and cultural institutions. The Alliance receives financial support from the Tennessee Arts Commission, Knox County and the City of Knoxville.
Contact: (865) 523-7543
info@knoxalliance.com
https://www.knoxalliance.com
