Downtown Knox ArtWalk

Addison's bookstore will be open for special extended hours First Friday!

6—9 PM.

Grab your gear, your friends, and your passport to experience our downtown! Meet some of East Tennessee’s most interesting amphibian residents in the form of little bronze sculptures!

Grab a passport at Mast General Store, Visit Knoxville, or download a digital version at knoxnewts.com. Study the clues, and find all 12 bronze newts hidden amid our downtown landmarks.

This permanent, self-guided scavenger hunt is free to play and open 24/7, year round. Happy hunting!

Visit Bethie Lou’s Fabulous Gift Store at their new location at 108 E Jackson Ave, Ste 1! Home of the Mermen, fun, laughter, and fabulous gifts. All 25 Mermen will be on display! Extended First Friday hours.

Open until 9 PM.

Join Awaken Coffee for an opening reception for Betsy Hobkirk.

Betsy is a Knoxville based artist. This new work from her Botanicals on Woodseries focuses on minimalist botanical paintings that intentionally leave areas of grain exposed as part of the composition. These paintings explore the interplay of nature, simplicity, and the emotions color evokes. 

Please join them for some amazing art and of course great coffee! 

Join RED Gallery for the opening of Andrew Saftel's exhibit, "Is Everybody Ready?".

5 PM—9 PM.

Visit Able Trade for beer, bites, and local talent.

This month, see featured works from artist Charles “Chachi” Mathis.

You can also explore everything the Able Trade facility has to offer, including fully equipped workshops and their monthly events.

5:30 PM—8:30 PM.

Enjoy live jazz. Great spot for dinner and cocktails.

8 PM—10:30 PM.

Hot shop Glassblowing Demonstrations at nationally known Pretentious. Don’t miss this.

5 PM—9 PM.

Enjoy music from Maggie Tharpe Band. (21+ Free)

5:30 PM.

Enjoy live music featuring the Absinthe All-Stars from 7—9 PM! And don't miss new work in the Curio by Chris McAdoo, Coral Grace Turner, and Douglas Lawrence. 

5 PM—9 PM.

Union Ave Books is excited to present a Poetry Night in celebration of First Fridays, featuring Garrett Ashley, Natalie J. Graham, Nzzy Odessa, and Cora Schipa. RSVP for this FREE event by visiting unionavebooks.com/events.

6 PM—8 PM.

Rooted in humor and observation, “Stuck on a Feeling” highlights the quirks of everyday life. Through his character-based ceramic vessels, Bryan Wilkerson uses familiarity, craft, and surprise to express emotion, each piece carrying its own distinct personality and a whimsical sense of humanity. Rainey Rawles’ paintings address the absurdity of bumper stickers, often functioning as miniature billboards. Her work examines their performative individualism as they clash with the beautiful scenery of the East Tennessee countryside she frequently drives through.

Together, their work creates a lively dialogue between ceramics and painting, where humor becomes a lens for reflecting on the contradictions and charm of the everyday.  

In celebration of the exhibition, join Arrowmont for “Free Art Fridays” throughout the month of April. Each Friday, Wilkerson and Rawles will place small, one-of-a-kind artworks throughout Knoxville for the public to find and take home. To participate, follow Arrowmont's Instagram account, where clues and details will be shared each week!

5 PM—9 PM.

Join Dogwood Arts for the opening reception of Resonance: a solo exhibition by Curtis Glover.

Although Glover has a long history of collaborating on projects with Dogwood Arts, this is his first solo exhibition in an indoor space. 

5 PM—8 PM.

For over 22 years, the Pilot Light has been the go-to for independent and experimental music. On Friday, hear performances by Steelboy with Bad Idols and Double Jointed. Tickets at door.

8 PM.

Get ready to dance with music from DJ Andres Tapia.

10 PM.

Join the UT Downtown Gallery for the opening exhibit for Radical Chimeras by Rob Mazurek.

Artist and composer Rob Mazurek presents a new body of work with an exhibition of paintings, sound generated animations, large-format sound prints and sculpture that converge into hybrid visual forms of one another. Timed to coincide with the visionary Big Ears Festival, the exhibition extends the festival’s spirit of innovation into the visual realm, offering attendees and the Knoxville community an immersive encounter with Mazurek’s interdisciplinary practice. Light, motion, and form carry the imprint of sound’s structure and energy. The moving chimeras, captured stills, painted surfaces complete a cyclical process of transformation.

5 PM—9 PM.

Original oils by Robin Rohwer and photography by Christopher Rohwer. The husband and wife artist duo has lots of new work to share!

In studio until 9 PM.

Casa HoLa invites you to the opening reception of “A Devotion To What Made Me”, by Jen Martinez Mendez.

This work is shaped by the life and values of a Mexican woman building a life in the South under this administration, holding onto dignity and strength in a world that does not always make space for us. It is rooted in my mamá y papá, both hardworking migrants from Mexico, whose sacrifices and resilience taught me how to keep going even in uncertainty. It holds the weight of being first-generation, the fear of not knowing how things work, of carrying responsibility beyond yourself, of trying to build something new without losing where you come from.

The exhibition will debut on Friday, April 3rd, from 5 - 9 PM and remain available until April 27th at HoLa Hora Latina inside The Emporium (Suite 112).

Gallery 1010 is the only fully student-run, non-profit, off-campus UTK exhibition space in the state of Tennessee. Gallery 1010 provides a location for School of Art artists to exhibit their work, curate exhibitions, and collaborate with other artists or disciplines outside of the School of Art.

Join the opening reception Found in Translation. This exhibit highlights varied approaches to the interplay between text, image, and audience across multiple languages. Rather than regarding the space between languages from the perspective of loss and lack, it explores the question of what movement between languages creates or reveals.

5 PM—7 PM.

Underground @ Mirage featuring a selection of house music. Enjoy house music all night long at this FREE event. (ID required.)

6 PM—1:00 AM.

What We Carry: Meaning, Memory, and the Human Experience; curated by Jordan Ahlers
The Arts & Culture Alliance is proud to display a collection curated by Jordan Ahlers. These pieces bring 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.

Smoky Mountain Quilters
Members of the Smoky Mountain Quilters of Tennessee will share their joy of quilting in a special exhibit focused on celebrating Earth Month. Quilts in the exhibit will represent the breadth of experience in the guild, from beginner to national award winners, and include creations by both new and long-time members.

Cumberland Woodturners
The Cumberland Woodturners is proud to be part of the April exhibitions at the Emporium. Participating members include Ted Pelfrey, Rod Smith, Larry Lewis, Thomas Neckvatal, Ron Solfest, Randy Geckler, and Eric Winkler. The Cumberland Woodturners is a group of men and women who enjoy the art of turning wood. Our members range from novice to professional with a shared interest of creating art from wood utilizing the lathe.

Artimal History by A.B.A. Turner
Artimal History, is a series of anthropomorphized versions of classic figurative art A.B.A Turner is creating for a children’s picture book project. The paintings are a way to explore and share art history, with a touch of humor.

5 PM—9 PM.

Stop in Studio 106 Art Gallery. Located on the lower level of the Emporium Center inside suite 106, the gallery will offer specials and discounts for First Friday!

11 AM—9 PM.

Featured works byMountain Mama’s Art & Adventure Co. Browse her handmade earrings, acrylic paintings, and hand painted hats.

The Knoxville Museum of Art will celebrate the many interests and idiosyncrasies inhabiting the collections that live within our city. From icons of art history to eccentric compilations of kitsch, this series offers snapshots of the many individuals who help make Knoxville unique.

This inaugural presentation of Knoxville Collects features the collection of Susana Navarro, a Knoxville-based collector and entrepreneur whose perspective is shaped by her upbringing in Mexico City, and by a family of women who embody resilience and leadership. Trained as an engineer, she co-founded Navarro Research and Engineering in 1993, which works in nuclear, environmental, and clean energy fields across the United States. Navarro built her collection in a very personal manner, marrying art historical research with works that reflect her experiences and ambitions for the world; what she had seen, and what she hoped to see in the future.

Live music from Starchild with Ms Nikki & the Uptown Players.

8 PM. 

Live music all night from The Natural Heat with Loveshyne. Tickets at door.

8 PM.

Shop the Old City Market on West Jackson Avenue.

The Old City Market transforms the historic Old City into a curated, outdoor market showcasing artists, crafters, and creative makers. For this month, don't miss a a Spring Plant Party, featuring Local Plant Vendors, Natural Beauty and Sustainability Organizations. Plus, hear live music as you shop for all your spring planting and house plants.

5–9 PM.