Downtown Knox ArtWalk

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

6—9 PM.

This month's featured artists:

Debbie Corley, Clay
Debbie Corley of DC Pottery has always enjoyed working with her hands, first as a hairdresser and make-up artist, and now as a potter and clay enthusiast. She enjoys working with stoneware and porcelain, and considers clay to be the most wonderful medium due to the plasticity of the clay and the additive and subtractive nature of it. The decoration process is her favorite part! Carving, inlaying slips and underglazes, and hand painting is what brings her the most joy. Her simple, functional work celebrates the natural world and the changing seasons.

Deborah Etheridge, Painting
Deborah's work is deliberate and contemplative, aiming to evoke quiet moments of reflection. She finds beauty in the subtle shift of color, the play of light, or the curl of a fall leaf, offering a respite from the overstimulation of modern life. She often selects subjects she has grown herself. Using traditional oil painting techniques, Deborah strives to create a visual symphony of nature's passage through time, offering a connection to the physical world through her work.

Explore the marketplace of more than 50 juried-in East TN artists.

5:30 PM—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!

Join Awaken Coffee for an opening reception for Dan Podsobinski.

Dan is a photographer and digital artist. His art is best described as Tropical Escapism. Inspired by Jimmy Buffett and his stories of relaxing fun and adventure. All in the setting of God's beauty.

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

Join RED Gallery for the opening of a joint show from artists Nick DeFord and Kelly Hider, (by time, by distance).

The show will be on display at RED Gallery for the month of May in the Old City, Knoxville.

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

This month, see featured works from artist Jess Schwartz.

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 from the Absinthe Allstars. 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 The Keesters. (21+ Free)

9 PM.

Enjoy live music featuring the Hunter Deacon Trio from 7—9 PM! And don't miss new works in the Curio.

5 PM—9 PM.

Union Ave Books is excited to present a First Friday Reading, featuring Veronica Fletcher, Titus Chalk, Maryam Malik, and Willie Carver Jr. RSVP for this FREE event by visiting unionavebooks.com/events.

6 PM—8 PM.

5 PM—9 PM.

Join Dogwood Arts for the Epiphone Student Guitar Design Exhibition.

The 2026 Epiphone Student Guitar Design Exhibition & Auction includes 20 guitars designed and painted by youth artists from across East Tennessee. The exhibition will be on display in the Dogwood Gallery during the month of May and at Dollywood's HeartSong Lodge & Resort. The guitars will be auctioned online to benefit youth art programs at Dogwood Arts. The exhibition will run through May 31.

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 Suits are for Sinners with Oceans Until Idols and Bad Ghoul. Tickets at door.

8 PM.

Get ready to dance with music from DJ Andres Tapia.

10 PM.

Join the UT Downtown Gallery for the exhibit ART SOURCE | An Exhibition of Knox County Schools Art Educators.

Every day, Knox County Schools art teachers devote their time and energy to cultivating creativity and critical skills in their students. Now in its 17th year at the UT Downtown Gallery, Art Source, an exhibition dedicated to Knox County Schools art educators, has given these teachers an opportunity to nourish and showcase their own artistic talents.

The show is in partnership with Knox County Schools, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and Jerry’s Artarama.

Award-winning educators will be recognized at the gallery’s May First Friday reception. The gallery will be open from 5-9pm with awards at 6:30pm.

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 view works by Ivan Soto.

This exhibit debuts on MAY 1st from 5 – 9 PM and will remain on display until the end of the month 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 of Hard Copies of Soft Things. 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.

Time and Place: Works by JoEl Levy LoGiudice and Laura Chenicek
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. 

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.

JOINERY by Amanda Mohney
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.

Sense of Wonder by Dennis Duchon
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. 

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.

Join Salon Niche for an art show featuring work from Matthew Israel.

Matthew is an Artist whose work explores the quiet moments and architecture of downtown Knoxville. His black and white images focus light, shadow, and the character of historic buildings. Each piece welcomes paint, hoping to highlight the beauty and presence of the city’s overlooked details.

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 Doomsayer (Emo Night).

8 PM. 

Live music all night from Stacked Actors with The FSBS. 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.