The Cherokee County Arts Council presents [[[holdingpattern]]], a June exhibition featuring Knoxville-based artist Kyle Cottier. Cottier’s work combines sculpture, installation, photography, basketry, and woodworking to explore memory, repair, transformation, and the relationship between natural, constructed, and digital worlds.

Experience the world premiere of Shards of Hope, a new song cycle inspired by the poetry of Mary Ricketson and brought to life through music by London composer Andrew Wilson. Performed by soprano Andrea Price, clarinetist Denise Gainey, and piano accompaniment, this Arts in Appalachia concert blends poetry and chamber music in a program celebrating nature and reflection. A reception at the Cherokee County Arts Council will follow the performance.

Join Center Gallery artist Kim Joris for a free Arts in Appalachia Storytelling Series event centered on the theme “Love Thy Neighbor.” Through stories, conversation, and a live demonstration, Joris will share how community experiences shape her assemblage work, and guests will be invited to share their own stories as part of the dialogue.

In Case You Forgot is an exhibition of assemblage and mixed media work by lifelong southerner Kim Joris. The show brings together approximately 30 works that explore justice, responsibility, faith, and patriotism through everyday materials and direct language.

Joris’s pieces are both subtle and confrontational. Simple words and familiar symbols are layered with found objects, vintage hardware, and wood to prompt reflection and conversation. Flat head nails become symbols of strength. Ball peen hinge pins rise as clenched fists. Jewelry glints as Nativity stars and torchlight. The works ask viewers to consider what it means to live out shared values rather than simply recite them.

The exhibition title speaks plainly. These works are reminders. To love thy neighbor. To vote. To feed the hungry. To welcome strangers. To remember that liberty and justice are meant for all.

Join us for an evening of storytelling with Paul Strickland, a nationally recognized storyteller known for original tales, reimagined folklore, and sharp humor. This one hour performance is part of the Cherokee County Arts Council’s 2026 Appalachian Arts storytelling series and offers an engaging, live experience rooted in tradition, imagination, and audience connection.

Uprooted traces a personal timeline of memory, place, and identity. Through relief woodcut, linocut, monoprint, and screenprinting, Warnock reflects on her upbringing in Mississippi and the environments that shaped her experiences as a biracial Black queer woman. Homes, magnolias, and natural imagery recur throughout the work, acting as markers of childhood memory and emotional landscape.