Community Calendar

The Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University is pleased to present Through the Light: Sculptural Works by artist, Molly Sawyer, Jan. 20 through April 2, 2026. The exhibition by cross-disciplinary artist Molly Sawyer weighs the ominous nature of the human dilemma against that of peaceful, and sometimes playful, intention. A reception with the artist will be held on Friday, Feb. 13 from 5-8 p.m. The Reece Museum is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Sawyer’s contemporary works combining salvaged with artist-made materials bridge sculpture and installation art with works on paper. The artist’s chosen materials and methods used for combining such pull the past into the present, emphasizing Sawyer’s concern with global changes, both ecological and humanitarian. She blends her disparate materials in a contemporary manner using versions of traditionally craft-based techniques of stitching, embroidery, knitting, felting, and piecing, among others. These combinations emblematize a convergence of the historical with the current, illustrating conceptual narratives relating to universal concerns. As these investigations are metaphor describing the balance of forces in nature with the human condition, Sawyer states, “By collecting materials which have had one or more lives already, I am giving credence to their narratives, which have been developed through handling, weathering and age.”

Please join us for a master class in "Revelations" with Ailey II dancers ahead of their February 20, 2026 performance.

Thursday, February 19, 2026 from 5:00 - 6:15pm at Varsity Gym Dance Studios 208 A & B, on campus at App State, 530 Rivers Street, Boone, NC.

This event is intended for dancers ages 10 and older. All dancers under the age of 18 are required to have a parent/guardian onsite throughout the event.

This event is FREE and open to the public. Sponsored by Appalachian Arts, in partnership with AppState Department of Theatre and Dance.

RSVP at the link below. https://forms.gle/YFKBXgpKXAKCq6cZ9

Please also consider attending the Friday, February 20, 2026 performance at 7:30pm in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts.

Ailey II: The Next Generation of Dance
February 20, 2026
7:30pm; a Q&A with dancers and Theatre and Dance faculty member Ray Miller will immediately follow the performance.
Buy tickets and find more information at theschaefercenter.com

For more information about the masterclass, please contact Christy Chenausky at chenauskyc@appstate.edu

Make parenting more enjoyable and build parenting skills and support with the Attached at the Heart Parenting Program (AHPP), registering now at ParentingSweet.org for online Thursdays at 7:30PM, and online or in-person sessions on Sundays at 4PM. Provided free of charge, AHPP helps improve pregnancy and birth outcomes and parent knowledge about child development; increases parent confidence and positive parenting skills, increases levels of empathy toward children, ensures healthy secure attachment, increases family connection, and protects against trauma. It is also a great way to connect with other parents and find support, encouragement, and friends.

Do you have dizziness or imbalance from a concussion?
Volunteers needed for research! Join us as we design a new software program to make vestibular rehabilitation more accessible to adults with dizziness.

Participation involves:

• Completing questionnaires

• Testing of your vestibular system (inner ear function), balance and walking

• Five weekly physical therapy visits

• Daily at-home rehabilitation exercises

You may be eligible if:

• At least 18 years of age

• Dizziness or imbalance for at least 2 weeks

• Concussion/mild traumatic brain injury

For your participation, you will be compensated up to $175 in Visa gift cards.

Interested? Contact us:

Hearing and Balance Research Program

423-926-1171 ext. 2116

The Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University is pleased to present Through the Light: Sculptural Works by artist, Molly Sawyer, Jan. 20 through April 2, 2026. The exhibition by cross-disciplinary artist Molly Sawyer weighs the ominous nature of the human dilemma against that of peaceful, and sometimes playful, intention. A reception with the artist will be held on Friday, Feb. 13 from 5-8 p.m. The Reece Museum is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Sawyer’s contemporary works combining salvaged with artist-made materials bridge sculpture and installation art with works on paper. The artist’s chosen materials and methods used for combining such pull the past into the present, emphasizing Sawyer’s concern with global changes, both ecological and humanitarian. She blends her disparate materials in a contemporary manner using versions of traditionally craft-based techniques of stitching, embroidery, knitting, felting, and piecing, among others. These combinations emblematize a convergence of the historical with the current, illustrating conceptual narratives relating to universal concerns. As these investigations are metaphor describing the balance of forces in nature with the human condition, Sawyer states, “By collecting materials which have had one or more lives already, I am giving credence to their narratives, which have been developed through handling, weathering and age.”

Do you have dizziness or imbalance from a concussion?
Volunteers needed for research! Join us as we design a new software program to make vestibular rehabilitation more accessible to adults with dizziness.

Participation involves:

• Completing questionnaires

• Testing of your vestibular system (inner ear function), balance and walking

• Five weekly physical therapy visits

• Daily at-home rehabilitation exercises

You may be eligible if:

• At least 18 years of age

• Dizziness or imbalance for at least 2 weeks

• Concussion/mild traumatic brain injury

For your participation, you will be compensated up to $175 in Visa gift cards.

Interested? Contact us:

Hearing and Balance Research Program

423-926-1171 ext. 2116

The Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University is pleased to present Through the Light: Sculptural Works by artist, Molly Sawyer, Jan. 20 through April 2, 2026. The exhibition by cross-disciplinary artist Molly Sawyer weighs the ominous nature of the human dilemma against that of peaceful, and sometimes playful, intention. A reception with the artist will be held on Friday, Feb. 13 from 5-8 p.m. The Reece Museum is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Sawyer’s contemporary works combining salvaged with artist-made materials bridge sculpture and installation art with works on paper. The artist’s chosen materials and methods used for combining such pull the past into the present, emphasizing Sawyer’s concern with global changes, both ecological and humanitarian. She blends her disparate materials in a contemporary manner using versions of traditionally craft-based techniques of stitching, embroidery, knitting, felting, and piecing, among others. These combinations emblematize a convergence of the historical with the current, illustrating conceptual narratives relating to universal concerns. As these investigations are metaphor describing the balance of forces in nature with the human condition, Sawyer states, “By collecting materials which have had one or more lives already, I am giving credence to their narratives, which have been developed through handling, weathering and age.”

One of the country’s longest-running film festivals, Mountainfilm on Tour, returns for another season of the Lees-McRae High Country Adventure Film and Speaker Series, this year featuring a live music performance before the screening of the latest lineup of documentary short films.

Mountainfilm’s mission is to use the power of the film medium to inspire audiences to create a better world. Each year they showcase the most inspiring, culturally rich, and adventurous documentary short films that highlight some of the best parts about the outdoors.

Join us on Friday, February 21, 2026 at 7:00 pm for Kelsey Waldon and Gabe Lee at the Jackson Theatre in Historic Jonesborough, TN.

Kelsey Waldon has earned wide praise for her “self-penned compositions [with] the patina of authenticity” (Rolling Stone). On her new album, Every Ghost, she confronts addiction, grief, generational trauma, and even herself — and comes through it stronger and at peace. Her fearlessness is among the reasons she landed at Oh Boy Records in 2019, as the independent label’s first new signee in 15 years. It’s attracted fans to her headline tours and her festival sets, and prompted artists including Tyler Childers, Charley Crockett, Robert Earl Keen, Margo Price, and Lucinda Williams to invite her on tour. It helped earn her both the title of “Kentucky Colonel” — an honor recognizing goodwill ambassadors of Kentucky’s culture and traditions — and a spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s annual American Currents exhibit in 2024.

Storytelling has been an anchor of Gabe Lee’s music since the very beginning. He launched his career as a genre-bending musician after returning to Tennessee, quickly progressing from dive bar gigs to high-profile opening slots (including shows with Jason Isbell, Los Lobos, and other artists who, like him, blurred the lines between roots-rock, country, and other forms of American folk music) to his own headlining shows. Lee isn’t just writing songs about himself; he’s writing songs about all of us. And maybe, in doing so, he can bring us a little closer together.

Tickets are between $15-$25 for reserved seating and can be purchased at THEJACKSONTHEATRE.COM

Do you have dizziness or imbalance from a concussion?
Volunteers needed for research! Join us as we design a new software program to make vestibular rehabilitation more accessible to adults with dizziness.

Participation involves:

• Completing questionnaires

• Testing of your vestibular system (inner ear function), balance and walking

• Five weekly physical therapy visits

• Daily at-home rehabilitation exercises

You may be eligible if:

• At least 18 years of age

• Dizziness or imbalance for at least 2 weeks

• Concussion/mild traumatic brain injury

For your participation, you will be compensated up to $175 in Visa gift cards.

Interested? Contact us:

Hearing and Balance Research Program

423-926-1171 ext. 2116