UT’s student-run literary arts magazine, Phoenix, held its “Issue 65” exhibition at the Emporium on Gay Street in Gallery 1010. The exhibit showcased both current student art as well as alumni art. It opened on Feb. 17th from 5-7 p.m., and additional hours were held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18th.
An array of art is being debuted in Issue 65. Paintings, ceramic pieces, drawings and even poetry projected on the exhibition walls are on display, showcases the content of the magazine. The latest issue contains art collected in 2022.
Editor-in-Chief, Sadie Kimbrough, along with a staff of designers, art, poetry and prose editors curated the exhibit.
“We started getting through the logistics for the show in December and then pretty much as soon as the semester started, we have been working on reaching out to artists, collecting and curating all of the work from the magazine,” Kimbrough said. “What we have published and what’s here on display is from artists featured in the magazine. A lot of the art is from alumni too, because a lot of them graduated.”
The many styles of art displayed are not part of any theme. Though, as Kimbrough pointed out, the pieces all flow into one another.
“We’ve thought about doing themes for the magazines in the past, but we never wanted to minimize how many submissions we got, so this is very open ended,” Kimborugh said. “I think a lot of what we have for the gallery ended up going together pretty well. We have a lot of forestry and goddess vibes going on in here.”
Art Editor Diana Dalton assisted in the curation of Issue 65 this year and had a small hand in last year’s installment as well.
“We usually do the show annually, but what’s really cool about this installment is that there’s a lot more multimedia than usual,” Dalton said. “There’s a lot more audio, visual and sculptural elements. Especially different is that we’re getting to display poetry in a really funky, creative way.”
Max Frasher, the poetry editor for this edition explained the staff’s desire to embrace the literary art in this year’s issue within the gallery.
“To my knowledge, I don’t think Phoenix has done it before. We wanted to incorporate all parts of the issue, not just the art, but still have the art be the focus,” Frasher said. “We wanted the poetry to be a part of the showcase because it’s a huge, important part of the magazine. Also, it does just looks really cool on the wall.”
Receiving around 100 submissions, the staff collects all that floods in, sifting through until they find what fits best. This is a process that has been going on since last spring. Kimbrough recognized this as one of the hardest parts of the job.
The Phoenix Literary Arts Magazine showcase artwork by UT students and alumni at Gallery 1010 in Knoxville, TN. Friday, Feb. 17, 2023.
“Only printing 30 pages, it’s hard to whittle down the good stuff and the really good stuff, but we are also able to add a lot on our website. (On the website) we’re also able to add video work that we’re usually not able to showcase,” Kimbrough said.
Staff favorites include “Figure 1” and “One,” two pieces that go together– one a watercolor painting and then its physical twin. Poetry highlights include Sara Mae Henke’s work. However, for each they seemed pained to show favor for any one over another. For each editor, it was their first time curating the gallery, an experience that all have made the most of.
“Just being involved with the community and getting to see everybody’s work on campus is so cool,” Frasher said.
“I think we have a unique opportunity to have a multi-disciplinary approach to art and literature. It’s been fun to experience an exhibit that encompasses all of those different parts of campus,” Kimbrough said. “It’s a super valuable experience, curating this. I have learned so much and it has taken a village.
