Free Cultural Events for Area Students
The Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville, in cooperation with the local arts and culture community, is proud to announce the ninth year of Penny4Arts, a program developed to meet the local arts community’s long-term goal of serving and educating East Tennessee’s children. Penny4Arts provides every child in Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Pickett, Roane, Scott, Sevier, and Union counties, including home-schooled and private-schooled students, an opportunity to attend local arts and culture events/activities by nearly 30 organizations at the maximum cost of ONE PENNY (or FREE) when accompanied by one paying adult during the 2018/2019 academic school year. Most organizations allow up to three children to attend for free when accompanied by a paying adult.
Concerts, fairs, plays, dance performances, historic home tours, fairs, museums, festivals, arts workshops, radio broadcasts, movies, the Zoo, and more are part of Penny4Arts. Organizations whose admission is regularly free are offering special programs.
More than 70 events are included in Penny4Arts, and in addition, six organizations offer year-round opportunities for Knox County School children: Crescent Bend House & Gardens, East Tennessee Historical Society, James White’s Fort, Knoxville Museum of Art, Mabry-Hazen House, and WDVX.
The schedule of performances is listed chronologically at www.Penny4Arts.com, where families may also sign up for a weekly e-mail notice (and occasional special events). Highlights include:
+ Five productions by the Clarence Brown Theatre
+ Eight Masterworks and four Chamber concerts by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
+ Four family fun days at McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture
+ A free admission day at Tennessee Valley Fair
+ The Knoxville Guitar Society’s entire season of concerts
+ Four days at Zoo Knoxville
+ Twelve concerts of Oak Ridge Civic Music Association
Most participating events will allow one paying adult to bring up to three students for one penny each. Proof of residency (driver’s license) may be required. Students ages 16-18, not accompanied by an adult, may be asked to show proof of residency and if in a group, at least one in the group of up to four students ages 16-18 must purchase a regular adult admission/ticket (if applicable) for the group to be able to participate in Penny4Arts. Each participating organization’s specific guidelines are also listed on the Penny4Arts web site.
The following 28 organizations are participating in Penny4Arts for the 2018/2019 school year: Asian Culture Center of Tennessee, Big Ears, Bijou Theatre, Blount Mansion Association, Circle Modern Dance, Clarence Brown Theatre, Crescent Bend House & Gardens, East Tennessee Historical Society, GO! Contemporary Dance Works, Historic Ramsey House, James White’s Fort, Knoxville Children’s Theatre, Knoxville Guitar Society, Knoxville Handel Society, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville Opera, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Mabry-Hazen House, Marble City Opera, McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture, Momentum Dance Lab, Oak Ridge Civic Ballet Association, Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, Primary Players Children’s Theatre Group, Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble, Tennessee Valley Fair, WDVX, Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, and Zoo Knoxville.