2025 EXHIBITIONS / GRANT SUPPORT / VOLUNTEER REMINDER!
Big Ears 2025 Exhibitions
In addition to the 194 concerts (as of last count) taking place in 14 venues over Big Ears’ 4-day weekend, we’re excited to announce four very special exhibitions of visual art on display during the festival weekend and during the month leading up to it.
Also, coming soon: we’ll announce our exciting film program as well as the line up of our most robust and illuminating program of artist and writer conversations and talks ever, each a festival in and of themselves.
And be looking for the detailed hour-by-hour, venue-by-venue, day-by-day Big Ears 2025 schedule coming in mid-February.
We’re thrilled with another year of record-breaking response to Big Ears for this coming March. We encourage you to purchase passes soon if you are planning to attend. Remaining festival pass options can be found here.
Wayne White: Big Words
The Emporium Center
100 S Gay Street
March 7th-29th, 2025
For almost 40 years, Chattanooga-born Wayne White has been unleashing humor in all aspects of his career, including his time as an Emmy-winning designer on the hit television show Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. White’s most successful artworks have been his word paintings, which feature oversized, three dimensional text painstakingly integrated into vintage landscape reproductions. The message of the paintings is often thought-provoking and almost always humorous, with White commenting on vanity, ego and his memories of the South. In addition to his exhibition, he brings his latest musical excursion, Username Password, to opening night of Big Ears.
Roberto Carlos Lange & Kristi Sword:Kite Symphony
UT Downtown Gallery
106 S Gay Street
March 7th – April 5th, 2025
Kite Symphony is a multidisciplinary exhibition by Roberto Carlos Lange and Kristi Sword. The project features a series of drawings called Radio Telescope. Two films, one experimental piece called Star Scores, will be scored live during the Big Ears festival, and a film documenting sculptural interventions during their time in Marfa, Texas. Sound is the throughline between these diverse elements of this long-term project. Lange is a musician (widely known as Helado Negro), Sword is a visual artist, and Kite Symphony is an extension of their collaborative practice where they create work at the intersection of music, performance, and visual art. Lange, as Helado Negro, also joins us for a musical performance.
Pangrok Sulap: Malaysian Printmaking Collective
RED Gallery
130 W Jackson Avenue
March 1st – 31st, 2025
Pangrok Sulap, a Malaysian community-collective from Borneo will be in Knoxville for two-weeks in March 2025 leading up to the Big Ears Music Festival. Pangrok Sulap includes “artists, musicians and social activists with a mission to empower rural communities and the marginalized through art.” “Pangrok” is the local pronunciation of “punk rock”, and “Sulap” is a hut or a resting place usually used by farmers in Sabah, Borneo. Artists Adi Helmi Bin Jaini and Zayrul Rizo Bin Osman Leong will collaborate with students and faculty from the University of Tennessee in the creation of a large scale, community-printed woodcut. Accompanied by drumming, Pangrok Sulap prints are created through community participation. During the month of March, prints from Pangrok Sulap will also be presented at RED Gallery with an opening reception on Friday March 7, 2025.
Violins of Hope: Strings of the Holocaust
Digital Motif
108 S Gay Street
March 3rd – April 9th, 2025
Violins of Hope is a collection of over 50 violins that survived the Holocaust, played by Jewish musicians in ghettos, concentration camps, and even as symbols of resistance. Each violin, lovingly restored by Israeli master violin maker Amnon Weinstein and his son Avshalom, carries a powerful story of resilience and survival. These instruments bear witness to the indomitable spirit of their owners, whose music defied the darkness of one of history’s most tragic periods. The Violins of Hope project will feature performances, exhibitions, and educational programs that celebrate the enduring power of music and the human spirit. Through these events, communities will come together to reflect on the past and inspire a future rooted in hope, acceptance, and unity. Join us as we honor these extraordinary instruments and the stories they tell.
Big Ears Receives Big Grant Support
In recognition of its work in arts presenting and community outreach, Big Ears was recently awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. “The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. Funding from this organization is vital to the success and sustainability of the Big Ears mission, and we are deeply grateful for their assistance.
Don’t Forget to Volunteer!
Big Ears Ambassadors are essential to making our annual festival possible—a passionate group of volunteers who play a vital role in bringing the event to life. From welcoming guests to supporting performances, their efforts ensure every moment is unforgettable. In exchange for their time and effort during the festival, Ambassadors are offered benefits such as complimentary passes, discounted merchandise, and more. You can read more about the opportunities on our website and submit your application today!
