Arts & Culture Alliance Presents a spectacular new show
featuring local favorites Mike C. Berry and Bobbie Crews

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to
present a new exhibition titled “Headlights and
Streetlights,” featuring recent works by Mike C.
Berry and Bobbie Crews. Crews’ classic automobile
paintings explore the relationships between “man
and machine,” combining realism and abstraction in
a way that melds the familiar with the unexpected;
Berry’s series of new pieces explore visual moods of
the city and urban areas of modern life. “Headlights
and Streetlights” will be displayed in The Balcony at
the Emporium Center from February 5-26, 2010.
An opening reception with live music by the Old
City Buskers (www.oldcitybuskers.com) will take
place as part of First Friday activities on February 5
from 5:00-9:00 pm.

Mike C. Berry earned his Master of Fine Arts
Degree from the Savannah College of Art and
Design. He has exhibited in group shows throughout
Tennessee and Georgia during the last 10 years.
Working primarily in pastel and oil, Berry creates
colorful and vibrant cityscapes and landscapes, often
bending and twisting the perspective in his
compositions. Berry’s work is also used in Pilot
Food Mart billboards across Knoxville and
surrounding areas. The Dogwood Arts Festival
awarded Berry’s painting “Spring in the City” the
2007 Limited Edition Print, which sold out in a
record-breaking 21 days. Currently, one of Berry’s
works is the cover art for Jack Neely’s new book
“Knoxville, This Obscure and Prismatic City.” Also,
his work appears on his blog “Postcards from
Knoxville” (http://mikecberry.blogspot.com), which
features new small paintings of Knoxville each day.
Berry was voted the Best Visual Artist of East
Tennessee by The Knoxville News Sentinel 2009
Readers Poll. He is the Gallery Manager for the
University of Tennessee’s Downtown Gallery in
Knoxville and is an active member of the Arts &
Culture Alliance. His work is on display at his
studio located in the Emporium Center (Suite 111)
and is open to the public every First Friday from
5:00-9:00 pm. For more information on Mike C.
Berry, visit www.mikecberry.com.

Bobbie Crews is originally from Northwest Ohio
but has called Knoxville home since 1990. Creating
art all of her life, she took a break from painting to
raise three boys and then started painting
professionally in 1993. Although Crews was already
painting for her livelihood, she earned her Bachelor
of Fine Arts in studio art from the University of
Tennessee, where she graduated summa cum laude
in 2007. She is known for her work in murals,
portraits and design, and her work is included in
private and corporate collections nationally and in
Bermuda and Africa. Locally, Crews work can be
seen in the Howard Baker Federal Courthouse, the
Knoxville Family Justice Center, the UT College of
Veterinary Medicine, the downtown Lyric Theatre
in Loudon, Aubrey’s Restaurants, and numerous
other locations. Crews also teaches workshops,
gives private instruction, does speaking
engagements for and about art, and works as a
courtroom sketch artist. She is an activist for
women in the form of artwork for education and
awareness of domestic violence. She has had solo
shows in the town of Farragut, the Knoxville Family
Justice Center, and the Howard Baker Federal
Building. She is a member of the American Portrait
Society and A1LabArts, an associate member of the
American Watercolor Society and the Tennessee
Watercolor Society, and she was inducted as a
lifetime member of the Tennessee Artists
Association. She is married to Clay Thurston, an
accomplished nature and wildlife photographer, and
they make their home in Fountain City. Her
working studio is also in the Emporium Center
(Suite 107). For more information on Bobbie
Crews, visit www.bobbiecrews.com.

“Headlights and Streetlights” will be on display at
the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street in
downtown Knoxville. Gallery hours are Monday-
Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm with additional hours on
Saturday, February 6 from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm. For
more information, contact the Arts & Culture
Alliance at (865) 523-7543, or visit www.
knoxalliance.com. EK