Footprint Map
June 2026 First Friday
Happy First Friday week!
I am sending this month’s map out earlier than usual because I am heading out of town, so apologies if I miss any last-minute pop-ups. This week I am focusing again on a type of visual pun—playing with the literal First Friday Art Walk with a pair of shoes—the map of Knoxville’s galleries inscribed into the soles. When you see this map in person at The Emporium, you are invited to take a printout of the show banners and do your own texture rubbing on the bottom of the shoes to create a complete map for you to take with you around town. I sincerely hope you go and interact with the piece.
Re: footprints… I am thinking of how the common plantain has been nicknamed “white-man’s footprint”1, about how I used to walk barefoot everywhere I could and how I miss leaving footprints rather than shoe prints2, about the carbon footprint/our impact on the planet in negative ways, and the positive imprint we can leave on a place we have invested in with care and tenderness. I think also about all the times I have stepped into unknowns with this translation of a Machado poem:
Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.Pathmaker, your footsteps
are the path and nothing more;
pathmaker, there is no path,
you make the path by walking.―Antonio Machado”
Together these associations create a web of meaning, ultimately reminding me that we do not float through this world—we may be spirits, but we are embodied ones, we have real tangible contact with the earth, and while the contact is not optional, the manner in which we step is up to us.
So, walk into community and go see art, participate in dialogue, and let it move you to take steps in new directions.
If you get one of the 35ish paper copies3 on the pedestal, remember as you take the shoes down and do the rubbings that patience helps, as does a light touch— if you scribble too hard it won’t pick up the texture.
THE FIRST FRIDAY LIST — June 5 2026
Dream Thesaurus ~ curated by Lynne Marinelli Ghenov with artists Risa Hircovsky, Caroline Santa, Mikel Elam
Let’s Get Whimsical! ~ Larry Cole
Cam de L’àmé ~ Chet Overall
Footprint Map : June 2026 First Friday ~ Lauren Farkas
Arrowmont (5-9) Summer National Workshop Instructors
UT Downton Gallery (5-9) Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation ~ curated by Mike Berry and Derek Spratley
Able Trade (5:30-8:30) Ran Brady and Knox Pride Food Drive (Amazon wishlist here)
RED Gallery (5-9) A Brief Moment in Time ~ A1LabArts Member Show (title was released after I made the map— sorry!)
Dogwood Arts (5-8) Coat of Many Colors ~ curated by YNST (You’re Not Seeing Things) Magazine
Amulet Parlor (5-8) Mysticism of the Needle ~Jess Schwarz (103 West Jackson Ave)
The Point (9-10) Wayang Katalistri ~ Puppet show by Nyssa Collins with installation by Lintang Radittya in conjunction with Knoxville Community Media’s 50th anniversary celebration. Check out the lineup at The Pilot Light too as a part of the same event, and catch Rubens Ghenov’s set at 7:15 PM.
Lil Tea Temple/Gypsy Hands (5-9) What’s it All Mean? ~ Jessica Gosney Kirk (new venue! 707 N Central St, Knoxville, Tennessee 37917)
The Birdhouse (6-9) Incohesive: a non-cohesive art show ~ curated by K. Strange with various artists
Homewrecker (6-9) Heterodyfixion ~ Natalie Richardson and Lily Caldwell
Mighty Mud (6-9) In the Darkness You Get Shown the Light ~ Alanna Kelsey
Not on map because I saw them too late or it slipped my mind (sincerest apologies)
Broadway Studios and Gallery (5-9) Twist of Kismet ~ Jessica Gregory, Christian Lange, Diane Corey, and Susie Feinberg
Husmus Studios (5-8) Art by Sarah Musgraves and other activities and samples to celebrate the shop turning two!
Lastly, Rhinestone Fest is also happening downtown Friday and Saturday, and check out Free Art Friday, a project by Rainey Rawles
There are a couple galleries that don’t show up on by name on Google Maps. Feel free to use this google map to locate and navigate to the ones you may not be familiar with yet. If this is useful, please drop me a message to let me know, and I will keep doing it.
Catch y’all in July!
—Farkas
Do you know of a show coming up? Pretty-please message me details here! Thank you!
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“Plantago major is believed to be one of the first plants to reach North America after European colonisation. Reportedly brought to the Americas by Puritan colonizers, plantain was known among some Native American peoples by the common name "white man's footprint", because it thrived in the disturbed and damaged ecosystems surrounding European settlements” — Wikepedia
I guess I swapped being barefoot all the time for riding my bike everywhere. The two aren’t exactly compatible.
Thank you, Kelsie! And Lilly!
Brilliant! Thank you for your thoughts & creations. Safe travels.