Arts Across Campus

At the University of the South, we have multiple dedicated exhibition and performance spaces and series across campus, weaving the arts into life and study across the college. In addition to our designated spaces, our campus overall is regularly ranked as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States.

All of campus is designed to inspire, and all of campus is a stage.

Arts Across Campus Locations
Click on the map below to find the full campus map with venue names.

Upcoming Events

Dr. Su Cho

Poetry Reading

Dr. Su Cho will be reading from her debut book of poems, The Symmetry of Fish, on April 9th at 4:30pm in the Torian Room.

Dr. Cho is an award-winning poet, having won the National Poetry Series for her first book and, recently, an Individual Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She is also a keen editor, working as editor-in-chief for Indiana Review and for several months as the guest editor for Poetry Magazine. Dr. Cho's poems are a delicate investigation of family, inheritance, and identity in the Korean-American diaspora. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Poetry at Clemson University, but will in the fall join the faculty of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Vanderbilt.

Perpetual Motion 2025

Dance Performance

Thursday, April 10 & Friday April 11, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Saturday, April 12, 2025 @ 2:00pm
Guerry Auditorium

Sewanee's annual student dance festival, featuring a show-stopping variety of student-choreographed dance pieces. No reservations required. Free and open to the public.

Senior Art Majors C'25 Opening

Reception

Please join us in Guerry Lobby on April 11 at 5 p.m. for the opening reception of the Senior Art Majors C'25 groups exhibition WAKE!

Novelist and Editor Adam Ross in conversation with Dr. Pamela Royston Macfie

Book Talk

Monday, April 14, 2025
4:00pm
University Bookstore, Downtown Sewanee

Sewanee Review editor Adam Ross will appear in conversation with Dr. Pamela Royston Macfie to discuss his latest novel, PLAYWORLD. PLAYWORLD is a sweeping bildungsroman centered on child actor Griffin Hurt, whose story spans a year in his life as he grapples with the perils of self-performance and the crude dissolution of youth. Coffee and light fare will be provided. Ross’s books will be available for purchase.

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

Theatre Performance

April 15-18, 2025
7:00pm
Angel Park

This 90-minute outdoor production is directed by Ivy Francis Moore, C’26. The show explores the themes of identity and liberation in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by placing it in an explosive, colorful, close-knit community that's somewhere between The University of the South, a Warhol painting, and a waterpark. We encourage you to bring a blanket or a chair!

Senior Voice Recital: Ruthie Rhodes

Vocal Performance

Saturday, April 26, 2025
3:00pm
St. Luke's Chapel

Join Ruthie Rhodes, C'25, for Perspectives on Love! In this recital, Ruthie explores the different types of love through the lens of song. From romantic longing to deep friendship and self-discovery, each piece offers a unique perspective on the many forms love can take.

With Vicki Collinsworth, piano, and student guests.

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Current Exhibitions

University Art Gallery

The University Art Gallery is delighted to present WAKE, a group exhibition by the Senior Art Majors C'25.

Carlos Gallery

The Carlos Gallery in the Visual Art Building at the University of the South is pleased to present Overlooked: Arts of Excess, an exhibition by artist Kate Knight.

University Archives

The installation Return To Origin - from RaMell Ross' ~~Spell~~, ~~Time~~, Practice, American, Body - is showing in the Museum Gallery of the William R. Laurie University Archives and Special Collections.

The Museum Gallery is open weekdays from 1 to 5 p.m., and by appointment.

Details

Stirling's Coffee House

Tigers and Dragons--Oh My!!
Exhibit: Saturday, March 1 - Saturday, March 22, 2025
Reception: Thursday, March 20, 2025 @ 4:00pm

Artwork by Sewanee Elementary School second graders is now on exhibit at Stirling's Coffee House. Titled "Tigers and Dragons — Oh No!" the show features -- you guessed it -- imaginative tigers and dragons that the children have rendered in oil pastels and tempera paints.

Details

Performances and Events Highlights

Keep An Eye On

Art Forum

Art Forum is an organization dedicated to promoting the visual arts and facilitating artistic opportunities at the University of the South. We offer a creative space for students to promote art within a positive community. In doing so, we foster a stronger Sewanee community and appreciation for the arts.

Arts Amplified

At the University of the South, the arts model interdisciplinarity and collaboration. Special events like gallery walks and Arts Amplified events bring distinct disciplines in the arts together for inspiration and learning, and give our students and faculty multiple and diverse opportunities to experiment, collaborate, show their work, hone their skills, and reach audiences - all across campus.

Arts Fellows Scholarship

Students with exceptional promise in performing or studio arts can apply for Fellowship in the Arts. They are awarded to candidates with interests and accomplishments in visual studies, art history, film, dance, theatre, or music. Students selected for these fellowships will have the opportunity to dive more deeply into the life of the arts at Sewanee. Incoming students are invited to apply after they are admitted to Sewanee. These stackable fellowships, valued at $2,000, are renewable for four years. For more information, please email your admission counselor.

Dynamics

Dynamics seeks to bring together the performing arts at Sewanee by mixing student-choreographed dances with vocal and instrumental pieces. Student performers are invited to try on new styles and concepts with the goal of simply being creative.

Guarisco Scholarship

The Guarisco Scholarship is endowed for Seniors who are pursuing a major in the Department of Art, Art History, and Visual Studies, and who have demonstrated extraordinary promise in Art or Art History. The scholarship includes tuition as well as research funds for summer travel or an internship leading up to and during the final year as an undergraduate.

Live Music Sound Nation

Live Music Sound Nation is a contemporary instrumental multi-media ensemble, focusing on the production and performance of modern rock and film score shows. Using a highly collaborative approach, the next generation of talented musicians and artists rehearse music and prepare visual displays for arena-style rock and movie concerts. We use the latest in sound, lighting effects, and design as we perform the compositions of the great musical artists of the modern day.

Performing Arts Series

The Sewanee Performing Arts Series features a wide variety of performances throughout the academic year.

Some of the recent solo and ensemble performers have included:

American Spiritual Ensemble
Grammy nominated PUBLIQuartet
Aaron Diehl
Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal
Vienna Boys Choir
Olivier Latry
American Shakespeare Center
Chanticleer
Rooftop Records

Performances take place throughout the academic year and are made available to students at no cost.

Perpetual Motion

Perpetual Motion (PMo) is a student-led dance organization designed to give students an opportunity to perform and to expose the Sewanee community to a variety of unique styles of dance. Through diversity and inclusion, we strive to recruit dancers of all levels and expose them to a variety of dance genres. To fulfill our mission, we will work with other dance organizations on campus as well as the Dance Program to reach as many students as possible.

Sewanee Praise

Sewanee Praise ministers the Gospel in song to the campus and surrounding communities. The choir’s diverse membership is made up of students, faculty, and community members from various backgrounds and experiences. Its repertory covers spirituals, traditional and contemporary gospel, contemporary Christian, and praise and worship. Sewanee Praise performs two concerts—one each semester—as well as other campus events and regional tours.

Sewanee Symphony Orchestra

The Sewanee Symphony Orchestra (SSO) presents a full range of the symphonic repertory and includes a wide variety of musical styles and genres. As a key component of the liberal arts environment, the orchestra not only collaborates with other music ensembles but also often participates in campus-wide interdisciplinary projects. Sewanee's orchestra is a vivid reflection of our community. It is common for students to play alongside their professors, University administrators, and community members.

University Choir

The University Choir plays an important role in Sewanee's musical life, singing at weekly services in All Saints' Chapel, monthly evensongs, and other campus events. A highlight of each year is the annual Festival of Lessons and Carols. This service regularly attracts 3,000 visitors to campus and has been featured in Southern Living and Garden and Gun. As an active touring ensemble, the choir has performed extensively throughout the United States and England.

University Jazz Ensemble

The University Jazz Ensemble started as a small ensemble and has grown into a 17-to-19 piece big band that covers the repertory of large ensemble jazz ranging from Duke Ellington and Count Basie to big band arrangements of popular songs by the Beatles and the Jackson 5. The Jazz Ensemble focuses on developing student jazz musicians by providing an opportunity for a challenging ensemble experience while encouraging performers to explore jazz improvisation. The Jazz Ensemble offers two performances on campus each school year, and also plays in local venues as requested.

The William Ralston Listening Library

The William Ralston Listening Library and Archive is located on the second floor of duPont Library at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. The state-of-the-art facility offers an unparalleled teaching and learning resource and was created in memory of beloved Sewanee professor Father William Ralston, C’51. The Library houses his world-class collection of recordings inside what many reviewers and audiophiles consider to be the best publicly available sound playback system in the world. Years in the planning and decades in the dreaming, the Ralston Listening Library exists to bring a stunning, life-changing sonic and aesthetic experience to students and visitors of all ages. In the best spirit of Father Ralston, the Library's mission is entirely philanthropic, designed to spread a love and appreciation for great music and audio to those who would not otherwise have access or knowledge of such things.