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

Sayantani Dasgupta: Reading

Reading

Tuesday, October 29, 2024
4:30pm
Torian Room - duPont Library

Sayantani Dasgupta: Reading from her latest essay collection, Brown Women Have Everything: Essays on (Dis)comfort and Delight (UNC 2024), and in conversation with Heidi Siegrist, author of All Y'all: Queering Southernness in US Fiction 1980-2020 (UNC 2024).

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

Theatre Performance

Location: Tennessee Williams Center
Showtimes:
October 24-26: 7:30pm
October 27: 2:00pm,
October 31-November 2: 7:30pm
November 3: 2:00pm

The Departments of Theatre & Dance and Music present Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, an electro-pop opera by Dave Malloy.

The show features a cast of 22, an orchestra of 9, design by faculty and guest artists, production support by dozens of students, and is directed by Jim Crawford.

Macabre Melodies - A Sewanee Symphony Orchestra Concert

Orchestra Concert

Wednesday, October 30, 2024
7:00pm
Guerry Auditorium

Join the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra for "Macabre Melodies," a concert that will take you on a journey through the dark and dramatic!

Theatre Alumni Panel, Homecoming 2024

Information Session

Friday, November 1, 2024
3:00pm-4:30pm
Proctor Hill Theater, Tennessee Williams Center

A panel of distinguished alumni answers the question: What can you do with a degree in Theatre?
Panelists are: J. Theresa Bush, Bryan Davis, Tory Depew, Ananelies Echols, Raymond McAnally, Jana Mestecky, Jon Morris, Anson Mount, and Audrey Tchoukoua.

This event is part of the Theatre & Dance Reunion at Homecoming, 2024.

Carillon Tour

Campus Tour

Saturday, November 3, 2024
5:00pm
Shapard Tower

Join Dr. Raymond Gotko for a tour of the Carillon in Shapard Tower. View the campus from its highest point! There are 129 stair steps to the top. Half way up, the stair case is open to the elements.

Carillon Concert

Music Performance

Saturday, November 2, 2024
6:00pm
Main Quad (adjacent to Walsh-Ellett)

Join us for a concert of carillon music performed by Joseph Wehrmeyer, Rowland Fourier, and Raymond Gotko. Best sound is in the quad or the green space between All Saints' Chapel and McClurg.

Buddhist Sutra Copying

Workshop

Monday, November 4, 2024
7:00pm-8:00pm
Social Lodge

Join us for a brief contextual talk on the practice of Buddhist sutra copying, copy your own sutra, and finish up the evening with snacks and discussion.

All supplies provided.

Fall Vocal Showcase

Voice Performance

Friday, November 8
7:00 p.m.
Guerry Auditorium

Join the Sewanee Voice Studios for our Fall Vocal Showcase! From musical theatre and art song to pop, rock, soul, and jazz, there is something for everyone in this popular semi-annual concert. With Vicki Collinsworth, piano.

Free admission.

Versions and Translations, an exhibition by artist Cathy Cone

Art Gallery Exhibition and Reception

Exhibition: October 23 – December 6, 2024
Artist Talk and Reception: November 14, 2024 @ 5:00pm

The Carlos Gallery in the Visual Art Building at the University of the South is pleased to present Versions and Translations, an exhibition by artist Cathy Cone.

Cathy Cone discovers images in the world and explores how they emerge and appear as rather strange, unexpected surprises. Speaking the languages of photography, printmaking and collage, she takes this charge into her studio as “something” found to translate.

Theatre and Dance 2024 Season

Theatre Performance

New Plays in 2 Days
September 7

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
An electropop opera by Dave Malloy
October 24-27, and October 31-November 3

DanceWise: Eye of the Beholder
November 21-24

View All

Current Exhibitions

University Art Gallery

In From Where Loss Comes, Pradip Malde presents a series of photographs of women confronting the traditional practice of female genital mutilation / cutting / circumcision (FGM/C) in Tanzania.

Carlos Gallery

The Carlos Gallery is currently on summer break with the University. We will begin our 2024-2025 season in August 2024.

Details

Stirling's Coffee House

Franklin County Arts Guild

The Franklin County Arts Guild is always looking for beginning or experienced artists to join the Guild who want to participate in its public art Community Shows at the Artisan Depot Gallery in Cowan.

University Archives

Traveling the Archives: An Exploration of Sewanee’s Global Collections and Connections
September 2024-January 2025

Exploring various objects from around the world, Traveling the Archives reveals the diversity of the collections housed in the Sewanee Archives. Spanning more than ten countries, four continents, and over 4,000 years of history, these artifacts demonstrate the University’s intercultural connections beyond the gates.

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.