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.
Monday, October 26th - Thursday, October 29th
Tennessee Williams Center
Tim Miller is an internationally acclaimed solo performer. This workshop is a chance to gather and explore creating original performances. There will be four nights of playful and intensive work that will culminate in an ensemble-generated public performance generated from your fierce creativity!
Thursday, October 29th
7:00 PM
Torian Room, duPont Library
The Russian Department cordially invites the University community to a Вечер / Evening when students of Russian will perform an abridged play by one of the most popular and provocative Russian playwrights alive, Ivan Vyrypaev. This pedagogical theatricality-theatrical pedagogy meets at the crossroads of contemporary literary studies and hands-on second language acquisition. Through rehearsals, students gain confidence in speaking in Russian, their pronunciation improves, and studies show that their command of grammar improves. Vyrypaev composes his plays from rhythmic patterns of speech, sound, building to a comic, preposterous crescendo of failed and then rekindled communication. Iran Conference (written in 2017) offers the ideal setting for Vyrypaev’s theatre around the microphone. The playwright's “Iran Conference” takes place at a symposium in Copenhagen, Denmark where eight of the world’s leading specialists on Iran share, one by one, their opinions and their scientific findings about the secrets to the meaning of human life. The performance will start at 7 pm on Thursday, October 29th and run for a little less than an hour. Doors open at 6:30 pm.
Thursday, October 29th
9:00pm
Tennessee Williams Center
A performance work created in collaboration by student performers with workshop nudges by guest artist Tim Miller. This weeklong performance workshop has been an exciting and charged exploration into creating original performance work from our lives, dreams, obsessions, peeves, memories and desires. The search for the narratives of the body is a crucial beginning to knowing ourselves and can be a juicy motor for devising charged performance material. Inspired by Tim Miller, written and performed by the performers.
The University Art Gallery—in partnership with the St. Mark’s community and the Roberson Project on Slavery Race and Reconciliation—proudly presents Art, Storytelling, Creative Placemaking and the St. Mark’s Heritage Trail, on view in the UAG from Oct. 27 through Dec. 11, 2026, and multiple accompanying events.
Please join us!
Oct. 27, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Convocation Hall and the University Art Gallery, Opening reception with brief remarks at 5:15 p.m.
Nov. 12, 5 p.m., Guerry Auditorium, Artist talk by designer Joe Veazey, illustrator of the new Sewanee Black History Map. Reception to follow.
Nov. 17, 5 p.m., Guerry Auditorium, Screening of Woven Wind with artist Vesna Pavlović, Q&A to follow.
Monday, November 2nd
5:00pm
Convocation Hall
The Nashville Shakespeare Festival's 1-hour, 5-actor traveling production of Shakespeare's classic tragedy
November 5th-7th
7:30pm
Studio Theater, Tennessee Williams Center
Directed by Sierra Rosetta (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe), The Thanksgiving Play is a sharp satirical comedy by MacArthur Genius Fellow, Larissa FastHorse. When school teacher Logan is tasked with creating a "culturally sensitive" Thanksgiving pageant, she assembles a team of well-meaning collaborators: her yoga-enthusiast boyfriend Jaxton, fellow teacher and aspiring playwright Caden, and Alicia, an actress newly arrived from Los Angeles. As the group struggles to create the "perfect" production without offending anyone, their efforts spiral into increasingly hilarious (and painfully recognizable) disaster. Through biting humor, FastHorse exposes the contradictions of performative ally-ship, liberal guilt, and the ways American institutions continue to misunderstand and erase Native voices.
Would you like to sing with the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra at The Caverns?
The Sewanee Symphony Orchestra is excited to return to The Caverns on Friday, December 4, 2026, for another unforgettable evening of holiday music and community celebration!
Important Dates:
For audition instructions and to submit your application, visit https://TheCaverns.com/SingOff
As part of our free Christmas in The Caverns: Symphony & Sing Off concert, auditions are now open for The Caverns Sing Off! Singers from the South Cumberland region, or those with strong ties to the community, are invited to audition for the opportunity to perform a holiday classic with the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra on The Caverns stage.
New this year: A Youth Division for singers ages 2–17! We are especially excited to welcome young voices to this wonderful community tradition. Finalists will have the opportunity to perform live at The Caverns and compete for cash prizes of up to $1,000, along with other exciting prizes.
Whether you are a student, faculty or staff member, or have family and friends in the South Cumberland region who love to sing, we encourage you to spread the word!
November 19th, 2026
7:30pm
Guerry Auditorium
The Sewanee Voice Studios present the Fall Vocal Showcase, Thursday November 19 at 7:30 in Guerry Auditorium. From musical theatre to pop, soul, jazz, and art song, there is something for everyone in this popular semi-annual concert! With Vicki Collinsworth, piano. Free admission.
Through November 30; Monday-Friday 1 -5 pm
Archives Gallery
Spanning centuries of objects, ephemera, and folklore, YSR: Your Stories, Remembered is an exploration of all things Sewaneeana.
The UAG is delighted to present Jenny Fine's exploration of memory, spiritualism, spirit photography, and hoaxes in Psychomanteum, January 15 through March 28, 2027.
The University Art Gallery—in partnership with the St. Mark’s community and the Roberson Project on Slavery Race and Reconciliation—proudly presents Art, Storytelling, Creative Placemaking and the St. Mark’s Heritage Trail, on view in the UAG from Oct. 27 through Dec. 11, 2026.
Wearable Art from Patricia Richards
Opening October 15th, 2026
3:00 - 4:30pm
Stirling's Gallery
This Silence Echoes by Abigail Rose Hedley
Gallery Open:
September 14th- October 21st, 2026
Artist Talk and Reception:
Thursday, October 15, 2026 @ 5:00 pm
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
