The performing and visual arts are integral to a liberal arts education. The arts inspire us and fire the imagination. They teach us creative problem solving, and how to meet challenges with flexibility, invention, and vision.
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.
open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
ANAMNESIS
Exhibition by graduating senior art majors Ned Adams, Josh Bryant, John Godbold, Emma Jewell, Olivier Mbabazi, Phoebe-Agnès Mills, Ellie Pedersen, Emilea Thrasher, and Megan Vlahoplus.
Local Learning: Education on the Mountain Around the University of the South, 1880-1971
Exploring the history of primary and secondary education on the Mountain, this exhibition showcases a variety of objects that reveal differing values, morals, goals, and missions among various local schools. Contrasting educational institutions and styles, as well as acknowledging the impact of gender, religion, space, and race, these objects demonstrate the integral role education had in bringing the Sewanee community together. Curated by Introduction to Museum Studies Students, Easter 2020.
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 students who intend to pursue art or art history at the undergraduate level and who have demonstrated extraordinary promise in artistic endeavors. On Sewanee's gorgeous 13,000-acre mountaintop campus and around the world, Guarisco Scholars will have the resources to study and advance art. The scholarship includes full funding (tuition, room and board) for four years of study at Sewanee as well as stipends for research, internship and study abroad opportunities.
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.
