From ceramics to sculpture, you’ll find all kinds of art – and artists – at Austin Peay.

The Center of Excellence and department of art sponsor exhibitions and lectures by accomplished professional artists, student art shows and faculty exhibitions throughout the year.
The Nashville Scene has hailed the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts for “attracting heavyweight poets for years…everyone from Gwendolyn Brooks and Allen Ginsberg to Galway Kinnell and Eavan Boland.”

In addition to the visiting writers series, the Center supports Red Mud Review, a literary magazine produced by APSU students and Zone 3, a professionally produced international literary journal that sponsors poetry and fiction awards.
Though you won’t see them on stage, visiting artists and artists-in-residence have a visible impact on APSU theatre and dance students.

Sponsored by the Center, these artists share their experiences and knowledge through lectures, workshops and one-on-one interaction.
The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts sponsors the annual Clarksville Community Concert Series, which includes lectures and performances by renowned musicians such as classical guitarist Philip Hii, the American Brass Quintet and Grammy Award-winning ensemble Chanticleer.

Additionally, the Center sponsors the Dimensions New Music Series, Mid-South Jazz Festival and Young Composers Competition.

Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts
Music/Mass Communication Bldg, Room 165
P.O. Box 4666
Clarksville, TN 37044
(931) 221-7876
abdullahr@apsu.edu

Partnerships and Outreach

Partnerships

The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA) actively partners with university departments, as well as arts, service, and community organizations in the middle Tennessee region. The Center has formed ongoing partnerships with the following organizations:

The Customs House Museum and Cultural Center and the CECA will be bringing to Clarksville and Austin Peay State University the Southern Circuit – Tour of Independent Filmmakers beginning in fall 2009 and running through spring 2010. The film tour is a program of the Southern Arts Federation.
Humanities Tennessee and the CECA co-present the Tennessee Young Writers’ Workshop, a residential creative writing program for 7th to 12th grade students on the campus of Austin Peay State University.
The APSU Center of Excellence for Field Biology and Center collaborate on projects where the arts inform science and science informs the arts.
The APSU Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center and the CECA continue to develop programming that celebrates and informs all facets of African American cultural life.

If your organization is interested in developing community arts and culture events and are interested in possibly collaborating or partnering with the Center, contact Christopher Burawa, director of the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, as (931) 221-7643 or by email at burawac AT apsu.edu.

Outreach

The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts reaches out to the community through sponsorships, arts education programming, and collaborations.

The Center sponsors an artists-in-schools program, bringing faculty artists and local community artists into classrooms throughout the Montgomery School District. The Center also supports TOYS (the Theatre Organization for Youth by Students), an APSU student-run children’s theatre company that performs in schools and libraries for K-6 grade children in the five counties surrounding Clarksville.

The Center collaborates with a variety of organizations to help improve all levels of education in the state, such as the Tennessee High School Speech and Drama League State Championship, the APSU Gov’s Camp program “A Book for Every Gov Camp Child,” and Operation Excel afterschool program.

The Center initiated the Salon Series in summer 2009 in the belief that art can and does happen at any time and in any place. The series features APSU fine arts faculty as well as artists from the community at on- (for the Summer Salon Series only) and off-campus venues every second Thursday of each month from 2PM to 3PM.