Appalachian State University / The Arts and Humanities

Art for Life

The Arts and Humanities at App State

App State presents vibrant arts and humanities programs that enrich the cultural and intellectual climate of the campus and region. Join us for an event, performance, exhibition or workshop — you can find one almost every day of the year, for nearly every age level and interest.

By the numbers

600+

arts and humanities events on campus annually
6

free student workshops each week at the Turchin Center
10

departments offer degree tracks in arts or humanities
14

exhibition and performance venues on campus
9,000+

children in grades K-12 attend free and low-cost school matinees each year
20+

countries recently featured in arts and humanities programming, including Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Brazil, Cuba, Ukraine, Germany, Israel, Chile, Spain, Russia, Poland, South Africa and France
80

students are employed annually within the arts and humanities
30+

Arts and Education Outreach Programs connect university arts resources to a diverse audience of community arts patrons, teachers and learners

The arts and humanities offer innovative ways to learn about the world. App State’s academic programs are varied and diverse, and students have many opportunities to experience, interpret, understand, record and shape culture.

Venues, programs and publications

Art Galleries and Special Collections
Cultural Centers and Programs
Music and Stage
Lecture Series
- The Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
- Turchin Center Art Talks
- Martin & Doris Rosen Summer Symposium
- Civil War Speaker Series
- DLLC Annual International Speaker Series
- Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies Lecture Series
Community Connections
Publications and Partnerships

Upcoming events

Apr
21
Art Lande Jazz Trio
Hayes School of Music
April 21, 2025
8:00 pm - 9:15 pm
Grammy-nominated Art Lande is an internationally known pianist, composer, improviser, drummer and educator who has performed throughout the US, Europe and Australia with a long list of the Who's Who in jazz. Alex Heitlinger is a forward-thinking jazz composer and trombonist with a deep love of the jazz tradition and a passion for exploring musical boundaries. Alan Hall has been a professional drummer for over 45 years and has performed and/or recorded with international jazz artists Lee Konitz, Paul McCandless, Art Lande, Ed Simon, and more.
Apr
22
Science + Art with Climate Artist Jill Pelto
Climate Stories Collaborative and QEP
April 22, 2025
11:00 am - 12:15 pm
Pelto’s paintings incorporate data about environmental change - from local to global. Her goal is to engage more people around science in ways that are emotionally relevant and thought-provoking. Pelto’s work has been featured on the cover of TIME, at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and as a cover for the North Cascade Conservation Council journal.
Apr
23
Earth Week Open Mic Night
Friends of Copal AA
April 23, 2025
6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
This event is a fundraiser for the New Dawn Middle School in Copal AA, Guatemala, where handmade textiles from Copal AA and hand-me-down clothes will be sold. There will also be materials to create sustainable crafts like terrariums. New Dawn is a middle school that focuses on the education and implementation of sustainable agricultural practices, displaying a deep appreciation for the Earth as a community experiencing the first-hand effects of climate change.
Apr
24
Yom HaShoah
Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies
April 24, 2025
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
On Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), Appalachian State University's Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies (CJHPS) will hold a public reading of the names of Jews murdered during the Holocaust. The reading will take place in the outdoor square between Appalachian’s Belk Library and Information Commons and the Campus Store in the Plemmons Student Union. If there is inclement weather, the event will occur inside the Belk Library and Information Commons.

Exhibitions and ongoing events

Apr
13
to
17
We Birthed the Movement: The History and Future of the Environmental Justice Movement in North Carolina- Environmental Justice Exhibition
University Sustainability
April 13 - 17, 2025
Belk Library
In 1978, North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. announced a plan to build a toxic landfill in the rural community of Afton (Warren County) to store 60,000 tons of soil laced with cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Over the next four years, a group of concerned citizens responded, mounting legal and scientific challenges to what they deemed an act of “toxic aggression.” The intersection of environmentalism and civil rights in the Warren County fight was transformational. Forty years later, it has become recognized as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement.
Feb
7
to
May
24
OAK SPRING: Seeding Artists
Feb 7 - May 24, 2025
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts
Driving back and forth between the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Upperville, VA, and Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, one gets a sense of the landscape traversing the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, especially if one forgoes the interstate for the backroads and blue highways, or the legendary Blue Ridge Parkway which encourages more leisurely meanderings.
Dec
6
to
May
3
The Clothes I Wear
Dec 6, 2024 - May 3, 2025
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts
The clothes we choose to wear can reveal so much about us whether we are aware of the revelations or unaware of our walking narratives. For as long as humans have worn clothes, the clothes have come packaged in rules and social etiquette about what should or should not be worn, and when or why or even how the clothes we wear should adorn the body. Exhibition includes Portia Marie York’s “Bras of Beauty” and Dori Settles’ “Shoes as Storytellers.”
Apr
21
to
May
1
2025 Climate Stories Showcase
Climate Stories Collaborative
Apr 21 - May 1, 2025
112 Plemmons Student Union
The Climate Stories Showcase is an opportunity to give artistic expression to the complex, often daunting, sometimes awe-inspiring ways the changing climate impacts our local and global communities. The showcase will exhibit works of artistic expression related to climate change by students and—for the first time this year—faculty. The showcase will feature creative works in a variety of media, including 2-D, 3-D, digital video, sound, performance, creative writing, short theatrical works, and book/ zine projects.

View more arts and humanities events

News

Jewel Davis appointed chair of 2026 Caldecott Award Selection Committee
August 28, 2024
Jewel Davis, an education librarian and professor in University Libraries at App State, has been appointed to serve as chair of the 2026 Randolph Caldecott Award Selection Committee. The Caldecott Medal, established in 1937 and presented annually by the American Library Association, is one of the oldest and most highly regarded awards for children's book illustration in the United States. As committee chair, Davis will lead 14 distinguished librarians from across the nation in evaluating and selecting the most outstanding picture books published in 2025.
App State Gospel Choir uplifts campus and local community through song
February 26, 2024
For nearly 50 years, the App State Gospel Choir has been uplifting the campus community through song in the Black religious tradition. According to alumni, the choir is a vehicle for cultural expression and a welcoming family that provides a sense of home.
Hayes School of Music faculty, students install state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos studio
App State’s music industry studies program encourages hands-on learning
December 8, 2023
App State faculty and students have installed a new Dolby Atmos immersive sound system in the Robert F. Gilley Recording Studio, housed in App State’s Hayes School of Music. The experience offered students hands-on learning with a prominent technology in the music industry.
'Appalachian' — how do you say it?
App State explores the history behind the region’s name and its pronunciations
October 27, 2023
App State explores the rich history behind the Appalachian region’s name and its pronunciations — a history that spans cultures, centuries and languages. Both “appa-latch-un” and “appa-lay-shun,” an alternative pronunciation, are acceptable.