Appalachian State University / The Arts and Humanities

Art for Life

The Arts and Humanities at Appalachian

Appalachian 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. Appalachian’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 and Lunch & Learn
- Martin & Doris Rosen Summer Symposium
- Humanities Council 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

Sep
29
A Conversation with “Rising” author, Elizabeth Rush: A YouTube livestream event
Common Reading Program
September 29, 2020
7:00 pm
The Common Reading Program at Appalachian presents Elizabeth Rush, author of the 2020 selection “Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore.” The book was a 2019 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in General Nonfiction. According to the Pulitzer Prize website, “Rising” is a “rigorously reported story about American vulnerability to rising seas, particularly disenfranchised people with limited access to the tools of rebuilding.”
Oct
8
Novelist Jacinda Townsend
Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
October 8, 2020
12:00 pm
Jacinda Townsend recently served as the Appalachian Writer in Residence at Berea College. She is the author of Saint Monkey (Norton, 2014), which is set in 1950s Eastern Kentucky and won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for historical fiction. Saint Monkey was also the 2015 Honor Book of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Link to Reading video to be posted Thursday, Oct. 8, at 12 p.m.
Oct
8
Netflix and Representation Discussion Group
Reich College of Education
October 8, 2020
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Recently, Netflix has created its own content, much of it dealing with race, gender and sexualities in increasingly complex ways. People are watching how identities are portrayed, (re)forming their own identities and thinking through the representations of others in ways that are unprecedented and, at times, surprising. Damiana Pyles will facilitate conversations that explore a range of Netflix's original series together in the spirit of mutual learning and understanding.
Oct
19
to
31
Spooky Duke Virtual 1K, 5K, 10K and Costume March
Parent to Parent Family Support Network
October 19 - 31, 2020
The 10th annual Spooky Duke Race and Costume Contest will be virtual for 2020. A 1K, 5K, or 10K run, walk, ride, swim, row, mummy shuffle, or thriller dance can be completed anywhere between Oct. 19 – 31. Proceeds benefit the Parent to Parent Family Support Network™-High Country, which provides support, education and caring connections to families who have children with diverse physical, emotional, intellectual or health needs; have a child born prematurely; or are grieving the loss of a child.

Exhibitions and ongoing events

Sep
4
to
Feb
6
CANTAR DE CIEGOS/SONG OF THE BLIND: Esperanza Cortés
Sep 4, 2020 - Feb 6, 2021
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts
In conjunction with the 42nd anniversary Tri-State Sculpture Conference, TCVA is proud to partner with the 2020 Conference Chair, Travis Donovan, assistant professor of sculpture, Department of Art in Appalachian State University’s College of Fine and Applied Arts to host the conference and bring the award-winning sculptor, Esperanza Cortés to campus as a keynote speaker and guest artist for an exhibition, CANTAR DE CIEGOS/SONG OF THE BLIND.
Jul
10
to
Feb
6
Rain and the River: Jacklyn St. Aubyn
Jul 10, 2020 - Feb 6, 2021
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts
Painter Jacklyn St. Aubyn creates a magical space in which things aren’t what they appear to be. First perceptions may be misleading. She has landscapes and interiors in mind as she works, but not in the realistic sense; rather, she conjures imaginary spaces that defy logic.
Jul
10
to
Feb
6
Afterimage Anxiety: Joshua Rose
Jul 10, 2020 - Feb 6, 2021
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts
“Perhaps I am just in awe of everything when I settle down to really look at things.” Joshua Rose
Oct
19
to
31
Spooky Duke Virtual 1K, 5K, 10K and Costume March
Parent to Parent Family Support Network
October 19 - 31, 2020
The 10th annual Spooky Duke Race and Costume Contest will be virtual for 2020. A 1K, 5K, or 10K run, walk, ride, swim, row, mummy shuffle, or thriller dance can be completed anywhere between Oct. 19 – 31. Proceeds benefit the Parent to Parent Family Support Network™-High Country, which provides support, education and caring connections to families who have children with diverse physical, emotional, intellectual or health needs; have a child born prematurely; or are grieving the loss of a child.

View more arts and humanities events

News

From Hollywood to the High Country — App State’s mobile TV studio to serve as a learning lab on wheels
August 28, 2020
The studio, which got its start as a Hollywood movie prop, will serve as a mobile learning lab for Mountaineer students covering High Country news and events through AppTV. The truck’s first stop? Appalachian’s 2020 Founders Day celebration.
‘Poetry that slams the page’ — App State names 2020–21 winner, runner-up of Truman Capote Literary Trust Scholarship competition
August 21, 2020
Appalachian English majors Jay Phillips and Victoria Goff have been named winner and runner-up, respectively, of the university’s Truman Capote Literary Trust Scholarship for Creative Writing in poetry for 2020–21. As the winner, Phillips was awarded a $3,649 scholarship.
Top Army writing award fulfills App State student’s 2nd grade prophecy
August 11, 2020
Appalachian senior and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mary Junell has been named the 2019 Paul D. Savanuck Writer of the Year — a top communications honor awarded by the Army. She is set to graduate from Appalachian with a degree in communication, advertising in 2021.
2 App State students receive awards for creative poetry, prose on life amid COVID-19
July 29, 2020
Appalachian senior Abigail Miles and alumna Barclay Ann Blankenship ’20 are the recipients of Appalachian’s inaugural David Hodgin English Award. They will each receive a $350 scholarship and their creative works will be published in Appalachian’s literary journal, Cold Mountain Review.