October 22, 2026 | 7 pm @ Tusculum University
Community members are invited to hear a firsthand account of blind woodworker George Wurtzel’s work and life, which has been featured in multiple media, during his upcoming appearance atTusculum University.
The artist, who resides in Greene County, presents “The Creative Life of George Wurtzel” Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. in Behan Arena Theatre, which is located on the lower floor of Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Center. During the event, Wurtzel will recount his inventive spirit as a woodworker, horseman, Paralympian and teacher.
The event is free and will include a question-and-answer session and a reception afterward in the Behan lobby.
“George embodies the qualities all creative people need to keep innovation at the spine of their lives: curiosity, inventiveness and determination,” said Kelsey Trom, professor ofEnglishand the Harriett Reaves Neff ’21 Chair of Fine Arts at Tusculum. “These are the skills and attitudes that make our creative writing and art students successful no matter what fields they go into. By bringing visiting artists like George here, we hope students see a creative life as a real possibility.”
Wurtzel has started and run several woodworking companies, built custom furniture and commercial fixtures, designed and produced triangular wood cases for veterans’ burial flags and renovated an art building for Lighthouse for the Blind in Napa, California. He works and teaches in a downtown Greeneville building. He achieved notoriety when he acted in Subaru’s 2019 “See the World” commercial.
In the commercial, a couple are looking for the Peninsula Trail in an unknown location, and Wurtzel tells them it is not found on a map – that he will take them there. He first takes them to a seaside diner and then to a cliff overlooking the ocean before engaging in a hike after darkness falls that enables them to listen to the sights and sounds of the forest. People can view the commercial athttps://bit.ly/4hREqe4.
Wurtzel was the subject of a 41-minute episode of “The Highland Woodworker,” which is available athttps://bit.ly/4yPb33n. He was also featured in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Popular Woodworking and the short documentary “Carving the Creative Vision” created by the University of Tennessee.
In the Popular Woodworking story, which is available athttps://bit.ly/4B1S8DS, people learn that Wurtzel’s grandfather introduced him to woodworking and his father started him on mechanics and that he was a classmate of rock ‘n’ roll legend Stevie Wonder. He also shared this nugget:
“You’ve got to follow your passion in life regardless of the obstacles in your way,” Wurtzel said in the story. “Never allow someone who doesn’t have to pay the consequences dictate the consequences of your life.”
He hopes students and others who attend his talk will recognize after hearing his story that they should chart their own course in life. He said people can confine themselves by following a path others might think is best for them.
“The Creative Life of George Wurtzel” is the second installment in “Oak & Ink: The Creator Series at Tusculum University,” a collection of events the English andart and designprograms at the university are holding during this academic year. He discovered his hands were a gift while he attended a high school for the blind.
The next event features Penda Mbaye Z. Smith, the poetry chapbook prizewinner this year at Tusculum, reading some of her work Thursday, Nov. 19, in the Behan. She is joined by Lois Cunningham, whose artwork is featured in Volume 22 of “The Tusculum Review,” the university’s international literary journal. That event serves as the launch of that edition.
Additional information about the English program can be accessed athttps://site.tusculum.edu/english-2/, and people can learn more about the art and design program athttps://site.tusculum.edu/art-and-design/. Further details about the university are available atwww.tusculum.edu.
Category: Theatre