Benjamin Conley, assistant professor of art and design, presents a piece of his art that appears in the exhibit.
March 1–25, 2026 @ Tusculum University
GREENEVILLE–Tusculum University’sCenter for the Arts presents the work of local and regional artists, but the newest exhibit in theClem Allison Galleryis even closer to home.
The center is showing “Pioneer Perspective: Creating Our Community” through Wednesday, March 25. The art on the walls and on pedestals, conveyed in a variety of media, is the work of Tusculum students, faculty and staff as part of a collective experience. In addition, Allison, who is now retired after leading Tusculum’s art program, contributed one of his paintings to the show.
“This exhibit provides an excellent opportunity for us to highlight our students’ work, but it also gives them a chance to see the work of their mentoring faculty,” said Benjamin Conley, assistant professor ofart and designand the gallery’s director. “It also gives the wider Tusculum community a chance to say, for example, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that individual made artwork.’”
One example he gave is Betsy Long, academic support coordinator in theRegistrar’s Office. He did not know she was a photographer until Long asked him whether she could provide some pictures for the exhibit. Conley was happy to agree. She has two nature photos in the show.
Long said she does not usually submit her photos for exhibition except in a few instances, but she felt this would be a good time to offer her work. She primarily likes to photograph nature and animals.
“I just like to capture beauty and creation,” Long said. “I like trying to show the animals in what they’re doing, just living life with us and having fun, or just the beauty of nature because it captures my eye. It’s peaceful to me to stop and take it all in, and then I want to try to capture it. I want to make people smile and take pictures of the beauty of God’s creation.”
Students were interested in holding an exhibition of their work, and Conley asked them about the idea of including faculty and staff as well. They welcomed the idea, and several Tusculum employees offered their art. Conley tasked the students with developing the name for the exhibit, and he was thrilled with the title they presented him.
The vast majority of the work in the exhibit belongs to students. One of them is junior Mirissa Walters. who is majoring in studio art.
“I’ve been creating art for a really long time, and when we had the chance to put some in this exhibit, I wanted to show off the different styles that I can do,” she said. “I have an acrylic piece, an oil piece and my dot piece in there as well. I wanted to get people’s perspective because I’ve kind of shifted between styles over the years, and I come back to the same ones over and over again. It seems like different people like different ones, and I like getting the reactions to them.”
Walters especially enjoys her dot paintings, saying they serve as a form of stress relief.
An exhibition statement created for “Pioneer Perspective: Creating Our Community” provides a fuller description of what the show achieves.
“Each work in this exhibition reflects a personal perspective shaped by connections that define our campus,” the statement says. “’Pioneer Perspective’ honors both our university heritage and our forward-thinking spirit. To pioneer is to explore and to build something meaningful where it otherwise would not have existed. The artists in ‘Pioneer Perspective’ respond by contributing to a shared cultural landscape, hopefully deepening Tusculum’s already established artistic influence.
“In celebrating these creative contributions, we state that art is not separate from our academic mission. It is inherent. Artistic exploration is interwoven within our day to day at Tusculum University.”
The exhibit is free and open for viewing weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Additional information about Tusculum’s art and design program is available at https://site.tusculum.edu/art-and-design/. To learn more about the university, visit www.tusculum.edu.
Category: Exhibits