Austin Peay State University's Department of Art + Design will present "ROOTED+RISING," a joint exhibition of student and faculty work, at the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center in Clarksville, Tennessee, from October 30 to January 7. A public reception is scheduled for November 7, with the show organized in partnership with the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts.
Students Handle the Full Curatorial Process
What distinguishes this exhibition is not just the artwork but the production model behind it. Professor Paul Collins is co-curating the show alongside two APSU student interns, Emily Crosby and Sabrina Sanford, giving them direct responsibility for decisions typically reserved for professional museum staff. According to the department, student involvement extends across the full lifecycle of the exhibition, from selecting and arranging pieces to physical installation and coordinating press and media outreach. That structure functions as a practical training pipeline, exposing students to the logistical and communication work that surrounds gallery curation, not only the creative output on the walls.
A Show Built Around Mentorship
Collins framed the exhibition as a way to document the department's evolution while reaffirming its teaching philosophy. "I am so excited to tell the story of the APSU Department of Art + Design because it's so new and still so true to what we've always been," he said, adding that the program remains built on "hands-on mentor-based instruction." Sanford, one of the student curators, said the process of assembling the show revealed how closely the relationships between artists and mentors mirror the relationships between individual works in the gallery. "Every time you see someone involved with the show, what you get is pure encouragement," she said, describing that dynamic as present in the department "even when there's no show on."
What Visitors Can Expect
The exhibition is positioned as a cross-section of the department's current range rather than a themed or single-medium show, pairing faculty work with pieces selected to represent the skill level and development of current students. The Customs House Museum and Cultural Center, a long-standing cultural venue in downtown Clarksville, provides the exhibition space and institutional support that allows a university arts department to present a professionally staged public show. Specific gallery hours, admission details and the exact scope of works on display were not detailed in the announcement, so visitors planning a trip should confirm logistics directly with the museum before the October 30 opening.