Center Stage

Daniel Esquivia-Zapata
Drawing Exhibition
March 26-April 30 
Gallery Talk and Reception: April 30 | 4:30 p.m.
Joan Derryberry Art Gallery

Daniel’s work explores ideas about historical memory, official historical narratives, and what he terms the politics of remembering. He does this through life-size figurative drawings that combine historical texts, the human body, plants, and animals to generate strong spaces that work as poetic imagery, probing the dynamics of narratives in history and historical memory.

To create these drawings, he uses a combination of traditional figure drawing techniques, liquid charcoal and fragmented print, and hand-written texts to draw on several layers of mylar, creating life-size drawings to create news bodies that work as metaphors for political bodies intersected by history, newspaper articles, archives, looking to make visible ¨the of place of memory¨ that are our bodies among the discourses that intersect them.

Celebration of Craft
April 5 | 10 a.m.
Appalachian Center for Craft

This free event is open to the university and public and it features a comprehensive suite of arts offerings, including: live musical performances by three different ensembles throughout the day, live art/craft demonstrations in all five of the craft studios (glass, metals, wood, fibers, clay), hands-on craft activities for children of all ages, food vendors, artwork sales by student artists and discounts in their retail craft gallery.

Katahj Copley, Assembly Quartet with TTU Symphony Band
April 8 | 7:30 p.m.
Wattenbarger Auditorium
Bryan Fine Arts Building

 I create music that tells stories. Storytelling has always been central to my life—shaped by the stories I heard as a child, the lives I’ve listened to, and the narratives I encounter every day. I believe the role of a composer is to be a storyteller: to honor the past, reflect the present, and shape the future through sound. My creative process mirrors my source of inspiration: stories.

Dumplings Around the World
April 14 | 10:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Multipurpose Room
Roaden University Center

Nani Agbeli, Ghanaian Drumming
April 25 | 7:30 p.m.
Wattenbarger Auditorium
Bryan Fine Arts Building

Nani Agbeli, Director of Kinkaviwo, The Ghanaian Drumming and Dancing Ensemble, is a distinguished traditional Ghanaian musician and historian, has earned a reputation as one of his generation's most accomplished performers due to his impeccable precision, athleticism, and captivating stage presence.

Nani is an accomplished artist and educator whose professional aspirations include integrating West African music and dance with creative multi-arts initiatives in percussion, dance, music, history, culture, healing, and choreography.

He joins Tennessee Tech's Ghanaian Drumming Ensemble for a performance of traditional music and dance.