Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts

CECA brings both emerging and prominent artists from around the nation to Clarksville each year to present concerts and lectures, work directly with students in master classes and workshops, and introduce innovative ways of making or exploring art. All events offered by CECA are open to the community unless otherwise advertised.

CECA offers over 100 events per year featuring more than 75 guest artists

Click here to visit the Events Calendar

Since 1985, the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA, or "seek-ah") has been providing students, the Clarksville community, and the middle Tennessee region with engaging experiences through the Art + Design, Music, Theatre & Dance, and Creative Writing programs at APSU. CECA brings as many as 85 guest artists to Clarksville each year and presents up to 100 public arts & culture events annually, including concerts, exhibitions, artist lectures, master classes, artist residencies, and more. In addition, CECA provides the arts faculty at APSU with research opportunities to enhance their professional growth as well as numerous student scholarships each year to support APSU's own emerging artists.

Students work with professor in art classroom

CECA offers experiences in the creative arts year round

From inspiring visiting artist lectures to impressive performances, CECA has something for everyone. All events offered by CECA are free and open to the community unless otherwise advertised.

Events Calendar

Creative Arts Departments at Austin Peay

Department of Art and Design

APSU's art & design program offers studies in drawing, digital media, graphic design, illustration, painting, photography, ceramics, printmaking, sculpture, and art education.

Creative Writing minor

As one of the university's largest departments, Languages and Literature offers students small classes and a diverse, experienced faculty including many award-winning teachers.

Student plays with ensemble in Mabry concert hall

Department of Music

The Austin Peay State University Department of Music is an active and highly-visible component of the Clarksville Community. Composed of approximately 180 music majors and 32 full-time and adjunct faculty, the Department of Music is the largest producer of cultural events in the Clarksville area.

Department of Theatre and Dance

Theatre and Dance at Austin Peay offers a world-renowned department, in a state-of-the-art facility, fostering artists, scholars and professionals who positively impact our world.

News Feed

View All News

Austin Peay graphic design senior spending summer interning at renowned Chautauqua Institution

Katie Boyer - who is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design at Austin Peay and last year earned APSU's inaugural Hazel Smith Summer Research Fellowship - will be a gallery assistant for Chautauqua Visual Arts (CVA) Galleries through the beginning of August.

Austin Peay musical theatre senior to perform at Theaterlab in New York City

Senior musical theatre student Breanna Douglas will perform in the culminating staged reading of "Our Tempest," a new play by Jake Brasch, at Theaterlab in New York City on June 6, 2022.

Austin Peay unveils online database to give public more access to university's vast art collection

For more than a year, the director of Austin Peay State University's art collection has worked with several students to make the school's vast collection more accessible to the public. This week, those efforts have culminated with a newly unveiled online database that allows people to search for and see the university's collected artwork.