Austin Peay’s CECA names Briena Harmening as 2026-2027 Tennessee Artist Fellow
By: Dr. Andrea Spofford October 30, 2026
Briena Harmening, a Nashville-based visual artist, uses textiles to explore autobiography, politics, labor, and Southernness. | Contributed photo by Ashley Holstein
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University’s Department of Art + Design, in collaboration with the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, has announced visual artist Briena Harmening of Nashville as the 2026-2027 Tennessee Artist Fellowship recipient.
Through this fellowship, Harmening will receive $5,000 to create new artwork and additional funding to present a free artist lecture at 6:30 p.m. on April 8 at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville.
"I use textiles to explore autobiography, politics, labor, and Southernness,” Harmening said in her artist’s statement. “I transform everyday and discarded materials like quilts, bedsheets, afghans, yard tarps, and clothing through sewing, quilting, screen printing, and other textile processes. Text, humor, and Southern vernacular run through much of my work. I pull phrases from family sayings, conversations, politics, and everyday life, using repetition, spacing, layering, and masking to turn familiar language into something slightly strange. I am interested in that space between humor and discomfort, recognition and disorientation.”
The CECA Tennessee Artist Fellowship celebrates contemporary art and supports the continued creative work of exceptional Tennessee artists like Harmening. Unlike other fellowships, nominations and applications from artists are not solicited. An APSU faculty committee compiles a list of outstanding artists from across the state and selects the fellowship recipient.
“In addition to Harmening’s prolific artistic and professional practice, she is also a high school art teacher,” the committee said in a joint statement. “The voting members agreed that it is important to recognize and support the contribution and service provided by our pre-college public educators."
For those interested in learning more about Harmening's work, her upcoming artist lecture at The Frist is open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. APSU students can view all exhibitions for free with their student IDs.
Past CECA Tennessee Artist Fellowship recipients include Omari Booker of Nashville, Stacy Kranitz of Smithville, Maysey Craddock of Memphis, Alicia Henry of Nashville, Andrew Scott Ross of Johnson City, Bryce McCloud of Nashville, Carl E. Moore of Memphis, Benjy Russell of Dowelltown, Karen Seapker of Nashville, Ashton Ludden of Knoxville, Yancy Villa of Memphis, and Jonathan Adams of Knoxville.
For more information on the CECA Tennessee Artist Fellowship, please contact Dr. Andrea Spofford, director of CECA, at spofforda@apsu.edu.
To stay informed about upcoming CECA events, including Harmening's upcoming artist talk, please visit www.apsu.edu/ceca or follow CECA on social media.
About the Artist
Briena Harmening is an interdisciplinary artist, working in fibers, screen-printing, and painting in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Tennessee and currently teaches art at James Lawson High School.
To learn more about Harmening, visit her website or follow her on Instagram @brienaharmening.
About the Department of Art + Design
Established in 1927, the Department of Art + Design is one of the original departments at Austin Peay State University. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the department offers studies in animation, art education, art history, ceramics, drawing, digital media, graphic design, illustration, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. The department is housed in the College of Arts and Letters and consists of 19 full-time faculty for approximately 350 students. Three on-campus galleries also support the art and design programs. In 2017, the department moved into a state-of-the-art building. The Department of Art + Design also houses the Goldsmith Press and Rare Type Collection, a remarkable collection of antique and vintage wooden letterforms.
About the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts
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, Creative Writing, Music, and Theatre & Dance programs at APSU. CECA brings as many as 85 guest artists to Clarksville each year and presents up to 100 public arts and 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.