Fisk University will host their 97th Annual Spring Arts Festival, beginning Monday, March 30, and running through Monday, April 6, 2026. Themed “Art Across Generations: Celebrating Shared Journeys, Community, Culture, and Creativity,” the 97 th Annual Fisk Spring Arts Festival will showcase the current artistic contributions of students, alumni, faculty, and staff, along with the contributions of former faculty members and associated artists, with plays, musical performances, poetry and jazz, and more.
“For nine decades, the Spring Arts Festival has provided an outlet for the many talented students and faculty members that make up our Arts community,” said Persephone Felder-Fentress, organizer of the annual Spring Arts Festival. “There will be no shortage of talent and it is our sincerest hope that our students, faculty, staff, and community members enjoy the many activities throughout the week.”
97th Annual Spring Arts Festival Calendar of Events
Monday, March 30, 2026.
12:00 Noon – 2:00 pm — Student Art Show: Aaron Douglas Gallery, Franklin Library, 3rd Floor.
Tuesday, March 31, 2026.
1:00 pm -3:00 pm — Stroke and Sip with Mouminatou Thiaw, Marketing and Branding Consultant for the Franklin Library, an Art Activity sponsored by the Rosenwald Foundation.
6:00 pm — The 2nd Annual “Taste of Broadway”, Appleton Room.
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Tunes at Noon with the Fisk Ensembles
5:00 pm — Fireside Chat with Jen Padgett, co-editor of “Many Ways of Seeing: The Fisk University Alfred Stiglitz Collection.” Franklin Library, 1st Floor.
6:00 pm — GO Poetry Slam featuring Poet Laureate Henry L. Jones, Fisk Class of ’86, NAAMM / Chapel.
12:00 Noon — Lunch and Learn: Conversations with Professor LiFran Fort and Professor Lakesha Calvin, Rotunda of Cravath Hall, with Reception.
Thursday, April 2, 2026.
12:00 Noon — “A Master Class with Alfonso Cooper, Jr.” Performance, Studio Chapel.
2:30 pm — Metal Casting, Desmond Lewis and Students Top of the Oval
5:30 pm — “Materiality of the Sacred”, LaKeisha Calvin and Karlota I. Contreras-Koterbay, Exhibition at the Carl Van Vechten Gallery.
“Remembering, Resist, Reveal, Reclaim: A Crafting Blackness” Exhibition, Curated by Karlota I. Contreras-Koterbay and Dr. Cynthia Gadsden, Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery, Lower Level.
6:30 pm — Laila Cooper, Junior Recital, Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery.
7:00 pm. — Readers Theatre: Works by Nikki Giovanni (untitled), Little Theatre.
Friday, April 3, 2026. 12:00 Noon
Good Friday Worship, “Fisk Vibe,” Fisk Memorial Chapel.
Saturday, April 4, 2026
7:00 pm — 2nd Annual Broadway Review, Appleton Room.
Monday, April 6, 2026
7:00 pm -– Steinway Concert, The Steinway Gallery, 4285 Sidco Drive Nashville, TN 37204
