Radio York featuring “Bells for York,” a radio project by Zarouhie Abdalian

The sounds of bells variously signify a call to service, a warning, a memorial, or the marking of a historical time. In Bells for York, the voices of York, of Sumter County, of the Black Belt give expression to these associations through recorded speech and song. The sound work functions as a kind of exalted […]

University of Alabama’s New Faculty Engagement Tour 2022

The Division of Community Affairs resumed its New Faculty Community Engagement Tour (NFCET), connecting University of Alabama faculty, staff, graduate students and community members across various counties in the Black Belt region, Wednesday through Friday, May 11–13, 2022. The University of Alabama New Faculty Engagement Tour stopped through Sumter County, May 12, 2022! Several of […]

Coleman Center Announces Executive Director Search

Position Summary The Coleman Center for the Arts is seeking a passionate and dynamic Executive Director who will lead the organization into its next chapter of growth and impact. The Executive Director will oversee all aspects of the organization including creative programs, finances, grant writing, fundraising, and hiring and managing staff. The Executive Director will […]

Announcing Interim Leadership, Audra Cronen Tignor

Announcing Interim Leadership, Audra Cronen Tignor   The Coleman Center for the Arts is pleased to announce Interim Director Audra Cronen Tignor and the newly launched co-director-curator position search. Tignor has held the position of Operations Director for two years; much of that work has included financial and administrative oversight, critical renovations in the Inda […]

Film Screening: Cobweb Codex

The Coleman Center welcomed Birmingham-based artists Jasper Lee for a screening of their experimental short film Cobweb Codex, with an opening live performance with the artist’s Sweat Wreath collaborators. Lee is a musician and artist; he works across video, film, sound, and installation exploring aspects of ritual, folklore, and the Southern landscape. Through Cobweb Codex, […]

York Day 2021

On July 3, 2021, the City of York celebrated York Day from sun up to sun down and well after. Artist Zarouhie Abdalian, collaborating artist Joseph Rosenweig, Coleman Center staff, family and friends used the occasion to recognize student artists from our two Making Art in Public workshops. We help a soft, COVID-safe opening for […]

Brandi Shah + Digital Storytelling

In early June 2021, the Coleman Center welcomed Brandi Shah, M.D., MPH, an artist and family medicine physician who specializes in adolescent and young adult health. Shah is a lifelong creative writer and poet; she is developing tools to help medical practitioners recognize their patients as storytellers, center patients as experts about their own lives, […]

Caleb Jamel Brown, “Sketches for a New American Flag”

In June 2021 the Coleman Center welcomed Atlanta-based artist Caleb Jamel Brown for a multi-week visit to continue work on his ongoing project, Sketches for a New American Flag. About the project, Brown states, “The construction of the flags continues the lineage of Black Americans working in collage and assemblage. Though collage was not coined […]