Meredith Williams
Arts and Entertainment Editor
Located in Stirling’s Coffee Shop is an art exhibit dedicated to one of Sewanee’s most revered traditions: the Perimeter Trail hike. Just like the tradition of not stepping on the seal in All Saints’ Chapel before graduation, tradition says that if you are a student at Sewanee, you must hike all 20.4 miles of the Perimeter trail before you graduate. This showcase, sponsored by the Sewanee Herbarium, highlights the beauty of the Perimeter trail as well as the nooks and crannies of the trail itself.
‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ is an annual show that usually focuses on one aspect of our campus. The idea for using the Perimeter Trail has been one that they’ve wanted to utilize for a while.
This exhibit contains a blue ribbon that signifies the Perimeter Trail, surrounding the back room of Stirlings, with a green ribbon highlighting the smaller trails and monuments found branching off the main trail. The area underneath the blue ribbon signifies Sewanee’s campus while above the ribbon represents the woods. Surrounding the blue ribbon is artwork of many different styles and mediums made by the Sewanee community.
In the back room of Stirlings, one can find landscape paintings of areas on the trail itself, small wooden figure scenes made with acorns, logs, and sticks, watercolor portraits of the different insects one might encounter on the trail, and even dried plants from the Perimeter trail itself. Additionally, this exhibit has two interactive portions: the sign-up sheet if you’ve hiked the whole Perimeter Trail and the post-it notes that encourage viewers to note some of their favorite memories while hiking the trail.
Mary Priestley, (C ’72), a Sewanee Herbarium Associate, and a group of nature journalists were in charge of this project. Priestley explained, “We’ve been talking for a long time about using the Perimeter Trail as inspiration for this exhibit.”
At the exhibit’s reception ceremony, Doug Cameron, the assistant chief of the Sewanee Fire and Rescue, and John Benson, the director of the Sewanee Outing program, were just two of the speakers. Cameron was the original coordinator of the Perimeter trail; with just some leftover work-study money and two hired workers, the plan for the giant 20.4-mile loop came into place. Benson, the director of the Outing Program, ensures the protection of the Perimeter Trail to this day by organizing community running events and even teaching a Physical Education course on running the trail.
Priestley announced that “the project consists of over 10 students and community members” and highlighted that “even though this is a primarily artistic show, there’s a place for people that don’t do art; one of our members provided us with all of the dried plants located around the exhibit.”
The Nature Journaling Group, which consists of many of the main contributors to this exhibit, meets on Thursday mornings from 9 to 11, and students are welcome to join. Priestley mentioned, “It’s fun to have students join, you know, for a new point of view.”
The Perimeter Trail art exhibit isn’t just about the artists or students who have already hiked the trail; it’s a community celebration of one of Sewanee’s cherished traditions. This integration of art, history, and nature encourages the Sewanee community to reflect on the trail’s legacy and the importance of preserving it for future generations.