Group helps provide vision for Carson-Newman’s Appalachian Center project

Linda Sellers a 1969 alumna and Jefferson City resident helps prep for renovations at Carson-Newman University’s Appalachian Center. Sellers was one of 15 volunteers representing the University’s Women of Vision organization who helped with work at the Center earlier this month.

Linda Sellers a 1969 alumna and Jefferson City resident helps prep for renovations at Carson-Newman University’s Appalachian Center. Sellers was one of 15 volunteers representing the University’s Women of Vision organization who helped with work at the Center earlier this month.

Carson-Newman University’s Appalachian Center has a new lease on life thanks to the University’s Women of Vision (WOV).

During the group’s “Back to the Creek Week” earlier this month, work began to renovate the Center.

Carson-Newman alumna Susan Fendley, who is project coordinator for WOV, said that the project is only one of four that WOV are undertaking this summer.

“Every year we choose one project to come and do part of the physical labor,” she explained.

WOV is a group that seeks to glorify God and further His kingdom by nurturing truth, enhancing beauty and enriching goodness through the Carson-Newman experience.

This year, around 15 women from the Knoxville and Jefferson County region came to offer a bit of elbow grease and labor to prep the historic building for renovation work.

The building houses art and photography exhibits, regional heritage demonstrations, musical events and book and poetry readings throughout the school year.

The renovations, funded through donations, will refurbish the main floor and outside porch. Projects at the Center are expected to be completed by Homecoming on October 25.

“I am absolutely thrilled by the renovations underway at the Appalachian Center,” said Dr. Jennifer Hall, the Center’s director. “The renovations to the Appalachian Center will help us as we promote and celebrate the beauty of the arts, literature, and culture of our region.”

WOV is also sponsoring renovation work in the University’s Dougherty Science Building, Kathleen Manley Building, home to C-N’s Wellness Center, and Tarr Music Center. Work is scheduled to be completed during the upcoming academic year.