Image: The Ewing Gallery of Art + Architecture, Knoxville
The UT Downtown Gallery in Knoxville will host the second annual Ekphrastic Poetry Performance on Saturday, July 25, from 1:30 to 3 p.m., presenting an afternoon of poetry and music created in response to the gallery’s current exhibition, 'Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation'. The event is described by The Ewing Gallery of Art + Architecture as being held in conjunction with the exhibition and will take place at UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St.
According to the gallery’s announcement, the performance brings together poets and musicians responding directly to visual art through ekphrastic writing, a form that uses vivid description to interpret or answer artworks. The program is framed as a live, collaborative encounter between the exhibition on view and new creative work made for the event.
This year’s lineup includes Dr. Natalie J. Graham, Rhea Carmon, Corey Hodge, Arinze Akpa, Chiagoziem Jideofor, Tula B. Strong, and Hannah Mayree. The gallery says the performance will feature readings by Graham, Carmon, Hodge, Akpa and Jideofor, alongside original music recorded by Strong and Mayree. The announcement also identifies the lineup as curated by Dr. Graham.
The gallery notes that the annual performance was developed in 2025 by Rhea Carmon in collaboration with Dr. Natalie Graham, making this the program’s second edition. The event extends the gallery’s exhibition platform into a public performance format, with artists responding to the works on view rather than presenting a separate standalone program.
The newsletter also provides brief context for several participants. Corey Hodge is described as a University of Tennessee alumnus whose musical development began with West African Drum classes at Vine Middle. Arinze Akpa’s published and prize-winning work is cited in the announcement, while Chiagoziem Jideofor is described as Igbo and Queer and as a self-taught illustrator whose poems have appeared or are scheduled to appear in a range of literary publications.
Rhea Carmon, also known as RheaSunshine, is identified as an award-winning wordsmith, the creator and executive director of the 5th Woman Cohort, and Poet Laureate of Knoxville from 2020 to 2023. Dr. Natalie J. Graham is described as a poet and scholar who joined the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in August 2024 as a professor in Africana Studies and now serves as department head. Tula B. Strong is listed as a Liberian-American choreographer, teaching artist and banjoist, while Hannah Mayree is described as a California-based songwriter, banjo player, cultural organizer and founder of The Black Banjo Reclamation Project.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, July 25, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St., Knoxville.
