Gracie Knestrick, a Belmont Art Department art education student, has won the Pre-Service Art Educator of the Year award from The Tennessee Art Education Association. This is the third consecutive year that a Belmont art student has been recognized for their accomplishments in and commitment to teaching art. Lindsey McCartin was the 2016 honoree, and Shannon Carey received the honor in 2015.
“Gracie is an enthusiastic pre-service teacher and is fully committed to her education and creative development; we could not ask for a better ambassador for our program, the department and the college,” said Dr. Judy Bullington, art department chair
A senior in the Art Education BFA program, Gracie has served in leadership roles for the Dean’s Advisory Council and as co-president of Belmont’s student chapter of the National Art Education Association, an organization she has been active member of since her freshman year. She has worked as an intern with Cheekwood Botanical Gardens (where she received the “Golden Paintbrush” Award for outstanding service) and has volunteered with the Nashville School of the Arts, OZ Nashville and Tennessee Craft. She is currently organizing and administering the Watkins College of Art and Design’s summer educational programming.
Vincent Peppe, lecturer in music business, recently published two articles in the July issue of Entertainment Law & Finance. The articles, titled “Twists and Turns of Copyright Litigation Over Jersey Boys Musical Reach Latest Stage” and “Drake Wins on Sampling Fair Use; Plaintiffs’ Song Ownership Muddy,” highlight recent cases.
Zach Quint, cataloging and metadata librarian and Lina Sheahan, music librarian, volunteered this summer at the Page Duke Landscape Architecture firm on Music Row. Page Duke holds a collection of more than 400 books on landscape architecture, architecture, design and fashion.
However, for nearly two minutes on Aug. 21–from 1:27-1:29 p.m.–Nashville will go completely dark as the path of the eclipse cuts across the state. As the largest metropolitan area in the path of totality, Music City is anticipating significant upticks in visitors as locations across the region host viewing parties and events. Belmont will join the fun by providing Solar Eclipse viewing glasses for everyone on campus along with special music and guest speakers on the Lawn in the hour prior to the event. Approximately 300 high school students will also be on campus to learn more about the eclipse from Belmont faculty.
But viewing the eclipse in all its beauty also requires taking the proper precautions. As noted on the 
Following a lengthy nationwide search, Belmont University recently announced that Dr. Adrianne Archie has been named as the University’s assistant dean and director of leadership development, a newly created position. Archie will begin her position at Belmont on August 22.
Belmont junior and neuroscience major Crystal Lemus will spend the last few weeks of her summer working for The Brain Injury Association (BIA) of Tennessee where she is assisting with one of the organization’s publications. Focused on the everyday life of traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors, the publication seeks to share powerful stories and make the general public more aware of TBIs and their impact. In this role, Lemus is traveling the state, through a travel grant, to gather stories and share mental health information and resources.
