The Culture Lab Effect: Growing Slate of Events Shape a More Vibrant UWG, CommunityShare this page
What happens when art refuses to stay in the gallery, scholarship steps off the page and ideas demand a live audience? The University of West Georgia’s Culture Lab exists in that charged space – where creativity becomes inquiry and public events become acts of shared thinking.
That philosophy continues that focus this spring semester, as UWG’s Culture Lab balances returning collaborators, first-time presenters and the launch of a newly endowed lecture series signal a deepening investment in the intellectual and cultural life of the region.
“We’re thrilled about the Spring 2026 lineup, which features familiar faces like Mike Mattison and also new presenters such as Valerie Frey,” said Dr. Chad Davidson, executive director of global engagements and cultural programming. “The Blackwell winners are stunning, and we also inaugurate our newly endowed Charles N. Hubbard Distinguished Lecture Series, which is now part of the Other Night School (TONS). Special thanks to Marilyn Hubbard, for that generous gift in her husband’s name, and to all our vital sponsors: The Hollis Trust, The Blackwell Trust, Milestone Investment Management, the Sewell Foundation and Underground Books Literary Arts Foundation.”
If you are interested in any of the following events, please register online.
2026 Blackwell Prize in Music: A Mass Choir Experience with Shawn Kirchner
Thursday, Jan. 15
7:30 p.m.
Townsend Center for the Performing Arts
$5 general admission, free for students and K-12 educators: REGISTER/PURCHASE
Thursday, Jan. 22
7:30 p.m.
First United Methodist Church, Newnan
$5 general admission, free for students and K-12 educators: REGISTER/PURCHASE
Please join us for a mass choir experience, including members from community, high school and UWG choirs, all conducted by internationally renowned composer Shawn Kirchner, winner of the 2026 Blackwell Prize in Music. Kirchner’s compositions incorporate folk, carol and hymn traditions, as well as jazz, gospel and bluegrass. He is widely celebrated for his musicianship, and his choral works have been performed around the world.
An Evening with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Cartoonist Mike Luckovich
Tuesday, Feb. 3
6 p.m. reception / 6:30 p.m. talk
Townsend Center for the Performing Arts
Free Admission: REGISTER
We proudly present two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Mike Luckovich. Cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1989, Luckovich will recount some of his life in cartoons, how they both reflect and refract the wider culture and what power, in our digital age, remains unique to the medium.
Miked Up III: Mattison on the Blues
Tuesday, Feb. 10
6:30 p.m.
Carrollton Center for the Arts
$25 general admission, free for students: REGISTER/PURCHASE
Mike Mattison, two-time Grammy Award winner and member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, returns to UWG for a third blues masterclass. Using some of his own songs as points of departure, Mattison will unpack blues storytelling, how the elements of blues music conspire to make it an effective vehicle not only for personal confession but for subversive truth-telling.
VIP ticket packages are now available that include exclusive access to the afterparty. All proceeds directly support UWG Music students, providing scholarships, resources, and opportunities to advance their musical education and careers. Over the past two years, this event has raised more than $9,000. With your generous support, we aim to exceed that amount in 2026.
As always, the event is 50% concert, 50% seminar and 100% entertainment.
The Other Night School: (Mis)adventures in the English Language
Tuesday, Feb. 24
6 p.m. reception / 6:30 p.m. talk
UWG Newnan
$5 general admission, free for students: REGISTER/PURCHASE
Speaker: Dr. David Newton, UWG professor of English
Contractions allow us to speak and write with less effort, but they also conceal complicated and contentious histories. Why are some contractions, for example, “allowed” and others forbidden? Can we really write or say, “y’all’d’n’t’ve’d”? Join us and find out.
The Charles N. Hubbard Distinguished Lecture: Colonial Georgia and the Winding Road to Independence
Tuesday, March 10
6 p.m. reception / 6:30 p.m. talk
UWG Newnan
$5 general admission, free for students: REGISTER/PURCHASE
Speaker: Dr. Cole Jones, associate professor of history, Purdue University
In the 18th century, Georgia – Britain’s youngest mainland colony – was remote and often overlooked. Yet during the American Revolution, it became a pivotal battleground between Loyalists and Patriots. This talk traces Georgia’s unique journey to independence, from its utopian beginnings to the upheaval of war.
The Sewell Lecture Series: Georgia’s Historical Recipes with Valerie Frey
Tuesday, March 24
6 p.m. reception / 6:30 p.m. talk
Adamson Hall
$5 general admission, free for students: REGISTER/PURCHASE
Join us in welcoming writer and archivist Valerie Frey, whose latest book, “Georgia’s Historical Recipes (UGA Press, 2025),” details some of what residents from the Antebellum Era through World War II served on their tables and what those dishes tell us about the culture of their time.
2026 Blackwell Prize in Writing: An Evening with Stephen Graham Jones
Tuesday, April 7
6 p.m. reception / 6:30 p.m. talk
Adamson Hall
$5 general admission, free for students and K-12 educators: REGISTER/PURCHASE
Tuesday, April 21
6 p.m. reception / 6:30 p.m. talk
UWG Newnan
$5 general admission, free for students and K-12 educators: REGISTER/PURCHASE
Join us for a reading by Stephen Graham Jones, bestselling author of “My Heart Is a Chainsaw,” “The Only Good Indians,” and “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.” Known for blending literary fiction, Westerns, and horror, Jones is the Ivena Baldwin Endowed Chair of English at the University of Colorado Boulder.
The Other Night School: Reading Behind the Lines (and Spaces)
Tuesday, April 14
6 p.m. reception / 6:30 p.m. talk
UWG Newnan
$5 general admission, free for students: REGISTER/PURCHASE
Speaker: Dr. Josh Byrd, UWG professor of music
Music is much more than notes on a page. But how do performers read beyond the notation? What makes one interpretation different from the next? Join Dr. Josh Byrd, director of bands, for a special session that will reveal what lies behind the lines.
The Other Night School: The Kennedys in Carrollton
Tuesday, April 28
6 p.m. reception / 6:30 p.m. talk
Adamson Hall
$5 general admission, free for students: REGISTER/PURCHASE
Speaker: Dr. Tressa Kelly
Join us as we welcome back to campus former UWG First Lady Dr. Tressa Kelly, who was instrumental in detailing and commemorating the surprising history of UWG’s Kennedy Chapel. Kelly will share some of her work on the historic structure, which led to a book-length project, available for purchase at this event.