Hunter Library is proud to announce three new exhibits featuring the work of WCU students and alumni. Remembering Tali Tsisgwayahi /Two Sparrows Town: Past, Present, Future is a series of murals that focus on the Cherokee’s influence in Western Carolina. The murals were designed and created by a team of artists and community members. The mural project was spearheaded by Dr. Georgia Ennis, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, and alumna Mia Loia Zoller, who started the project as a graduate student.
The Past mural was designed by Western Carolina alum and local artist Jakeli Swimmer. It focuses on the legendary Judaculla, or Tsul’kala, and the Cherokee’s relationship to the earth. Judaculla was the giant of legend who taught the Cherokee people about stewardship and the protection of the land. Present was designed by WCU student Chase Ballew and focuses on the pain of being forced to relocate, and the hope of a better day. The third panel features the tribal mound where the Killian building stands today. Mia Loia Zoller, in consultation with the Digali’i Native Student Organization, envisions a campus where Western Carolina University’s Cherokee roots are well known and celebrated. The mural also depicts hope for cooperation among nations, especially tribal nations, represented by the interlocking rings that weave together in the background. A permanent home for Remembering Tali Tsisgwayahi /Two Sparrows Town: Past, Present, Future is undetermined, but the murals will be exhibited in the library for the 2026 spring semester.
The second exhibit, Handcrafted Rhetoric, features work from students in Rachel Adams’ and Emily Brier’s English 101 classes. Students expressed their creativity and addressed important issues in today’s world, such as social media, war, and pollution. The third, Most Things Reference Upward, is a display of photography by fine arts student Kaylee Renée Held. According to Held, the photographs depict “how life is meant for one to achieve their highest ideals, and most things in the world cannot help but to look upward, or allow us to look upward– from statues, windows, birds, trees… The only natural, self-respecting thing one can do is at least attempt the height.”
The exhibits are on display in the library’s main stairway for the remainder of the semester. All are welcome to attend the opening reception on March 16, 2026, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.
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