With miles of nature trails, students ready to serve as volunteers and interns, world-class visiting speakers, and a contemporary art museum to explore, Kenyon is a centerpiece of cultural and economic life in Knox County.

A Hub in Downtown Mount Vernon

Kenyon meets Mount Vernon at the Wright Center, located on Main Street at the gateway to downtown. Located in an iconic and fully restored former warehouse, Wright Center is home to the College’s Office for Community Partnerships, the independently operated SPI: Where Science and Play Intersect, and a film studio and film screening room.

Beyond the Classroom

Community partners have many opportunities to connect with Kenyon students and faculty, both inside and outside the classroom. Student interns take on high-value, professional projects with businesses and nonprofit organizations and serve as a ready volunteer force with civic organizations. And community-engaged learning courses across the curriculum provide an exchange of knowledge and expertise as students and faculty work with a community partner to address specific needs and gain real-world, hands-on experience.

Art and Literature for All

Kenyon’s premiere arts organizations — the Kenyon Review and the Gund Gallery — bring contemporary art and literature from around the world to Gambier and Knox County. Each year the Gund Gallery features rotating exhibitions of the best artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, free and open to the public. The Kenyon Review sponsors Knox Reads!, an annual community reading event and book giveaway celebrating the work of one author.

Trails, Forests and Prairies

If you need to take a deep breath and be near nature, Kenyon’s facilities offer the perfect opportunity. The 610-acre Brown Family Environmental Center offers miles of nature trails through prairies, forests, riparian habitats and wildflower gardens. And the Kokosing Nature Preserve, a green burial cemetery, features a restored prairie with scenic views of the Kokosing River valley.