Great Smoky Mountains National Park hosts residency on 21 Nov

Great Smoky Mountains National Park hosts its Artists-in-Residence programme in Gatlinburg and elsewhere in the park on 21 November 2026, with a second session on 28 November. Christopher Chaput, a composer, music director and multimedia artist from Nashville, leads the November residency activities.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park lists November dates

The National Park Service has scheduled Chaput’s visitor engagement programme for Saturday, 21 November 2026, at Sugarlands Visitor Center. A second session follows on 28 November at Oconaluftee Visitor Center, giving visitors two separate opportunities to encounter the November artist in the park.

The programme is part of the park’s 2026 Artists-in-Residence series, which brings a different artist to the Smokies each month from June through November. The park lists the visitor engagement sessions from 10am to 2pm, and describes the monthly programmes as free.

The residency is supported by Friends of the Smokies. The organisation’s visitor programme schedule also lists Chaput’s two November dates and the two visitor centre venues.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park spans 800 square miles

The November programme places a contemporary arts activity inside a protected landscape that covers more than 800 square miles in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. That scale gives the residency a setting unlike a conventional gallery, with the programme located at visitor centres rather than a single urban arts venue.

The National Park Service records more than 22,000 documented species in the park, including species found nowhere else on the planet. Its cultural history also includes Cherokee and Appalachian communities, as well as the Civilian Conservation Corps, which helped establish the national park.

The November artist’s work adds music and multimedia practice to a series that also includes painters, a dulcimerist, a muralist and a creative technologist. The park’s official November programme identifies Chaput’s professional background and confirms the two dates.

Visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• The Artists-in-Residence visitor engagement programme takes place on 21 November 2026 at Sugarlands Visitor Center and on 28 November 2026 at Oconaluftee Visitor Center, from 10am to 2pm.
• The National Park Service describes the monthly visitor engagement programmes as free, and the November sessions are organised as public activities at the two visitor centres.
• The park’s mailing address is 107 Park Headquarters Road in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, while the November venues are Sugarlands Visitor Center and Oconaluftee Visitor Center.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

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Frequently asked questions about Great Smoky Mountains National Park

When does the Artists-in-Residence programme take place at Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

The November sessions are scheduled for 21 November 2026 at Sugarlands Visitor Center and 28 November 2026 at Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

What is the November programme at Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

Christopher Chaput, a composer, music director and multimedia artist, leads the November visitor engagement activities.

Where is Great Smoky Mountains National Park and how do you get there?

The park is in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, with its mailing address in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The November activities are at Sugarlands Visitor Center and Oconaluftee Visitor Center.