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Graphic featuring a collage of line art sketches of plants, grass, a heron, a construction crane, and a gazebo. Text reads :Nature and the Built Environment: Contemplative Commons First Floor Gallery

Student Art Showcase: Nature & the Built Environment

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! Theme: “Nature and the Built Environment.” The Contemplative Sciences Center's Student Art Showcase invites UVA students to explore the relationship between the natural world and human-made design. How do architecture, landscapes, and everyday structures coexist with, or stand apart from, nature? Where do we find beauty, tension, or harmony in this intersection? Artists are encouraged to reflect on how environments, both organic and constructed, shape our experiences, identities, and ways of seeing the world. Artists are encouraged to interpret this theme in their own way.
Students, Featured
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Reception Student Braidon Fitzpatrick

Student Happiness Retreat

For Students: Join fellow students for a facilitated retreat on cultivating happiness despite being surrounded by relentless pressure, pace, and uncertainty. Facilitated by and in collaboration with Student Health & Wellness and the Contemplative Sciences Center. Free, registration required. THIS EVENT IS FULL.
Students
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a group of students sits on a wooden floor in the Contemplative Commons and meditates, overlooking the foliage below from the floor to ceiling window

Midday Mindfulness

Join us for a midday contemplative break led by the Contemplative Sciences Center staff and guest instructors. While practices shared may come from various traditions, they aim to invite participants to explore the mindful qualities of present-moment awareness, curiosity, and non-judgment. These are free, drop-in sessions for all of the UVA and Charlottesville community.

Meditation, Students
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Night Sky Cosmos

Camping and Contemplation Under the Cosmos 2026

UVA Rec and the Contemplative Sciences Center are partnering to offer students a retreat under the sun and stars at the Big Meadows campground in Shenandoah National Park. Come experience the awe of the morning and night skies. The retreat includes star-watching, a hike, and morning yoga practice.
Students
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A group of students sitting in the center of the Contemplative Commons Gingko Garden Courtyard while playing guitars.

Acoustic Jam Session

The CSC Peer Programming Team is hosting the first Acoustic Jam Session of the semester in collaboration with University Records! Come play some music, soak in the vibes, and enjoy some free snacks. (Rain location is Studio 1B just off the courtyard.)

Music, Students
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Local sound practitioner Karianne Michelle leads 45-minute sound baths on Fridays as part of UVA’s Friday Rest Fest. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)

Soundbath

Join us for a relaxing sound bath session on Sundays at the Contemplative Commons. Led by a trained practitioner, a sound bath is a meditative sonic experience that eases stress and cultivates rest. Participants sit or lie comfortably while absorbing gentle vibrations from instruments such as chimes, drums, and singing bowls.

Community, Students
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Sign for Big Meadow with the moonrise in the background

Camping and Contemplation Under the Cosmos

UVA Rec and the Contemplative Sciences Center are partnering to offer students a retreat under the sun and stars at the Big Meadows campground in Shenandoah National Park. Come experience the awe of the morning and night skies. The retreat includes star-watching, a hike, and morning yoga practice. Transportation will be provided.
Movement, Students, Yoga
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