Scarritt Bennett Center

What do Taylor Swift, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Christian missionaries, and Catholic nuns have in common? Aside from being powerful women, they’re all connected to the Scarritt Bennett Center, a Gothic gem tucked between Vanderbilt University and Music Row.

Founded in 1924 as a training school for Methodist women missionaries, Scarritt-Bennett has long been a place where women gather to learn, lead, and serve. Today, the 10-acre campus continues that legacy through programs focused on racial justice, women’s empowerment, spiritual formation, and transformative education.

But Scarritt Bennett’s impact extends beyond its educational mission—it’s also become one of Nashville’s most iconic filming locations. The campus offers an ethereal, urban oasis complete with original stone spires, buildings, and open greenspaces. So, it’s no surprise that filmmakers return again and again, especially for stories centered on women and spiritual searching.

In 2016, the center was transformed into a convent for Novitiate, released in 2017, a feature film written and directed by Margaret Betts. The movie stars Margaret Qualley, Melissa Leo, and Julianne Nicholson, and explores the inner world of a young nun during the upheaval of Vatican II. Novitiate was praised for its emotional depth and female camaraderie. As Sister Cathleen reflects in a line that resonates beyond the screen: “What they don’t understand, is beneath everything else… we were women in love.”

Local music legend Marshall Chapman—a Vanderbilt alum—played the unhinged Sister Louisa. Chapman, no stranger to the screen, also appeared in Country Strong (2010) and Lovesong (2016), the latter of which premiered at the Belcourt.

Scarritt Bennett has also appeared in Patsy & Loretta (2019), ABC’s Nashville (2012–2018), Netflix’s Messiah (2020), HBO’s The Way Down (2021), and Ruckus Films’ Blue Like Jazz (2012). Taylor Swift’s video for “The Story of Us” was filmed here, with scenes inside the Susie Gray Dining Hall, Bennett Hall, and aerial shots of the iconic bell tower.

From Swifties to Mother Superior, Scarritt Bennett stands as a place where the sacred meets the secular—or as the Scarritt-Bennett Center says, “We are a place for you to connect, celebrate, explore, grow, dine, and give back to your community. . . . Come home.” For more on Scarritt Bennett, try out our Music Row Neighborhood tour.

Next, we’ll head to nearby Music Row. If you want to learn more about the music business side of Music City, take our Historic Music Row or Music Row Neighborhood tours. Now, get back onto 18th Ave S and turn RIGHT onto Grand Ave. Turn LEFT onto 16th Ave S, also known as Music Square East. You’ll see the big Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business sign on the Columbia Studio building and the Bradley Studios historical marker in front of 34 Music Square E. Park in front of the building or on the street or in the lot behind it. You can still see a bit of the Quonset Hut peeking out from the alley.