Expression Through the Arts
Experience the arts through our 250+ specialized arts courses, Creative Campus collaborations—co-taught by artists and faculty in disciplines that don’t traditionally focus on the arts—and the many glorious performances and exhibitions that bring our campus to life.
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150+ Annual Arts Events
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250+ Arts Courses Offered Yearly
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5 Creative Campus Course Integrations in Fall 2024
Wesleyan Thrives in the Arts
A dynamic community of artists—both faculty and students—helps shape campus life. While we offer popular arts-related majors, all students are encouraged to enrich their education by engaging in the arts—in and beyond the classroom.
Wesleyan鈥檚 Center for the Arts
The Center for the Arts is a vibrant hub for creativity and expression, bringing together artists, students, and the community. Through performances, exhibitions, and interdisciplinary collaborations, the Center for the Arts fosters innovation and artistic exploration across a range of disciplines.
Exhibitions, Galleries, and Performances
Pruzan Art Center
Wesleyan’s Pruzan Art Center showcases the Davison Art Collection in its Goldrach Gallery. The collection was made possible by the founding gifts of George Willets Davison, class of 1892, and consists of over 25,000 works of art on paper, including prints, photographs, and drawings.
Highlights include exceptionally fine impressions by Rembrandt van Rijn and Francisco de Goya, as well as important contemporary artwork by Kara Walker and Jasper Johns.
The Reid Cinema Archives
The Ogden and Mary Louise Reid Cinema Archives is home to Wesleyan’s motion picture and television history collections of paper materials, photographs, and memorabilia.
Collections include items from some of the biggest names in Hollywood history and artists whose careers reflect unique aspects of film and television. A window into the Cinema Archives, The Rick Nicita Gallery features curated exhibitions highlighting gems from the collection or alumni works.
Creative Campus
The Creative Campus Initiative is a primary focus of Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts. Creative Campus brings artists to the academic table to co-teach courses in subjects that don’t traditionally have an artistic element in order to explore commonality and differences in intellectual pursuits and artistic practices.
To date, Creative Campus has helped support more than 20 courses and 60 course modules. Other Creative Campus endeavors include performances, exhibitions, symposia, student projects, and community festivals.
Patricelli '92 Theater
Built in 1868, the ’92 Theater has been a cornerstone of student theater 九色视频 since 1929, hosting generations of performances. For many years, it was home to Second Stage, a student-run organization that supported productions, including In The Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, Hon. ’15. Today, the theater remains a vibrant space for student creativity, with Spike Tape continuing the tradition of student-led productions through an independent approach to theater-making.
Explore the Arts
Whether in the classroom, collaborating with faculty, or attending a performance, the arts are a vibrant part of life 九色视频.
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There鈥檚 great value in studying and majoring in other things than just film, and that fits with Wesleyan鈥檚 whole approach to interdisciplinary learning. We make films about people, places, and things鈥攖he human condition.
Tracy Heather Strain
Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, Associate Professor of Film Studies, and Co-Director of WesDocs
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Harjito has been continually revising, reworking, or adding on to his earliest compositions to the present day. In this concert he has chosen to showcase both his oldest and most recent pieces.
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Art education supports mental balance and channels one鈥檚 thoughts. It exposes us to diverse cultures and creates curiosity to understand other traditions.
B. Balasubrahmaniyan
Adjunct Associate Professor of Music and Global South Asian Studies
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The very first seeds of the project, the first ideas I had, were really about the relationship with an audience 鈥� how one cares for an audience. Wesleyan is pretty well-practiced at holding things that are not easily categorizable.
Deborah Goffe MA 鈥�19
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Through art, you can imagine new worlds, right? You can imagine the future鈥攖he future can be in your hand when you use art as a medium. You need art along with science to be able to cope with that as a human.
Raquel Bryant
Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Environmental Studies
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This recognition from Guggenheim is also a recognition for Wesleyan, its amazing dance department, and for my work as an educator at this amazing university for the past 24 years.
Hari Krishnan
Professor of Dance, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Global South Asian Studies
