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College of Fine and Performing Arts

Western’s College of Fine and Performing Arts is the region’s hub for creativity and expression, offering the most comprehensive arts programming in the area. With guidance from award-winning faculty and industry professionals, students gain the skills and experience to build meaningful careers in studio art, art history, dance, theatre, music, and design. Each year, the College hosts more than 300 performances, exhibitions, and events. We invite our community to explore, participate, and be inspired.

Discover the shared values that guide our programs, performances, and partnerships, and see how they shape every experience we offer.

Explore our mission

Art & Art History

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The Department of Art and Art History offers a transformative education grounded in curiosity, critical inquiry, and creative problem-solving. Our interconnected programs in Art Studio, Art History, and Art Education honor the liberal arts tradition while fostering innovation, active learning, and community engagement.

Dance

Discover the Department of Dance - where movement, creativity, and community meet. Our program offers professional training, dynamic performances, and interdisciplinary opportunities that explore dance as artmaking and social change. See how technique, choreography, somatics, dance science, and career preparation shape a vibrant, forward-thinking education.

Theatre Arts

A dynamic stage play scene with actors in period costumes, holding props like oars and sticks, depicting an adventurous journey.

Explore Western’s Theatre Arts program, where students build their craft through concentrations in performance, production, education, design, and technology. Grounded in a transformative liberal arts education, the program fosters artistic excellence, collaboration, and inclusive practice—preparing students for success on stage, behind the scenes, and in their communities. Discover all that Theatre Arts has to offer.

Music

Discover Western’s Department of Music—an accredited NASM program where creativity, scholarship, and performance thrive. Join a vibrant, collaborative community of faculty and students who bring music to life with passion and purpose. Explore the department to see how you can grow as an artist, educator, and musician.

Design

A person works at a desk with a laptop, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and papers, surrounded by creative tools.

Discover Western’s Department of Design, where students learn to tackle real-world challenges with creativity, versatility, and industry-ready skills. With an award-winning curriculum and a studio culture built on mentorship and exploration, you’ll develop the vision and craft to make meaningful impact through design. Explore the program and see how ideas become powerful solutions.

Arts Enterprise and Cultural Innovation (AECI)

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The Arts Enterprise and Cultural Innovation Minor equips students from any discipline with the tools to build and lead their own creative careers. Through coursework in personal branding, leadership, entrepreneurship, marketing, and finance, students gain the skills to shape self-directed opportunities in the arts. Explore the minor to see how you can turn your creative vision into a sustainable path forward.