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Center for the Arts

Center for the Arts

A cornerstone of Wesleyan University, the Center for the Arts is where artists lead creative inquiry and develop works that push boundaries and expand how we know and shape the world.

Videographers documenting artist leading audience in movement in gallery
Videographers documenting artist leading audience in movement in gallery
Dancer instructing audience on a field
Dancer instructing audience on a field
Exterior of limestone gallery with pine trees and people visible in window
Exterior of limestone gallery with pine trees and people visible in window

Stories from Our Community

Explore the moments, people, and ideas shaping the arts.

  • Woman speaking on stage with microphone in hand
    Art as Inquiry with Anna Deavere Smith

    Anna Deavere Smith explores performance as a way of knowing at Wesleyan.

    During her 2024–25 residency, Anna Deavere Smith developed "This Ghost of Slavery" and invited students into a process rooted in vulnerability, inquiry, and radical hospitality.

  • Dancer leading students in a dance on a field
    Common Moment at Wesleyan

    A joyful, movement-based tradition that welcomes each new class.

    The Common Moment welcomes each incoming class through a collective dance experience rooted in embodied inquiry, collaboration, and community—introducing students to Wesleyan’s creative and intellectual ethos.

  • Person playing electronic music with Javanese Gamelan in background
    Art Across the Curriculum

    Artists and faculty collaborate to explore new modes of inquiry.

    The Creative Campus Initiative brings artists and faculty together to explore big questions across disciplines—using the arts as a powerful lens for teaching, learning, and imagining new ways of knowing.

  • Student speaking at podium with bookshelves in background
    Embodying Antiracism at Wesleyan

    A multi-year initiative using art and research to advance antiracist change.

    Bringing together artists, organizers, students, and scholars, Wesleyan’s Embodying Antiracism Initiative fostered deep collaboration, leadership training, and community engagement grounded in creative practice and systemic change.

  • Two students behind table with handouts talk to man seen from behind with other people standing and talking in the background
    Student Voices Shaping the Arts

    Students lead, curate, and build community through the arts at the CFA.

    Wesleyan’s Director’s Council is a student-led collective that shapes the future of the Center through creative leadership, collaborative programming, and community-building across the arts.

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