Smith Office for the Arts

Learning that enhances the full value of human experience and exploration is at the heart of a liberal arts education, and the capacity to engage with and participate in the creative arts is a key element of that experience. Establishing a Smith Office for the Arts provides a unique opportunity to extend the benefits of an arts education to all students while strengthening the arts on campus.

Strengthening the Creative Arts at Smith

The office will coordinate scheduling, performance management, interdisciplinary programming and grant-making and will serve as an incubator of cross-campus, cross-disciplinary initiatives for the creative arts departments at Smith, which include art, dance, film and media studies, music and theatre. The director of the office will also provide leadership for the campus, seeding creative projects and growing internal and external audiences by establishing campus-wide exhibition and performance themes; commissioning faculty, student and interdisciplinary programming and curricula as well as original works; promoting performances and premieres; and creating a culture of participation in arts events on campus.

By centralizing and strengthening the presence of the creative arts on campus, we will increase the visibility of the arts at Smith and prepare women to bring a deep understanding of problem solving and the creative process to every aspect of their lives and leadership.

Read about the Wallace Foundation leadership gift

Meet Leigh Fagin, director of the office