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Every year, Smith sponsors an impressive array of campus
concerts, lectures, films and special events. But your cultural opportunities don't
end there; with three other colleges and the University of Massachusetts just a short
bus ride away, your choices of events, activities and organizations is nearly limitless.
Arts organizations are perhaps the most visible -- and
audible -- of all groups at Smith.
Tap dancers rehearse spirited choreography in the dance studio; power saws whir
and hammers bang as a theater group builds a set in the Mendenhall Center for the
Performing Arts; voices soar and harmonize. Student directors and playwrights present
their own productions, while visual artists offer their creations in exhibitions. Vocalists,
musicians and dancers step forward in recitals and concert performances. So whether
your creativity sparkles while you’re
rehearsing your lines, hosting a party or playing a saxophone, Smith has an arts
organization for you.
About 125 Smith students major in art in a
typical year, and more than 1,500 enroll in art classes annually, making the art
department the most popular on campus. Activities include college-sponsored trips
to city museums, campus and community gallery exhibitions, and visits by practicing
artists and museum curators.
Learn
more about the art department >
Widely acknowledged as one of the most
important art collections at an American college, the Smith College Museum of Art's
holdings include nearly 25,000 objects, with particular strength in 19th- and early
20th-century European and American art. Students learn directly from original art
through innovative classes, research, intern programs, gallery talks and visits.
Learn
more about the Museum of Art >
The Brown Fine Arts Center, the complex of buildings that
houses the Museum of Art, art department and art library, is a state-of-the art facility
for the study, contemplation and creation of art.
Learn more
about the Brown Fine Arts Center >
Smith’s active dance department offers opportunities
for students at many levels of expertise and commitment. Eight dance concerts are
performed each year on the Smith campus, featuring choreography and performances
by undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty.
Learn
more about the dance department >
For students who have little or no musical experience as well as
those with extensive musical preparation, Smith’s music department offers a variety of
courses in music history, theory, composition and performance courses. Opportunities
for music making are plentiful; advanced students may give solo recitals
and play in faculty-student concerts, and any student may audition for a wide variety
of Smith and Five College vocal and instrumental performance groups.
Learn
more about the music department >
Smith offers theatre enthusiasts extraordinary opportunities
both on and off the stage. The department presents an adventurous mix of plays from
a variety of cultures, periods and genres, and all students are welcome to audition
for productions.
Learn
more about the theatre department >
If you like music and nightlife, several small venues
in downtown Northampton offer live jazz, folk, blues and rock just about every night
of the week. In the span of only a few months, you could have heard the Saw Doctors,
Keb' Mo',
Orchestra Baobab, Sonic Youth and the Decemberists, all performing live in Northampton.
And just down the road, at the other area colleges, you could have been in the audience
for concerts by John Mayer, Rascal Flatts or Ani DiFranco. |
