Dynamic. Provocative. Life-Changing.
Bates College offers six arts-related majors, a statistic which only scratches the surface in terms of the inclusion of arts across the curriculum.
Fields of StudyBates College offers six arts-related majors, a statistic which only scratches the surface in terms of the inclusion of arts across the curriculum.
Fields of StudyBetween performances and concerts, workshops, exhibitions, and student organization events, there is always something happening at Bates!
Upcoming Arts HappeningsBetween performances and concerts, workshops, exhibitions, and student organization events, there is always something happening at Bates!
Upcoming Arts HappeningsConnect with other artists at Bates! Learn about our academics, arts-related clubs, upcoming events, performance opportunities, and much more.
Arts at Bates for StudentsConnect with other artists at Bates! Learn about our academics, arts-related clubs, upcoming events, performance opportunities, and much more.
Arts at Bates for StudentsArts without boundaries
As an integral part of our distinctive liberal arts mission, Bates celebrates the arts in ways that are intensely collaborative and courageous. Like us, the arts are diverse and complicated — and like us, the arts have the power to transform.
Great artists from around the globe join our talented faculty, staff and students in exploring this power, in both formal presentations and casual encounters. As you might expect, it’s student creativity that burns brightest in this dynamic continuum. The same passion that drives students to study and major in Bates’ robust departmental arts offerings also leads them to bring what they’re learning to surprising venues and extracurricular ventures all around campus and beyond.
IMPACT 21st (Innovation, Media, Process, Arts, Collaboration and Technology for the 21st Century) promotes new technical and presentational approaches to teaching and learning in the arts, and builds on Bates’ commitment to the transformative integration of technology and the arts.
More about IMPACT 21stIMPACT 21st (Innovation, Media, Process, Arts, Collaboration and Technology for the 21st Century) promotes new technical and presentational approaches to teaching and learning in the arts, and builds on Bates’ commitment to the transformative integration of technology and the arts.
More about IMPACT 21stThe Bates Dance Festival brings together an international community of choreographers, performers, educators and students in a cooperative community to study, perform and create new work.
Bates Dance FestivalThe Bates Dance Festival brings together an international community of choreographers, performers, educators and students in a cooperative community to study, perform and create new work.
Bates Dance FestivalThe festival exists to bring people together around a shared love of movies. In a culture that seems to grow more divided every day, the BFF aspires to initiate and facilitate substantive conversations between individuals who might not have met were it not for a shared interest in movies.
Bates Film FestivalThe festival exists to bring people together around a shared love of movies. In a culture that seems to grow more divided every day, the BFF aspires to initiate and facilitate substantive conversations between individuals who might not have met were it not for a shared interest in movies.
Bates Film FestivalLiterary Arts Live celebrates the diverse vitalities of contemporary literature and are made possible from the generous support of the English Department, the John Tagliabue Fund, and the Learning Associates Fund.
Upcoming ReadingsLiterary Arts Live celebrates the diverse vitalities of contemporary literature and are made possible from the generous support of the English Department, the John Tagliabue Fund, and the Learning Associates Fund.
Upcoming ReadingsAs a teaching museum at a liberal arts college, the Bates College Museum of Art brings to campus a world of ideas that are vital to the intellectual and cultural life of Bates and its surrounding communities.
Bates Museum of ArtAs a teaching museum at a liberal arts college, the Bates College Museum of Art brings to campus a world of ideas that are vital to the intellectual and cultural life of Bates and its surrounding communities.
Bates Museum of ArtArts are everywhere at Bates! Check out a complete list of departments, organizations, and clubs.
Arts at BatesArts are everywhere at Bates! Check out a complete list of departments, organizations, and clubs.
Arts at Bates
A beloved and brilliant teacher and scholar who secured a seat at the liberal arts table for Bates theater, Andrucki died Feb. 8, 2026, at age 80. A faculty member for 47 years, he was among the longest-serving Bates professors in the college’s history.
Associate Professor of Art and Visual Culture Carolina González Valencia’s feature-length film How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps will be complete by the end of the year.
Shortly after Courtney Smith joined Bates in the fall of 2024 as an associate professor of theater, he floated an idea for a production that was both over-the-top ambitious and absolute catnip to his colleague Sally Wood, a visiting lecturer in theater who was trying to decide what play to direct in the fall of 2025.
From the popular student a cappella concert to the inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony, Back to Bates 2025 offered something for everyone.
