July 1, 2022 wasn’t just another warm summer day in Burlington, Vermont. It was also the day that UVM’s College of Arts and Sciences officially welcomed its new School of the Arts into being, bringing its vibrant array of arts programs together for the first time into a unique, collaborative arts community—and, in doing so, creating something far greater than the sum of its parts.
It’s one thing to have strong programs in Music, Theatre, Dance, Art, Art History, Creative Writing, and Film and Television Studies. It’s another thing altogether for these programs to exist together within a single creative hub led by world-class, award-winning faculty dedicated to nurturing the artistic voices of the future. The result is a rich, collaborative, student-centered environment of technical advancement, exploration within and across media, professional development, and experiential learning.
“Our School is centered on communicating the value of the arts in society, making our excellent faculty and curriculum more visible, and helping our students prepare for their future careers,” says Kelley Di Dio, Ph.D., Executive Director of the School of the Arts. “Facilitating cross-discipline learning will allow for more collaboration and a wider range of experiences for both faculty and students, and help us build relationships with community arts organizations across the state.”
That last part is key, as a major goal of the School of the Arts is to serve as a creative hub for both the University and its home state, encouraging collaboration and relationship-building with community arts organizations across Vermont. Its affiliations with The Lane Series, one of the nation’s premier concert series, and the Fleming Museum of Art, Vermont’s leading museum of art and world cultures, are just the beginning.
Involvement with the community is just one example of the School’s commitment to expanding students’ exposure to the power of the arts. “This is an inclusive space, both in terms of the diversity of identities, backgrounds, and perspectives we welcome, and in the fact that, unlike many arts schools, we invite all students into our classes, regardless of whether they are arts majors or have extensive background in the arts,” explains Di Dio.
The School of the Arts curricula are designed to prepare students for rewarding careers, whether they choose to work in the arts or follow one of the many other career paths possible after studying the arts, such as law, medicine, business, non-profit management, and healthcare. “Our programs allow students in the arts to explore their interests, develop research projects, do internships, and grow into artists and life-long consumers of the arts,” says Di Dio.
And while it may be new, the School of the Arts is by no means small. Classes are taught by 62 faculty plus affiliated artists, and for the 2022-23 school year, roughly one-quarter of the students enrolled in the College of the Arts and Sciences—the largest College in the University—are in the School of the Arts. This translates to 1164 students, including 500 majors and 662 minors.
The 2022-23 school year is shaping up to be an exciting and dynamic one for the School of the Arts, filled with a wide variety of performances, screenings, readings, exhibitions, lectures, and more. In other words, there are plenty of opportunities to come see what the newest School in town is all about.
Find out more about the School of the Arts right here.