The curtain goes up on William & Mary’s spectacular new performing arts facilities. As W&M celebrates the Year of the Arts, new spaces are fostering greater innovation and faculty-student collaboration.
Back in the Spotlight
As W&M celebrates the Year of the Arts, new spaces are fostering greater innovation and faculty-student collaboration
October 15, 2023
By
Jennifer L. Williams
Photos By
Alfred Herczeg P ’23
The arts at William & Mary debuted a bright, modern new home at William & Mary this fall for students across all disciplines. The first phases of the university’s new Arts Quarter are complete, opening as W&M celebrates its Year of the Arts. Students have new opportunities to collaborate and innovate in partnership with world-class theatre, dance and music faculty.
Inviting spaces for teaching, learning, research and performance are spread throughout the renovated and expanded Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall and the new Music Arts Center, which together comprise the complex. The venues will serve both the campus and regional communities, coming to life in the university’s Arts Quarter.
“We are thrilled for the opportunities that these beautiful new spaces afford our students and faculty,” said Suzanne Raitt, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences. “The influence of the arts at William & Mary is evident in all aspects of campus life, seamlessly woven into the fabric of our learning and activities.”
The Department of Theatre & Dance will be located in PBK Memorial Hall while the Department of Music will be housed in the new Music Arts Center. The growing Arts Quarter also will include The Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Arts, which will open in fall 2024 and serve as the home to the expanded and renovated Muscarelle Museum of Art. The quarter’s existing Andrews Hall is home to the Department of Art & Art History and its Andrews Gallery.
“The new Arts Quarter represents a significant step toward fostering a tangible sense of identity and a broad artistic vision at William & Mary, enriching the experiences of our talented students, dedicated faculty and the wider community,” said Raitt. “We look forward to welcoming everyone to experience this hub of artistic expression and excellence.”
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN DISCIPLINES: “The significance of the integration of multiple disciplines within the performing arts is impossible to understate,” says Jarrett Bloom ’24, a dancer, musician and professional actor double majoring in theatre and sociology. “Bringing these disciplines together in one space allows for the collaboration of multiple disciplines and the creation of a dialogue between these disciplines.”
SPACE FOR ALL: Arts of all kinds are an integral part of the William & Mary experience. Around 30% of students participate in the performing arts, including as musicians, actors, ensemble members and production staff. The new spaces have flexibility to be used for classes, extracurriculars, individual and group study and more.
VISUAL ARTS: The Arts Quarter’s Andrews Hall is home to the W&M Department of Art & Art History. There, the Andrews Gallery showcases work by current students and faculty members, including ceramics, painting, drawing, printmaking, architecture, sculpture and photography, as well as exhibitions from invited artists.
HEART OF THE HALL: The centerpiece of the new Music Arts Center’s 450-seat concert hall is the Peragallo Opus 652 pipe organ, which includes 1,002 speaking pipes and is topped with a Trompette en Chamade of 49 horizontal reeds.
The new Arts Quarter represents a significant step toward fostering a tangible of identity and a broad artistic vision at William & Mary, enriching the experiences of our talented students, dedicated faculty and the wider community.
ART TELLS POWERFUL STORIES: The inaugural show in the expanded Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall was a performance of “Nine” by a group of dancers from the Leah Glenn Dance Theatre and selected W&M students on Sept. 9. “Nine” tells the story of the Little Rock Nine, who faced intense opposition as the first Black students to enroll at the previously segregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. The dance company’s founder and artistic director, Leah Glenn, is Year of the Arts Professor of Dance at William & Mary.
SHALL WE DANCE?: Theatre and dance performance spaces in PBK Memorial Hall include the 478seat main stage theatre, a 250-seat studio theatre, a 100-seat lab theatre and a 60-seat dance recital theatre. There are two dance studios and a warmup space, as well as scenic design and construction lab spaces, costume construction and conservation areas, media and design labs, dressing rooms and assorted acting labs, classrooms, seminar rooms, faculty offices and a departmental library.
STRIKING THE RIGHT NOTE: Instruction, rehearsal and performance have been enhanced by the music department’s move from Ewell Hall into the new Music Arts Center. The building has more than 30 practice rooms of varying sizes for individuals and small groups. Dedicated spaces, such as the global ensembles room, provide an inclusive rehearsal space for smaller ensembles and expand and enhance opportunities for student participation.
