About
The arts have the unique ability to teach and to encourage communication. Visually, musically, and physically, they challenge our thinking, touch our hearts, and connect us through collaborative action.
Whether it is reflecting upon the impact of the arts in lecture halls and museums, or participating in the very act of creation in our rehearsal rooms, studios, and stages, artistic activities exercise the critical and aesthetic thought processes that we value so highly in our students. Participation in art and performance promotes a sense of community and empathy with the human condition that connects us both culturally and spiritually. These artistic pursuits are essential to the formation of the whole person and fundamental to a dynamic university environment.
Our mission
The mission of the Boston College Arts Council is to encourage advocacy, enhancement, and visibility for the arts. We invest in the arts, both on and off campus, through alumni outreach, marketing, collaboration, and community-based arts events. It is our goal to integrate the arts and creativity into all areas of study, research, and formation. We pursue this mission through three main channels:
- Increasing the prominence of the arts at Boston College, both on and off campus. This is achieved through social media, online and email marketing, print marketing, meetings with Boston College administrators and community-based arts events.
- Fostering both the artistic growth of Boston College artists and their personal development. Our student formation focuses on an artist’s entire self and is achieved by providing role models through our Arts Awards program, master classes with professional artists, the Prison Arts Outreach program, and the Student Arts Coalition.
- Improving opportunities for Boston College artists. Arts opportunities on and off campus include career initiatives that include Career Night for the Arts, networking events with industry specialists and alumni, and arts space advocacy and planning.
Our history
Enhancing the status and accessibility of the arts at Boston College is an important goal of the University President, Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., and a particular passion of J. Robert Barth, S.J., former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Father Leahy established the Arts Council in December of 1997 to support and encourage the growth and prominence of dramatic, musical, visual, and other art forms on the campus. After completing a review of the "state of the arts" on campus, the council defined its goals and strategies for improvement of the arts of Boston College.
In its first decade, the Boston College Arts Council: established a widely-popular annual Arts Festival; created an awards program for alumni, faculty, staff, and students; designed and produced a suite of marketing vehicles for the arts, including a print calendar, monthly emails, and a blog; and developed an annual Career Night for the Arts and alumni networking programs—including the Arts Alumni Network.
The Arts Council's current projects include: expanding the arts facilities for performance and the exhibition of student art; developing new and enhancing existing academic programs; assisting in the marketing of university arts events; and increasing the presence of public art on campus.