Skip to main content
Loading...
The University of Massachusetts Amherst

Mission Statement

The Fine Arts Center seeks to engage and inspire the campus and regional communities in the arts through a broad array of exemplary performances, exhibitions, and educational programs.

Since its founding in 1975, the UMass Fine Arts Center has been a central force in the cultural, social and academic life of the University, the Five College campuses, and the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. The Fine Arts Center's combination of educational, visual, and performing arts programs not only makes us unique, but it also secures a very vital and necessary position for us to meet the diverse needs of scholars, faculty, students, alumni and the broader community.

Audience in the FAC Concert Hall

48,921 attending performing arts events and exhibitions
8,125 attending educational events
504 attending from 28 human service agencies through Angel Tickets
152 community volunteers
51 projects funded through the UMass Arts Council

We offer a variety of stellar arts and education programs that create a unique delivery service for the arts with many points of entry and a variety of depth of experiences that impact the lives of students from the University of Massachusetts and the Five Colleges, as well as the campus and regional communities. Each program engages its audience with a unique, curatorial vision appealing to different individuals and groups both on and off campus. Combined, these programs fulfills the Center's mission by providing affordable access to high quality arts programming while being engaged in public service that advances knowledge and improves lives.
 

Presents


90 performances
31 exhibitions

The performing arts programs of the Fine Arts Center engage and inspire the campus and regional communities and help to provide a desirable quality of life for college students as well as for people who choose to locate in this region. The Fine Arts Center's art galleries promote a standard of excellence in the contemporary visual arts and provide a forum for dialogues about art that probe aesthetic, political, and social issues. The galleries' programming reflects a range of styles and cultures in order to foster an awareness of and respect for the diversity of the world in which we live.


Educates

81 education activities
145 student service jobs and internships

The Fine Arts Center's focus on providing education programs that deepen appreciation, understanding and knowledge of the arts makes it a critical site for experiential student learning in the arts, creative community engagement, educational collaboration, and artistic exploration. It's a successful model for service learning and community collaborations; and exemplifies practices of inclusiveness and diversity.

Enhances

Dance Master Class
The Fine Arts Center enhances the quality of life for the campus and the Pioneer Valley in a multitude of ways:

  • Serves the University of Massachusetts as a cultural library and regional resource center with a world-view that attracts scholars, faculty, students, and families interested in relocating to a community with this type of rich environment.
  • Conducts extensive community-based outreach programs that gain national attention and widespread foundation support.
  • Acts as one of the most prominent public faces of the University and serves as a gateway for business and community leaders to link to the University.
  • Creates a positive economic impact for the region through cultural tourism and as an incubator for the arts in Western Massachusetts.
  • Serves as a unique arts organizational model, uniting all disciplines of the arts and providing arts education through one comprehensive administrative structure.
  • Is the point where the convergence of all academic disciplines, humanities, and sciences transforms to create art.
  • Makes the arts accessible and affordable to all students.
  • Promotes a quiet revolution as to how the work of artists of color are developed, perceived, and presented.
  • Ensures that the arts are a part of student life through low-priced student tickets, workshops by visiting artists, artists-in-residence programs, and arts courses such as the Lively Arts.
  • Provides resources, opportunities for creative outlet, and technical support to students through the Arts Council.
  • Provides facilities management services for Bowker Auditorium, Concert Hall, and Bezanson.
  • Provides an important venue for faculty to exhibit and perform artistic work.
  • Features work of UMass students (BFA and MFA theses), regional, national, and international artists.
  • Broadens awareness and appreciation of a wide range of rich cultural and artistic traditions.
  • Serves as a critical site for experiential student learning in the arts, an exemplary resource for academic departments, a successful model for service learning and community collaborations, and serves as a national model of inclusiveness and diversity.
  • Provides valuable public services through educational outreach, partnerships, collaborations, and creative initiatives with both on and off campus groups.
  • Contributes to the highest standards of academic excellence by using the arts to provide opportunities for critical thinking.
  • Is a responsible steward of public funds, and for every dollar it receives from the state, $3.73 dollars is matched from other sources.