College of the Arts

Creative expression meets real-world impact.

PLEASE NOTE: The College of the Arts office (Lincoln Hall 349) will be physically closed until further notice while staff work remotely. Don't hesitate to reach out to the-arts@pdx.edu with any specific questions or concerns.

Virtual Front Desk

Have questions? Visit our Virtual Front Desk! We are available: Tuesday & Thursday from 1pm-6:30pm; Friday from 1pm-3pm.

Visit us

Experience the arts at PSU

Find your creative voice—and experience the voices of others—at the most dynamic and accessible public arts institution in Oregon.

Through creative research, community projects, and hundreds of public events each year, the College of the Arts makes Portland a better place to live.

In the studio and on the stage, in the classroom and the community. Our students and faculty cultivate the bold ideas that can change the world.

Artists are problem solvers. Today more than ever, that’s what the world needs.

Creative practice demands new ideas, empathy for others, collaboration and practical results. These skills are essential for solving the big challenges facing society today—and they’re at the heart of our college. That’s why our graduates are well prepared for successful careers in the arts and beyond.

Happy New Year from the College of the Arts!

The College of the Arts reunited Madisen Hallberg (Jazz Studies, '20) and professional opera singer Emmanuel Henreid ("Onry") to perform Dona Nobis Pacem.

School of Architecture

School of Art + Design

School of Film

School of Music & Theater

Student Resources

How to Apply

Academic Advising

Scholarships

Your generosity makes a difference

Innovation, advocacy, and community building are central to addressing today’s challenges—and creativity is key. College of the Arts students pursue rigorous academic curricula and learn the skills and discipline for successful and sustainable careers in the arts. Your gift will have direct impact on aspiring artists, musicians, designers, and makers!

The College of the Arts Student Hardship Fund was created to provide immediate support to students in need of emergency funds to cover both academic and personal expenses, such as housing, medical bills, utilities, and equipment. Thank you for your gift to support College of the Arts students facing financial hardship during this challenging time.

Give to the College

Give to the Harsdship Fund

Upcoming events

January 14 January 14

Lucia Monge: KSMoCA Artist Lecture Series

Please join us for the 2020-2021 King School Museum of Contemporary Art (…

Add to my Calendar 2021-01-14 10:00:00 2021-01-14 11:00:00 Lucia Monge: KSMoCA Artist Lecture Series Please join us for the 2020-2021 King School Museum of Contemporary Art (KSMoCA) Artist Lecture Series. These free lectures are open to members of the public and students at Dr. MLK Jr School and their families. This lecture will take place via YouTube livestream. Lucia Monge is currently an Artist-In-Residence at KSMoCA. Presentations will be recorded and made available on our YouTube channel as an ongoing resource for students, teachers, and members of the public. Join this event Online art@pdx.edu art@pdx.edu America/Los_Angeles public

Multivalent drawing by Master of Architecture student Xander Sligh

January 15 January 15

Fridays@4: Drawing Exploder

At this Fridays@4, the School of Architecture will be exploring the…

Add to my Calendar 2021-01-15 16:00:00 2021-01-15 17:00:00 Fridays@4: Drawing Exploder At this Fridays@4, the School of Architecture will be exploring the process of creating layered and multivalent drawings, as current architecture students and recent graduates walk us through their drawings layer by layer. We will focus on strategies for creating compelling work, such as combining hand drawing with digital collage or drawing over digital models in Illustrator. The concept for this presentation stems from an appreciation for the podcast Song Exploder, where songs are dissected to reveal every track in isolation, in order to better understand the song as a whole. In taking a behind-the-scenes look at how these drawings are made, we aim to gain more wisdom in the search for new methods of expression. RSVP to asanta@pdx.edu. This event will be held via Zoom architecture@pdx.edu architecture@pdx.edu America/Los_Angeles public

Farewell and Lost in Translation Watch Party Flyer

January 16 January 16

Watch Party for The Farewell and Lost in Translation

Hang out and watch a film with PSU FILM's Programming Fellows! We will be…

Add to my Calendar 2021-01-16 16:00:00 2021-01-16 22:00:00 Watch Party for The Farewell and Lost in Translation Hang out and watch a film with PSU FILM's Programming Fellows! We will be doing a double feature this Saturday, showcasing The Farewell directed by Lulu Wang and Lost in Translation directed by Sofia Coppola. These two films are apart of a programmed series featuring female directors. Feel free to hop in for either film or even better, for both! Details about both films are stated below in the flyers. Saturday, Jan. 16 The 1st feature film begins at 4:00 PM with a hosted ZOOM discussion afterward and the 2nd feature film begins at 7:30 PM with a zoom discussion afterward as well. HOW DOES THIS WORK? You will receive a ZOOM link after completing this form. Keep ZOOM open to chatting during the watch party. Watch the film using your own Amazon Prime account. On Amazon Prime and Zoom owl@pdx.edu owl@pdx.edu America/Los_Angeles public

January 20 January 20

PSU Jazz Virtual Series: Christian McBride

Join the Portland State University Jazz Area for our weekly PSU Jazz…

Add to my Calendar 2021-01-20 15:00:00 2021-01-20 15:50:00 PSU Jazz Virtual Series: Christian McBride Join the Portland State University Jazz Area for our weekly PSU Jazz Virtual Series. Each week features a world class artist engaging in lecture and conversation with students and faculty. Follow Portland State University on Facebook to receive notification when the page goes Live. https://www.facebook.com/psujazz Raised in a city steeped in soul, McBride moved to New York in 1989 to pursue classical studies at the Juilliard School. There he was promptly recruited to the road by saxophonist Bobby Watson. Call it a change in curriculum: a decade’s worth of study through hundreds of recording sessions and countless gigs with an ever-expanding circle of musicians. He was finding his voice, and others were learning to listen for it. In 2000 the lessons of the road came together in the formation of what would become his longest-running project, the Christian McBride Band. Praised by writer Alan Leeds as "one of the most intoxicating, least predictable bands on the scene today," the CMB—saxophonist Ron Blake, keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer, and drummer Terreon Gully—have been collectively evolving McBride's all-inclusive, forward-thinking outlook on music through their incendiary live shows, as chronicled on 2006’s Live at Tonic. Part excursion, part education, the CMB is a vehicle built on a framework of experience and powered by unfettered creativity: a mesmerizing dance on the edge of an electro-acoustic fault line. In 2009 McBride began focusing this same energy through a more traditional lens with the debut of his critically-acclaimed Inside Straight quintet, and again with the Christian McBride Big Band, whose 2012 release The Good Feeling won the GRAMMY for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album. As his career entered its third decade, McBride added the role of mentor, tapping rising stars pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. for the Christian McBride Trio’s GRAMMY-nominated album Out Here. He is also a respected educator and advocate, first noted in 1997 when he spoke on former President Bill Clinton's town hall meeting "Racism in the Performing Arts." He has since been named Artistic Director of the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Summer Sessions (2000), co-director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem (2005), and the Second Creative Chair for Jazz of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association (2005). In 1998 he combined roles, composing "The Movement, Revisited," a four-movement suite dedicated to four of the major figures of the civil rights movement: Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The piece was commissioned by the Portland (ME) Arts Society and the National Endowment for the Arts, and performed throughout New England in the fall of 1998 with McBride's quartet and a 30-piece gospel choir. For its tenth anniversary, "The Movement, Revisited" was expanded, rewritten, and revamped to feature an 18-piece big band and four actors/speakers in addition to the gospel choir. It was performed in Los Angeles at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and praised by the Los Angeles Times as "a work that was admirable—to paraphrase Dr. King—for both the content of its music and the character of its message." Currently he hosts and produces “The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian” on SiriusXM satellite radio and National Public Radio’s “Jazz Night in America,” a weekly radio show and multimedia collaboration between WBGO, NPR and Jazz at Lincoln Center, showcasing outstanding live jazz from across the country. With his staggering body of work, McBride is the ideal host, drawing on history, experience, and a gift for storytelling to bridge the gap between artist, music, and audience. He brings that same breadth of experience to bear as Artistic Advisor for Jazz Programming at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC). Facebook Live https://fb.me/e/3hrVqJ6Tl Sherry Alves alves4@pdx.edu Sherry Alves alves4@pdx.edu America/Los_Angeles public

A woman poses in the stacks of the PSU library

January 14, 2021

College of the Arts