Arts On-Campus Events and Virtual Options

Welcome to the College of Visual and Performing Arts!

The College of Visual and Performing Arts holds many admission-related events each academic year. Below you'll find some of the ways you can interact with members of the JMU arts community.

To sign up for an audition or portfolio review, visit the Arts Undergraduate Admissions page.

Questions? Email us at AdmissionsCVPA@jmu.edu.

JMU Open Houses

JMU will hold the Explore JMU: Academics Open House for prospective students in the fall and a Open House for high school juniors in the spring semester. Register through the Office of Admissions.

JMU will hold Admitted Student Open House events in person (dates to be determined). The School of Art, Design and Art History, the School of Music, and the School of Theatre and Dance will be running program-specific information sessions and tours. To learn more, visit the Office of Admissions.

Tours and Information Sessions

Each school in the College of Visual and Performing Arts offers unique opportunities to learn more about what it's like to be a visual or performing arts major. We have in-person tours and sessions where you will have the opportunity to explore our spaces and talk with a student, faculty, and/or staff member.

School of Art, Design and Art History (Architectural Design, Art History, Art Studio, Graphic Design, Industrial Design)

Sept. 4, 2026
Sept. 18, 2026
Oct. 2, 2026
Oct. 23, 2026
Nov. 6, 2026
Nov. 20, 2026
Dec. 4, 2026

2027 registration opens in December:
Jan. 29, 2027
Feb. 12, 2027
Feb. 26, 2027
Mar. 5, 2027
Mar. 12, 2027
Apr. 23, 2027
Apr. 30, 2027

School of Music

Music Major Preview Day – Nov. 2, 2026
Other dates to be posted once the fall semester begins.

School of Theatre & Dance (Dance)

Sept. 21, 2026
Oct. 12, 2026
Nov. 16, 2026
February 1, 2027 – registration opens in December

School of Theatre & Dance ( Theatre & Musical Theatre)

Oct. 9, 2026
Nov. 13, 2026

2027 registration opens in December:
Feb. 19, 2027
April 9, 2027

College of Visual & Performing Arts videos

Virtual Tour: School of Art, Design & Art History

Virtual Tour of School of Art, Design & Art History

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welcome to the School of Art design and art history also known as Sada in the back of the lobby you will see the entrance to the Duke Hall Gallery this

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Gallery features state-of-the-art LED lighting movable walls for increased hanging space as well as specialized work areas for interns this is a great

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potential place for some of our art history majors to get some added experience with setting up an art gallery or Museum now now we're in the 3D design

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studio all first year SAA students take four Foundation Studio classes 2D design 3d design drawing one and drawing two

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during their first year at JMU one of the first projects in 3D design is to use paper products to create an enormous version of an organic material found in

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the woods or garden students enrolled in SAA classes have nearly Around the Clock access to Studios and lockers for material

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storage our traditional wood shop area features state-of-the-art equipment including wood lathe and a dovetail mortise every satata student can have

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access to the wood shop however they must first attend a lecture demo and sign paperwork before being allowed to use any of the machines so it's very

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safe here is our ceramic Studio which is the first part of working clay into art ceramic studio is also one of our studio

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concentration areas all our concentration classes are taught by professional artists the Ceramics area is outfitted with kilms a dedicated

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glazing Studio over 20 growing Wheels as well as a plaster lab with further steps in the process we can mix our own glazes

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and we have a Kil room with two large gas kils and five electric kils Sada offers a variety of Ceramics courses

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including potter's wheel hand building molds and casting and more students also have a cubby to store their projects and ceramic

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tools the next stop is our Fiber Arts area our fibers classes explore a variety of processes including knitting

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belting crocheting weaving embroidery dying and more JMU is one of only a few schools in the US to have a tc2 jaquard

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loom and a large format digital textile printer which is the same printer used for Couture Brands our print making area features

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processes such as relief intalio monotype silk screening and lithography it also features a dedicated computer lab as well as an exposure and wash out

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room each student has flatl drawers to sort materials paper prints and more all our chemicals are waterbased so they are safe to use check out the walls covered

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in prints from previous students our metals and jewelry area is equipped with Advanced jewelry making materials such as laser welders and an

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induction casting machine it also contains dedicated labs for pickling and anodization as well as hammering and shaping in our Smithy these unique

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student workstations allow for a more community- based learning experience for beginner students stocked with all the tools necessary to make jewelry Advanced

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students have a shared studio with their own desks check out some previous projects displayed in the case outside of the studio to see what you can create in

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metals whether you're taking some of our foundation drawing classes or concentrating within that area we have great facilities for painting and drawing our chairs are saddle style to

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support the drawing board we have brush washing stations ventilated storage tracks movable Wall Systems radiant heaters for our live models and

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exceptional lights students can explore acrylic and oil in our painting classes and learn the human figure and figure drawing our sculpture space is huge

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featur a welding lab a digital lab a plaster lab as well as a general Studio space we also have a 3D printer every

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SAA area at JMU has its own fun fact s also offers a sword welding class in the

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summer this is our industrial design Workshop industrial designers blend together art engineering business sociology and anthropology all

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industrial design Majors receive their own desks which are great to have your own personal space to work on projects and leave things behind and pick them up

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as you left them currently as an industrial design major we are split up into groups where we're working on Footwear apparel and colors and material

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and dropping a fashion line for the market architectural design students are also assigned their own desk and students will work on creating models as

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well as developing designs on paper and digitally from handcrafted prototypes to digital fabrication and from orthographic drawings to models and full

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scale design design build projects the numerous skills our students learn become the currency and the future in the architectural design field here's one of our classrooms for

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the graphic design course students here will learn how to use Adobe Illustrator in design Photoshop and more many of our classes will have projects where we work

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with real clients on various graphic design needs this is our artworks Gallery a student run gallery where students get to work with exhibition

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planning installation marketing hosting events and more one of the biggest shows is the annual jured show where professional artist is invited to curate

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an exhibition based on submissions from students a unique program we feature within our school is a book Arts minor our book Arts minor is a cross

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disciplinary between the Arts English that explores the value and the role of an art book in art classes students explore materials structures textuality

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and the history of an art book students will work on creating a book from scratch and combining experiences in English graphic design binding and print

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processing

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Virtual Tour: School of Music

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welcome to the music building at JMU the music building is where our music Majors will spend most of their time in practice and in classrooms our

classrooms here are all smart classrooms containing internet access a video and sound system document camera and most classrooms are wired for sound to link

up with a recording studio students in the Music Industry Program learn the most up-to-date recording techniques in the School of

Music recording studio the recording interface and digital audio workstation are capable of recording and processing

High Fidelity audio multi truck inputs from the treated live room and isolation Booth the studio is equipped with analog

preamps by Grace Portico Avalon and Apex and a microphone collection including Earthworks AKG Shure ziser and other

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leading Brands this is our rehearsal room where many education classes are held and the percussion Studio does a lot in here as

well most instrumental Ensemble rehearsals take place in the forb center of the Performing Arts to keep students from having to

take up space in their own rooms we have lockers that students can run out for the year in the music building and also in fors after going through the practice

room stop by the keyboard labs and the locker sign out rooms all of our Bachelor of Music students will likely be taking a few semesters of keyboard

skills however they have the option to test out of it on their audition day we're lucky to have one of four

libraries on campus exclusively for music materials we now have Open Stacks and the staff are incredibly helpful and friendly all the computers have all the

music software students would ever need in their time at JMU our shelving for sheet music is built to make the most use of our

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space we are outside the forb Center for the Performing Arts with which is where we do most of our performances for the school of music you can see this

building has two Wings one side is the Dorothy Thomasson ests Center for theater and then the Shirley Hansen Roberts Center for music

performance our Recital Hall is built on a plenum which eliminates the noise generated by the airflow of heat and air conditioning the acoustic Perfection of

recital as a part of their training all senior music performance majors and other senior music Majors perform a student recital in this beautiful

space the 600 seat concert hall is a spectacular space designed to accommodate performances by guest artists and large ensembles one thing to

note is that all our outside performers are required to do a master class for our students this is a great way for our students to work with Professionals in

the field and make connections the concert hall has exceptional AC Acoustics and features electronic acoustic curtains and extensive Lighting

and Sound there's also a piano pit that can be lowered on the stage a small Orchestra can be housed under the stage as well another cool fact to mention

there are no straight walls to improve Acoustics and no columns to block The audience's View

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Virtual Tour: School of Theatre & Dance

Virtual Tour of School of Theatre & Dance

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welcome to the school of theater and dance we are outside the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts which is a place that I have spent a ton of time here at

a JMU you can see this building has two links with one side being the Shirley Hansen Robert Center for music performance but I'll show you the side

that is more dedicated to dance musical theater and theater named the Dorothy Thomasson Estes Center for theater and dance here is our main box office if

you're coming to JMU and staying an evening check out our calendar of events we typically have some type of performance happening on most nights

during our school year we have both student performances here and bring in a lot of outside professional guests to perform all our outside performers are

required to do a master class for students giving them a way to broaden their exposure to artists and art forms they may not see in a traditional

curriculum tickets can be purchased online 2/47 at JMUforbescenter.com and current students get a discount on

tickets now let's check out a few areas within dance the Earland J Miller dance theater named after a professor emeritus

provides a space for student classes and visiting artists to perform and Lead Workshops the seating risers are retractable so the space is used as an

instructional Studio as well neat fact: the floor is basket woven and sprung beneath the maple finish to prevent injury for

performers here's a typical dance studio classroom where students will take classes in a variety of forms of dance we offer contemporary ballet and Jazz

technique courses students also learn about dance production management and anatomy and are able to choreograph their own

pieces now let's look at a couple of our production areas first for our school of theater and dance we have a full-time costume shop supervisor who works to

assist our designers and students with costumes from all of our performances costumes can be constructed from scratch drawn from our enormous custom storage

area or purchased theater and build all of their shows in this space the scene shop the opera shows are also constructed here

students are required to serve on a crew and learn all the basics of theater design build sets build props paint

scenery backdrops sew costumes Etc not only do actors learn how to act but they also learn what it takes to put on a

show from start to finish students are directed by faculty and a full-time scene shop supervisor one thing to note

we don't keep major set pieces in storage this is is because we are a teaching institution and our plan is for students to build the sets from

scratch the 200 seat Studio Theater is an experimental theater designed for student directed student designed and student acted performances the blackbox

space is at the Forefront of flexibility there are an infinite number of seating configurations ranging from prenium like our mainstage theater to theater in the

round 90 to 95% of the work produced in the studio theater is student generated Productions that take place here are typically open to all students at JMU

for auditions students also get experience to write and direct their own material here the 450 seat mainstage theater is a

proscenium theater the space houses 45 plays and musicals and two to three dance concerts and Masterpiece season performances including past performances

from Alvin da Aila feeder and ballet hispanico the entire stage area is flexible the four stage area is powered by hydraulic lift so that it can rise or

be lowered to house in Orchestra the first four rows of seating are removable to provide adequate performance space for any production the space is built on

a small scale to create an intimate relationship between the audience and the performer the theaters were all designed specifically with the student performer in mind not to house large

Broadway performances below the stage floor there are a series of flexible trap doors leading to a full trap room beneath the stage is also a surround

floor allowing our dancers to have a safe floor to perform on

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JMU School of Music YouTube page for all performances

360° Facility Images

Find a virtual tour of the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts and links to facility descriptions and stunning 360° images of classroom, performance, workshop, maker, and studio spaces within the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Faculty and staff members have put together a list of their most frequently asked questions from prospective students and their families. You can also always send us an email with any questions to admissionscvpa@jmu.edu.