About Stanford Arts

About Stanford Arts

Stanford University is placing creativity at the heart of a twenty-first-century education.

The breadth and depth of the arts on campus are manifest in the academic departments and distinguished programs, as well as in the signature arts presenters on campus: the Anderson Collection at Stanford University, the Cantor Arts Center and Stanford Live/Bing Concert Hall.

Stanford’s unique interdisciplinary investigation of the arts combines innovation and entrepreneurship that is the hallmark of Silicon Valley with academic leadership in art theory and practice.

Only at Stanford University

  • The Anderson Collection at Stanford University is a collection of 121 modern and contemporary American paintings and sculpture representing Bay Area Abstraction, Bay Area Figuration, California Light & Space, Color Field Painting, Contemporary Painting, Funk, Hard-Edge Painting, New York School, and Post-Minimalism. Admission is free.
  • The Cantor Arts Center, hosting major art exhibitions from around the world as well as displaying a remarkable encyclopedic permanent collection, is one of the most visited university art museums in the country. Admission is free.
  • Stanford Live, the university’s performing arts presenter, schedules over 40 events each year representing a wide range of genres—including chamber, symphonic, jazz and world music, as well as newly commissioned works—and offers free programs for students.
  • There are dozens of exhibition and performance spaces on campus utilized by over 100 student arts groups in addition to a robust residential arts program throughout the dorms.
  • The arts district at the entrance to campus includes the Anderson Collection at Stanford University, Bing Concert Hall, the Cantor Arts Center, Frost Amphitheater, the McMurtry Building for the Department of Art & Art History, Memorial Auditorium and the Stanford Art Gallery.
  • Stanford Arts and the Office of the Associate Dean for the Advancement of the Arts are the nexus for interdisciplinary campus-wide arts programming and provides support for faculty and student arts activities.

Arts Initiative and Art 2016

Stanford Arts Initiative, launched in 2006 as part of The Stanford Challenge and successfully concluded in 2011, was a university-wide effort to enhance strengths in existing arts programs, create new arts facilities and opportunities for students and faculty, and integrate the arts throughout the life of the university.

Art 2016 is a five-year marker of all that has been accomplished and the moment for Stanford to imagine the course for future generations. This year, the 125th anniversary of the opening of Stanford University, students, alumni, parents, friends, faculty, staff and the larger community are experiencing the arts on campus in new ways and in new facilities. A new arts district at the entrance to campus provides state-of-the-art resources for arts programs and teaching and has increased opportunities for collaboration and connection across campus.

Three major building projects have been completed and a renovation is in the works:

  • Bing Concert Hall (2013)
  • Anderson Collection at Stanford University (2014)
  • McMurtry Building for the Department of Art & Art History (2015)
  • Roble Gym renovation (2016)

Contacts

Maude Brezinski

Senior Director of Development for the Arts

Matthew Tiews

Associate Dean for the Advancement of the Arts

Peggy Phelan

Denning Family Director, Stanford Arts Institute

Robin Wander

Director of Arts Communication

—

Office of the Associate Dean
Littlefield Center, 2nd Floor
Stanford, CA 94305-2250

Stanford Arts Institute
Littlefield Center, 2nd Floor
Stanford, CA 94305-2250

Reports and Resources