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AU Arts

A home for the visual and performing arts at American University.

AU Arts

The arts have a prominent role at American University. Rotating exhibitions at the AU Museum in the state-of-the-art Katzen Arts Center emphasize regional, national, and international contemporary art. The Department of Performing Arts, comprised of Arts Management, Audio Technology, Dance, Music, and Theatre/Musical Theatre, provides dynamic, connected, expressive, and fulfilling experiences for all of our majors, minors, and participating students. The Department of Art encompasses Studio Art, Art History, Photography, and Graphic Design.

To stay up-to-date on performances, exhibitions, and events, join the AU Arts mailing list and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Questions? Call 202-885-ARTS or email us.
 

Event Spotlight: stay with me

American University Chorus
Casey Cook, director
December 1–2, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Abramson Family Recital Hall, Katzen Arts Center
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016
Barbara Wilkinson, pianist

The AU Chorus fall concert explores the need for us to stay connected, to build a family and community, and to be together with those we love through the joys and sorrows of life. This concert will feature excerpts from Eric Whitacre's "The Sacred Veil." This concert will mark Casey Cook's 10th year as director of the American University Chorus.

Stay with Me AU Chorus

stay with me

AU Arts Events

Steven Cushner, Tides, 2018. Acrylic on canvas, 110 x 132 inches. Courtesy of Hemphill Artworks.Fall Exhibits at the AU MuseumSeptember 9-December 10 | Wednesday–Sunday, 11:00–4:00

  • Cushner
    Steven Cushner

  • Lost Europe: On the Edge of Memories


    Nature’s Tapestry
    Bernis von zur Muehlen, artist

    Rachel Rotenberg

    Franklin White: An American in Venezuela

Learn more about the fall exhibitions.

From the AU Department of Performing Arts. Tickets: Free for AU students with ID, $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older), $15 general public.

Stay with Me AU Chorusstay with me

American University Chorus
Casey Cook, director
December 1–2, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
Abramson Family Recital Hall, Katzen Arts Center
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016
Barbara Wilkinson, pianist

The AU Chorus fall concert explores the need for us to stay connected, to build a family and community, and to be together with those we love through the joys and sorrows of life. This concert will feature excerpts from Eric Whitacre's "The Sacred Veil." This concert will mark Casey Cook's 10th year as director of the American University Chorus.

American University Symphony Orchestra American LandscapesAmerican Landscapes

American University Symphonic Band
December 3, 2023, 3 p.m.
Matthew Brown, conductor
Katzen Arts Center, Abramson Family Recital Hall
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016

The American University Symphonic Band explores a variety of works inspired by North America’s vast and varied natural world. Works include Copland's iconic “Appalachian Spring,” a delightful multi-movement work titled "A Little Mexican Suite" by Mexican composer Nubia Jaime-Donjuan, a modern setting of the classic song "Shenandoah" by Omar Thomas, and a variety of other works.

From the AU Department of Performing Arts. Tickets: Free for AU students with ID, $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children (under 18), and senior citizens (55 and older), $15 general public.

Damn Things Will Kill Ya By Olivia Luzquinos

Damn Things Will Kill Ya

By Olivia Luzquinos
December 5–8, 2023, 8 p.m.
December 9, 2023, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Directed by Aaron Posner
Katzen Arts Center Studio Theatre
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016

"You can't choose who you love. It doesn't work like that."

A little thing like lung cancer isn’t going to stop Ruth from smoking—even in the hospital. As her children gather by her bedside, they struggle with the hard-headed, hard-hearted woman who raised them—and with each other. As events unfold, the family is forced to grapple with faith, fear, forgiveness, and the complicated consequences of letting go. Damn Things Will Kill Ya was written by recent AU graduate Olivia Luzquinos (CAS ’23), and features AU Theatre faculty member Tara Giordano as the matriarch Ruth. This production will be the first time the AU Theatre Program has fully produced a show by a recent graduate. 

Content: This production includes alcoholism, homophobia, addiction, and mentions of suicide.

Abigail DeVille Abigail DeVilleNovember 30, 6:00 pm, Katzen 201Studio Art MFA Program

Abigail DeVille was born to an Afro-Dominican mother who immigrated to Harlem in the early 1960s and an African American father who was raised in the Bronx, Abigail Deville holds close both Harlem and the Bronx in her life and in her work. She explores both earthly sites, such as an empty Harlem lot thought to be a seventeenth-century burial ground for free and enslaved Africans, and the cosmos as a site of expansive dreaming and potential for marginalized peoples. DeVille utilizes recognizable structures and symbols, such as scaffolding, spaceships, mannequins, and the United States flag, to traverse the local and the galactic while interrogating freedom as both a constitutional value and personal liberation. 

Register for 11/30
 

In the AU Arts Community

The cast of Daughters of Leda on stage

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Bringing "Daughters of Leda" Characters to Life through Costume

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Liv DeLorenzo as Pythio. Photo: Noah Puzzo.

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Musical Mash-Up: Renaissance Romance Meets Songs by The Go-Go's

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Audience member asks a question at a past conference.

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Thirteen Years of Breaking Boundaries: AU's Feminist Art History Conference

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