About Colby Arts
Colby Arts amplifies the community of professional and emerging creatives, cultural thinkers, local organizations, schools, and businesses reshaping Waterville, Maine, as a lively arts destination.
WATERVILLE, MAINE – FEBRUARY 2: Students participate in their final dress rehearsal for their Jan Plan Project Broadway show at Strider Theater in Runnals Building, Thursday, February 2, 2023. This collaboration between the music department and the performance, theater, and dance departments feature students from the Jan Plan Musical Theater Workshop course performing musical theater’s greatest hits. This is the last Jan Plan performance in Strider Theater. (Photo by Ashley L. Conti)
WATERVILLE, MAINE – OCTOBER 18: Sandra Bernal Heredia, visiting assistant professor of Spanish, leads “Baila in the Community,” where she leads Colby students into teaching community members about Latin dance. (Photo by Gabe Souza.)
2018 Senior Art Exhibition in Colby Musuem of Art
The Ed Cherry Trio and ‘Kafari’ performing jazz music at Greene Block + Studios in Waterville, Maine, on Friday, February 3, 2023. (Photo by Gabe Souza)
Arts revitalization of downtown Waterville
Downtown Waterville has lively arts programming, including a First Friday tradition inviting all downtown for arts experiences.
Intensive hands-on learning
Students enrolled in “Project Broadway” JanPlan performing their final production showing after an intensive month of learning in the Departments of Performance, Theater, and Dance, and of Music.
Interdisciplinary exploration
Colby Arts Academic Departments support students to create new and innovative interdisciplinary work.
Community and campus connections
Colby students and the Waterville residents move and learn together.
Exhibitions at the Colby Museum of Art
Students of all ages, from Colby and schools across Maine, engage with exhibitions at the Colby Museum of Art.
Arts experiences for all
Experience music across genres with the Department of Music’s ensembles and guest artists.
A culture of creativity
The liberal arts at Colby College encourages a dynamic learning environment that supports creative scholarship, interdisciplinary collaboration, and critical inquiry. Colby Arts offers new, innovative performance venues and studios in the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Art and Greene Block + Studios. The Colby College Museum of Art is a premier teaching museum and the largest art museum in the state of Maine, offering unique learning experiences for residents of central Maine and unlimited opportunities for artists and scholars.
An integral component of the extraordinary access to the arts include a partnership with the City of Waterville and the organizations housed within the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, with Waterville Creates bringing Waterville’s most beloved arts and cultural institutions under one roof, including the Maine Film Center and Railroad Square Cinema, the Waterville Opera House, Ticonic Gallery and Studios, and a new contemporary art gallery of the Colby Museum of Art.
Centering the arts as an economic revitalizer of downtown Waterville, Colby Arts is building a culture of creativity that is innovative, bold, and socially conscious. New and newly adapted spaces on campus and in downtown Waterville provide the technical support and flexibility needed for integrated teaching and inclusive arts programming that critically engages the imagination. Within this ecosystem of professional and emerging creatives, cultural thinkers, local organizations, schools and businesses, Colby Arts is reshaping central Maine as a lively arts destination.
Create new forms.
Our definition of what constitutes a “classroom” is always expanding to meet the needs of our students. Academics at Colby move between research and practice, asking students to innovate across disciplines. DavisConnects prepares students for careers in arts and entertainment and connect them with professionals in the field.
Learn with others.
Colby Arts builds community among students and between the campus and downtown Waterville, providing opportunities for all to learn through the arts.
Innovate together.
The arts are core to practicing collaboration. Colby faculty, staff, and students, and Waterville residents work together to create original performances, exhibitions, and yet-to-be-imagined arts experiences.
Colby Arts Office Staff
• Teresa D McKinney, Diamond Family Director of the Arts
• Tyler French, Associate Director of Artistic Planning and Community Engagement
• Gary McCrumb, Assistant Director of Production
• Jake Hickey, Manager of Building Operations
• Kate Hunter, Program Manager
• Terry Ehnes, Event Operations Specialist
• Arisa White, Associate Professor of English and Faculty Liaison for the Colby Arts Office
Colby students serve as Arts Associates, supporting Arts Office programming, production, and marketing and communication. Interested students can email [email protected] to apply.
For Academic Department Faculty and Staff listings, see Academics.