Building an Arts Community at Old Dominion University

Seventy Years of Creativity, Scholarship, and Public Engagement

Creativity has always been part of Old Dominion University's identity. While the university is widely recognized today for leadership in engineering, cybersecurity, maritime studies, healthcare, and the sciences, the arts have played an equally important role in shaping campus life and connecting the university with the broader Hampton Roads community.

For nearly a century, artists, performers, designers, musicians, scholars, educators, and students have contributed to a growing creative culture at Old Dominion. Their work has transformed classrooms into studios, performances into community experiences, and collections into opportunities for research and discovery.

The history of the arts at Old Dominion is a story built by many hands. It began with modest resources. A small number of courses, borrowed spaces, and the determination of early faculty who believed the arts belonged at the center of a university education. Over time, those efforts grew into academic programs, exhibition spaces, performance venues, research collections, and a dedicated Arts District that continues to evolve today.

From twelve easels in a converted classroom in 1955 to a campus filled with galleries, museums, theaters, studios, and libraries, the arts at Old Dominion reflect a lasting commitment to creativity, scholarship, and public engagement. This is the story of how an arts community was built, and how each generation continues to shape what comes next.