Film Screening: The Arc of Oblivion
2026-02-08 15:30 (America/New_York) | Watson Fine Arts – Ellison Lecture Hall, Norton, MA, 02766
followed by a Q&A with director Ian Cheney & animator of the film, Professor of the Practice Melissa McClung

In a universe that erases its tracks, why are we so hellbent on leaving a trace?

From executive producer Werner Herzog (Cave of Forgotten Dreams; Grizzly Man) and director Ian Cheney (King Corn), The Arc of Oblivion is an unexpectedly playful search for an answer to a deeply existential question. Set against the backdrop of the filmmaker’s quixotic quest to build an ark in a field in Maine, the film heads far afield—to salt mines in the Alps, fjords in the Arctic, and ancient libraries in the Sahara—to illuminate the strange world of archives, record-keeping, and memory.

Director Ian Cheney and animator, Wheaton Professor of the Practice Melissa McClung, will join us for a Q&A after a screening of this fun and thought-provoking film.

DanceFest 2026: Unleashed
2026-02-13 19:30, 2026-02-14 19:30, 2026-02-15 14:00 | Watson Fine Arts – Weber Theatre, Norton, MA, 02766, United States
Wheaton’s Dance Collaborative presents Dance Fest 2026—Unleashed featuring hip hop, salsa, tap, k-pop, step, and multi-cultural traditions performed by TRYBE, Paraíso Latino, Tap Out Loud, KAOS and special guest S.O.L.E. This annual performance showcases the talent of our student-run dance groups in collaboration with technical theatre students.

This event runs February 13–15, 2026. The Sunday, February 15th performance is a 2:00 p.m. matinee.

Pay-what-you-can tickets may be purchased online through the Box Office .

Readings by the Writer—Robyn Schiff
2026-02-16 17:00 | Mary Lyon Hall – Woolley Room, Norton, MA, 02766, United States
Schiff will read from her most recent book, Information Desk: An Epic (2023) which is situated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she worked at the information desk in her young adulthood. “Nearly 30 years later, Schiff transformed her experiences into an epic poem, expertly weaving its collections of visual art and connections to the world into her life’s journey, material world and imagination.” (Sara Patterson, UChicago News) Robyn’s previous books include A Woman of Property (2016), Revolver (2008) and Worth (2002). She is currently a professor in the Department of English Language and Literature and the Director of the Program in Creative Writing at the University of Chicago.

New Plays Festival 2026
2026-02-21 13:00, 2026-02-21 17:00, 2026-02-22 13:00, 2026-02-22 17:00 | Kresge Experimental Theatre, Watson Fine Arts
Eleven longer form plays—written, directed and performed by Wheaton students—are showcased in our annual festival. The festival runs over two days with two seatings each day, each seating showcases a different set of plays.
Free or pay-what-you-can tickets are available through the Watson Box Office.

Opening Reception: And so... Claudia Fieo and Hand-Drawn
2026-03-19 17:00 - 20:00 | Watson Fine Arts – Beard and Weil Galleries, Norton, MA, 02766, United States
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 19, 5-8pm
March 17–April 11, 2026
Closing Reception: Friday, April 10, 1-3pm
And so… Claudia Fieo: Selected Works (1986-2026) highlights the arc of the artist’s visual investigations over the past four decades as she returns again and again to pondering the ineffable mysteries intrinsic to living a life: the inevitability of time passing; the capriciousness of memory; and the tensions that exist in relationships-with one’s self, with others, and with the natural world & built environment.
In honor of Professor Claudia Fieo’s retirement after 34 years of distinguished teaching in printmaking, graphic design, and foundations, Hand-drawn: Alumni Works from Wheaton College’s Collections celebrates the enduring creativity of her students. This exhibition features 25 years of acquisitions from the Friends of Art Student Art Collection, an initiative spearheaded by Professor Fieo and funded by the Friends of Art alumni organization to purchase exceptional work each year from the Senior Visual Art Exhibition.
Spanning prints, drawings, animation, and sculpture, the featured works are drawn from the Student Art Collection, the Wheaton College Permanent Collection, and the Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections. More than a historical archive, this collection stands as a testament to exceptional student achievement and serves as a vital, aspirational teaching tool for future Wheaton artists.
For more information visit bwgalleries.org
Gallery Hours: Tue-Sat 1-5pm, Thur 1-8pm
Closed during College holidays and breaks.

Readings by the Writer: Kate Colby
2026-03-25 17:00 | Mary Lyon Hall – May Room, Norton, MA, 02766
Kate Colby reads from her work including Paradoxx, her new collection of essays. “In Paradoxx, Colby applies her humor and exacting intelligence to teasing out tangles in relationships between memory, signification, and human perception. A one-hundred-day chronicle of a dark period in the author’s life, this tightly-wound lyric essay is also a memoir of growing up in the late 20th century and stumbling into the 21st.” (Essay Press) Colby was a founding board member of the Gloucester Writers Center in Massachusetts, where she now serves on the advisory board. She grew up in Massachusetts and currently lives in Providence, where she teaches at UPenn.

Object Lessons: Matisse and Art Education
2026-03-25 18:30 | Watson Fine Arts – Ellison Lecture Hall, Norton, MA, 02766
The Wheaton College Friends of Art proudly present the 18th Annual Mary L. Heuser Lecture in Art History featuring Camran Mani. Throughout his artistic career, Henri Matisse tried to be the teacher he had never had as an unhappy art student in late 19th-century Paris. In his talk, Camran Mani will explore the evolution of ideas about how to educate young people for careers in art by looking at a few of Matisse’s experimental teaching efforts from 1908-1948, including the art academy he briefly operated in Paris, his mural for an educational foundation in Pennsylvania, and the book Jazz.

Closing Reception: And so... Claudia Fieo and Hand-Drawn
2026-04-10 13:00 - 15:00 | Watson Fine Arts – Beard and Weil Galleries, Norton, MA, 02766, United States
Join us in the galleries to celebrate retiring faculty during the closing reception for And So… and Hand-Drawn.
And so… Claudia Fieo: Selected Works (1986-2026) highlights the arc of the artist’s visual investigations over the past four decades as she returns again and again to pondering the ineffable mysteries intrinsic to living a life: the inevitability of time passing; the capriciousness of memory; and the tensions that exist in relationships-with one’s self, with others, and with the natural world & built environment.
In honor of Professor Claudia Fieo’s retirement after 34 years of distinguished teaching in printmaking, graphic design, and foundations, Hand-drawn: Alumni Works from Wheaton College’s Collections celebrates the enduring creativity of her students. This exhibition features 25 years of acquisitions from the Friends of Art Student Art Collection, an initiative spearheaded by Professor Fieo and funded by the Friends of Art alumni organization to purchase exceptional work each year from the Senior Visual Art Exhibition.
For more information visit bwgalleries.org
Gallery Hours: Tue-Sat 1-5pm, Thur 1-8pm
Closed during College holidays and breaks.

2026 Creative Writing Senior Reading
2026-04-14 17:00, 2026-04-21 17:00 | Balfour-Hood – New Yellow Parlor
Seniors graduating with a major in Creative Writing and Literature read from their original work. Students will present readings over two evenings April 14 & 21, 2026.

Wheaton College Dance Company presents Paradigm
2026-04-16 19:30, 2026-04-17 19:30, 2026-04-18 14:00 | Watson Fine Arts – Weber Theatre, Norton, MA, 02766, United States
The ensemble performs under the direction of Artistic Director Andrea Taylor-Blenis.
Pay-what-you-can tickets may be purchased via the Watson Box Office.

Five-Minute Play Festival
2026-04-19 14:00 | Kresge Experimental Theatre, Watson Fine Arts
Original five-minute plays—written, directed, and performed by Wheaton students—are showcased in our biannual festival.

Taking Up Space: Stories of Being
2026-04-21 13:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-23 13:00 - 20:00, 2026-04-25 13:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-28 13:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-30 13:00 - 20:00, 2026-05-02 13:00 - 17:00 | Watson Fine Arts – Beard and Weil Galleries, Norton, MA, 02766, United States
2026 Senior Visual Art Exhibition
This exhibition highlights the work of our graduating Visual Art majors. It features animation, illustration, painting, photography, and sculpture. Featuring work by: Claire Berman, Charlie Black, Shaye Cox, Cali Griffin, Anjonelys Grullon, Tessa Hammond, Ben Massouda, and Olivia Price.
Exhibition runs: April 21–May 9, 2026
Commencement/Reunion Weekend: May 15 & 16

Gallery Opening
2026-04-23 17:00 - 19:00 | Watson Fine Arts – Beard and Weil Galleries, Norton, MA, 02766, United States
Taking Up Space: Stories of Being
2026 Senior Visual Art Exhibition
Join us as we celebrate our 2026 Senior Visual Art majors. This exhibition highlights the work of our graduating Visual Art majors. It features animation, illustration, painting, photography, and sculpture. Featuring work by: Claire Berman, Charlie Black, Shaye Cox, Cali Griffin, Anjonelys Grullon, Tessa Hammond, Ben Massouda, and Olivia Price.
Exhibition runs: April 21–May 9, 2026
Commencement/Reunion Weekend: May 15 & 16

The Mary Bloor Loser '42 Concert Series presents Powerful Voices: We Shall Overcome
2026-04-28 19:30 - 21:00 | Cole Memorial Chapel, Norton, MA, 02766, United States
Powerful Voices: We Shall Overcome
Democracy through Black American Music

Renowned guest conductor Donnell Patterson, founding director of Boston’s Millennium Gospel Choir, joins the Wheaton Chorale and Chamber Singers, led by Alexandra Lutkevich, for an electrifying and powerful evening of music celebrating the contributions of Black American composers. The program will include gospel, spiritual, and classical music, and feature vocal soloists David Joyner, Laura Vecchione, Sayida Farmer, and Anthony Clayton.

Pay-what-you-can tickets are available via the Watson Box Office

Student Recitals
2026-04-29 17:00 | Cole Memorial Chapel, Norton, MA, 02766, United States
Wheaton students studying voice and various instruments showcase their skill performing work from their studies this semester.

Wheaton College Jazz Band
2026-04-29 20:00 | Watson Fine Arts – Weber Theatre, Norton, MA, 02766, United States
The Wheaton College Jazz Band perform under the direction of Diamond Centofanti. The Ensemble will perform works by Horance Silver, Benny Goodman, Luiz Bonfa, Duke Ellington and more.

Wheaton Steelband
2026-04-30 19:30 | Kresge Experimental Theatre, Watson Fine Arts
The Ensemble performs a selection of music for steel pan under the direction of Jason Roseman.

Pay-what-you-can tickets will be available via the Watson Box Office.
