How do the arts activate public life? What is the role of the arts in sustaining democracy? In different eras and regions of the world, citizens have responded to these questions quite differently. As we mark the 250th anniversary of both the Phi Beta Kappa Society and of the United States of America, these questions have never been more resonant. The arts are key to advancing the rights of free assembly and of free expression. The arts contribute to social movements and to the formation of civic identity. This lecture alights upon a range of socially engaged art practices, investigating how the arts both shape and challenge our sense of community. Considering historic examples as well as those from our present moment—including ideas from Wheaton College students— we will explore how public art can open us to new ideas of what democracy might mean.
Through the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s Visiting Scholar Program, Dr. Jackson, Professor of the Arts & Humanities and Department Chair of History of Art at UC Berkeley, will visit Wheaton for two days.
Kresge Theatre Company presents 24 Hour Play Festival. Groups of students will write, rehearse, and perform a play in just 24 hours.
Tickets are free and can be reserved via the Box Office.
Please join us for the opening of our latest gallery exhibition, Ctrl+Delete.
The exhibition explores the persistent threat of censorship in the United States, from historical book bans used to control knowledge and suppress marginalized voices to today’s escalating restrictions—including the removal of books and art from public spaces as well as the June Supreme Court decision (Mahmoud v. Taylor) requiring schools to provide opportunities to opt out of listening learning about books that include LGBTQ+ characters. By tracing these acts of erasure across time, the show reveals how censorship has shaped, and continues to shape, what stories are told and who gets to tell them.
Alongside overt bans and challenges, the exhibition also addresses the quieter but equally insidious forces of self-censorship within art and educational institutions, where fear of controversy, loss of funding, or political pressure can limit which narratives are made visible. Central to the exhibition is the Ultra Violet Archive, an interactive library which resists silencing by preserving cultural memory and amplifying suppressed voices. Projects like the Minecraft Uncensored Library—a digital platform where banned texts are freely accessible—demonstrate how artists, activists, and technologists are developing inventive strategies to fight suppression.
As part of the exhibition, we will hold a community reading of Frederick Douglass’s work during National Banned Books Week in October. The exhibition also features a dedicated space where visitors can share their own experiences with censorship creating an archive that underscores the ongoing relevance of these struggles. Opportunities to engage will create a space for shared reflection, underscoring the enduring power of words to inspire freedom, dialogue, and change.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Thursdays 1:00 p.m.—8:00 p.m.
Please note: the galleries will be closed November 26-December 1 for Thanksgiving break.
Ctrl+Delete explores the persistent threat of censorship in the United States, from historical book bans used to control knowledge and suppress marginalized voices to today’s escalating restrictions—including the removal of books and art from public spaces as well as the June Supreme Court decision (Mahmoud v. Taylor) requiring schools to provide opportunities to opt out of listening learning about books that include LGBTQ+ characters. By tracing these acts of erasure across time, the show reveals how censorship has shaped, and continues to shape, what stories are told and who gets to tell them.
Alongside overt bans and challenges, the exhibition also addresses the quieter but equally insidious forces of self-censorship within art and educational institutions, where fear of controversy, loss of funding, or political pressure can limit which narratives are made visible. Central to the exhibition is the Ultra Violet Archive, an interactive library which resists silencing by preserving cultural memory and amplifying suppressed voices. Projects like the Minecraft Uncensored Library—a digital platform where banned texts are freely accessible—demonstrate how artists, activists, and technologists are developing inventive strategies to fight suppression.
As part of the exhibition, we will hold a community reading of Frederick Douglass’s work during National Banned Books Week in October. The exhibition also features a dedicated space where visitors can share their own experiences with censorship creating an archive that underscores the ongoing relevance of these struggles. Opportunities to engage will create a space for shared reflection, underscoring the enduring power of words to inspire freedom, dialogue, and change.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Thursdays 1:00 p.m.—8:00 p.m.
Please note: the galleries will be closed November 26-December 1 for Thanksgiving break.
Book & Lyrics by Greg Kotis, Music & Lyrics by Mark Hollman.
Winner of three Tony Awards and two Obie Awards, Urinetown is a hilarious musical satire of the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, environmental collapse, privatization of natural resources, bureaucracy, municipal politics, and musical theatre itself! In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets.The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he’s had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom! Hilariously funny and touchingly honest, Urinetown provides a fresh perspective on one of America’s greatest art forms.
Tickets may be purchased online through the Box Office once they become availalbe.
The ensemble performs under the direction of Artistic Director Andrea Taylor.
A link to the Box Office for purchasing tickets will be added once tickets are available.
Wheaton’s choral tradition for the holidays celebrates music of varied cultures and time periods, and features the Wheaton Chorale and Chamber Singers under the direction of Assistant Professor Alexandra Lutkevich.
The concert is free to the public, but contributions are gratefully accepted.
A curated selection of student work is showcased in this end-of-semester screening.
Comprised of Wheaton students, faculty, and members of the public, the GWSO presents a concert of orchestral works drawn from multiple eras.
Suggested contribution $5.
Join us for an evening of Soca and Calypso music. Jason ‘Panman’ Roseman has been sharing his inherited expertise with us, bringing to the ensemble his distinctive arrangements and original compositions composed in the irrepressible styles of Trinidad and Tobago. You are invited to come and lime with the band, the music, and the extraordinarily brilliant and innovative instruments of Trinidad.