UMass Fine Arts Center

UMass Fine Arts Center Your hub of information for all things UMass Arts https://linktr.ee/umassfac History

Established in 1975.
(68)

The UMass Fine Arts Center offers a variety of stellar performing arts, visual arts, and education programs that present a unique opportunity to experience the arts in the Pioneer Valley. Performing arts specialties include classical music, jazz, world music, popular music, traditional, classical and modern dance, theater, and family programming representing artists from around the globe. The Asia

n and Asian American Arts and Culture Program presents artists from throughout the Asian and Middle Eastern diaspora. The Fine Arts Center gives western Massachusetts residents, students and families the opportunity to experience the best in music and performance art within their community. Visual arts are presented through the Hampden and Augusta Savage Galleries, and the University Museum of Contemporary Art. Each of these spaces on the UMass Amherst campus promote artistic works from a broad spectrum of cultures focusing on issues of race, ethnicity, class, and cultural identity, to reflect current practices in contemporary art across all genres, and offer a multidisciplinary, international laboratory for the exploration and advancement of contemporary art. The Fine Arts Center provides education programs that deepen appreciation, understanding and knowledge of the arts making it a critical site for experiential student learning in the arts, creative community engagement, educational collaboration, and artistic exploration. These programs include the Arts Council, Global Arts for School Children, Jazz in July and Lively Arts. Combined, these programs fulfill the mission of the Fine Arts Center and the university to provide affordable access to high quality arts programming, through engagement in public service that advances knowledge and improves lives. The Fine Arts Center in Amherst opened as a campus concert center and art gallery in 1975, and has since earned a local reputation as a central force in the cultural, social and academic life of this western Massachusetts community. Over the years, the Fine Arts Center has played a unique role in serving the broad cultural and educational needs of the campus, the Five College Consortium, and the communities of the Pioneer Valley. Over the years the Fine Arts Center's role in western Massachusetts has evolved into much more than just a venue for the arts. Each season, an average of 80-90 exhibitions, music, dance, and theater events are programmed along with educational and residency activities that include master classes, lectures, demonstrations and pre- and post-performance discussions, open to the community. Since 1993 the Asian Arts and Culture Program has ensured that community residents have access to performers and artists beyond the traditions of western art, music and culture.

Sold out!Registration for Yanira Castro's Exorcism=Liberation dinner and artist talk has reached capacity. In the event ...
09/10/2024

Sold out!

Registration for Yanira Castro's Exorcism=Liberation dinner and artist talk has reached capacity. In the event of no-shows we will make space available to walk-up patrons on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 6:15 p.m. on the day of the event

Ticket holders are advised that advance reservations expire at 6:15, and entry after that time will depend on space availability.

Yanira Castro: Exorcism = Liberation

Join us for the opening of Imaginary Homelands, a compelling exhibition featuring the works of Alicia Brown and Daisy Pa...
09/10/2024

Join us for the opening of Imaginary Homelands, a compelling exhibition featuring the works of Alicia Brown and Daisy Patton. Through vibrant, ornately detailed portraits, the artists explore themes of diaspora, identity, and belonging. Brown’s connection to Caribbean history and colonialism contrasts with Patton’s reconnection to her Iranian roots, offering intimate glimpses into their personal narratives. This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the idea of home, not as a fixed place, but as a fluid, emotional journey shaped by memory, culture, and time.

Image: Alicia Brown, A Far Cry from Home, 2022. Oil on linen, 48” x 36”.

UMass Amherst

09/06/2024

We brought some fire to Pondfire at the Campus Pond tonight.

09/03/2024

Victory Players: El Puerto Rico
Post-show community event featuring Bomba de Aquí
Saturday, September 14, 3 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall and Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts lobby

https://umassarts.site/victoryplayersfbsummer

08/30/2024

Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone! Our friends Dropkick Murphys are marking the occasion with the release of the documentary film, This Machine Rising. The movie captures the story of how Boston's proudly blue-collar Celtic punks wrote and recorded two albums of acoustic songs using unpublished lyrics by working class hero Woody Guthrie. The moving includes closing commentary by Tom Morello and Billy Bragg. Watch it here: youtu.be/any1pwfQeeQ

And don't forget we're presenting Dropkick Murphys with Pennywise and The Scratch at the Mullins Center in Amherst on Sunday, October 27! We'll see you there. Learn more: umassarts.site/dkm-tmr

08/29/2024

Cirque Kikasse presented by the Fine Arts Center as part of the New Students Kickoff Carnival. Amazing acrobatics, free popcorn, and T-shirt giveaways. There will be a second performance at 5:30 p.m. at the Haigis Mall plaza. Come join us, first year students!

UMass Amherst
Cirque Kikasse

Congratulations to our very own Michael Sakamoto, who was honored as a 2024 Western Arts Alliance Award recipient and th...
08/29/2024

Congratulations to our very own Michael Sakamoto, who was honored as a 2024 Western Arts Alliance Award recipient and the 2024 Mentoring Award at this year’s Western Arts Alliance conference. This prestigious award is given annually to an arts professional who has demonstrated outstanding excellence in mentoring and a strong commitment to advancing the Western performing arts community.

From the Western Arts Alliance:

Michael Sakamoto is an interdisciplinary artist, scholar, educator, and curator active in dance, theatre, performance, media, photography, installation, and social practice. His works have been presented in 15 countries throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. Recent performance tours include Flash, a butoh/hip-hop duet with Rennie Harris; Soil (National Dance Project grantee), a dance theater trio with performers from Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam/USA; and blind spot, an intermedia performance around personal identity and corporate militarism. Michael’s research and performance interests include contemporary imaginings of the butoh-based “body in crisis,” corporeal and mediated embodiments of self-reflection and social resistance, and performing the cultural commons and cultural sustainability.

“Michael has been attending WAA for years, served on the Hyphen+Asian committee and was a key contributor in making the pre-con symposium happen. His mentoring and professional development support of AAPI artists has been significant to me and to many folks I know.” -Nadhi Thekkek, Nava Dance Theatre

Michael currently serves as Performing Arts Curator and Asian and Asian American Arts and Cultures Program Director at the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center.

More:
https://www.westarts.org/news-updates/2024-waa-awardees

08/24/2024

During his sophomore year of college in November 2021, Charley Blacker wanted to start an organization that was unique and new to the University of Massachusetts Amherst community: a group dedicated to promoting local musicians through playlists,...

08/20/2024

Our 2024-2025 season brochure is on its way! You can also pick up a copy at the usual locations.

04/24/2024

The final Bright Moments Spoken Word Night of the year is here, and it’s not to be missed! Each month, Bright Moments invites emerging artists from campus and the community to showcase their work alongside the best spoken word poets from the national scene.

Tomorrow, April 25, join us as we welcome award-winning, multi-talented Roscoe Burnems as our featured artist.

Burnems is a poet, published author, spoken-word artist, poetry slam champion, comedian, educator, father, and Richmond, Virginia’s inaugural poet laureate. Burnems uses a mix of humor and thought-provoking poetry to discuss mental health issues and their taboo nature in communities of color, using his own journey as an example.

Bright Moments host Lyrical Faith is a Black American educator, activist, and spoken word poet from the Bronx. She is the third-ranked woman poet in the world as of the 2022 Womxn of the World Poetry Slam, an inaugural Bronx Poet Laureate finalist, a two-time recipient of the Bronx Council on the Arts BRIO Award, and the 2015 Syracuse University Poet of the Year. Through her poetry, Lyrical Faith strives to inspire, educate, and advocate for intersectional and institutional issues by merging the arts and activism from a faith-based worldview.

FREE & OPEN TO ALL
Join us for open mic performances, food, DJ entertainment, and more.

Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts lobby
Thursday, April 25, 6:30 P.M.
Open mic sign-up begins at 6 P.M.

UMass Amherst
Lyrical Faith Poetry
Roscoe Burnems

Free lunchtime concert with Blaque DynamiteTuesday, April 2312- 1 p.m. Student Union Lobby Yes, chef! Get in on a free l...
04/22/2024

Free lunchtime concert with Blaque Dynamite
Tuesday, April 23
12- 1 p.m.
Student Union Lobby

Yes, chef! Get in on a free lunchtime feast for the ears as Blaque Dynamite and his trio serve up heaping helpings of their spicy blend of jazz, funk, and R&B on the Metawampe Lawn outside the Campus Center and Student Union.

There’s a good reason Blaque Dynamite, AKA Mike Mitchell, is one of the most in-demand sidemen on the jazz scene. Mitchell began drumming at age 2, played in his first live recording session at age 7, and had acquired a roster of drum company endorsements by the time he turned 11 years old.

At 14, Mitchell enrolled in the renowned Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas. The school also fostered the amazing talents of Norah Jones, Erykah Badu and the late great, Roy Hargrove.

"...a Jazz Drumming Prodigy...he is a powerhouse behind the kit!" - The Dallas Observer

Grammy-nominated Dynamite has raked in a host of accolades and awards, including 14 DownBeat Music Awards. His impressive performance credits include Grammy award-winning artists Chick Corea, Christian McBride, Erykah Badu, Thundercat, Michael McDonald, Bob Mintzer, Chrisette Michele, Terell Stafford, and the “Legendary” Clark Sisters.

In 2012, he was selected to perform on a global stage at the inaugural International Jazz Day Celebration with one of the most influential jazz artists of all time, Herbie Hancock.

In 2015, he released his debut album, "WiFi," with Dallas-bred band, Rache'. “Killing Bugs” followed in 2017, with “Time Out” dropping in 2020.

“…No words can describe this man’s extraordinary power, speed, velocity, feel and groove…” - The Blue Note, NY

UMass Amherst
Blaque Dynamite

04/12/2024

This is how it looks and sounds when a guitar virtuoso (JIJI) interprets a violin virtuoso (Niccolò Paganini).

Magic happening on stage tonight at UMass Amherst’s Bowker Auditorium.

Address

151 Presidents Drive
Amherst, MA
01003

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm

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Videos

We brought some fire to Pondfire at the Campus Pond tonight.

Yanira Castro: Exorcism = Liberation Thursday, September 12, 6 p.m. Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts lobby https://umassarts.site/ycastrofbsummer

Victory Players: El Puerto Rico Post-show community event featuring Bomba de Aquí Saturday, September 14, 3 p.m. Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall and Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts lobby https://umassarts.site/victoryplayersfbsummer

Bia Ferreira Tuesday, September 24, 8 p.m. The Drake https://umassarts.site/ferreirafbsummer

Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone! Our friends Dropkick Murphys are marking the occasion with the release of the documentary film, This Machine Rising. The movie captures the story of how Boston's proudly blue-collar Celtic punks wrote and recorded two albums of acoustic songs using unpublished lyrics by working class hero Woody Guthrie. The moving includes closing commentary by Tom Morello and Billy Bragg. Watch it here: youtu.be/any1pwfQeeQ And don't forget we're presenting Dropkick Murphys with Pennywise and The Scratch at the Mullins Center in Amherst on Sunday, October 27! We'll see you there. Learn more: umassarts.site/dkm-tmr

Terence Blanchard: Flow Thursday, September 26, 8 p.m. Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall https://umassarts.site/blanchardfbsummer

Cirque Kikasse presented by the Fine Arts Center as part of the New Students Kickoff Carnival. Amazing acrobatics, free popcorn, and T-shirt giveaways. There will be a second performance at 5:30 p.m. at the Haigis Mall plaza. Come join us, first year students! UMass Amherst Cirque Kikasse

A.I.M. By Kyle Abraham Friday, October 4, 8 p.m. Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall https://umassarts.site/aimfbsummer

Mariza Tuesday, October 8, 8 p.m. Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall https://umassarts.site/marizafbsummer

Fran Lebowitz: A State of the Union Conversation Thursday, October 10, 7:30 p.m. Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall https://umassarts.site/lebowitzfbsummer

Shakura S'Aida Tuesday, October 29, 8 p.m. The Drake https://umassarts.site/shakurasaidafbsummer

Nava Dance Theatre: Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies Friday, November 1, 7:30 p.m. Bowker Auditorium https://umassarts.site/navafbsummer

Angélique Kidjo Thursday, November 14, 8 p.m. Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall https://umassarts.site/kidjofbsummer

Our 2024-2025 season brochure is on its way! You can also pick up a copy at the usual locations.

¡Guitarra! Drew Henderson Saturday, November 16, 7:30 p.m. Bezanson Recital Hall https://umassarts.site/hendersonfbsummer

Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre Wednesday, December 4, 7:30 p.m. Bowker Auditorium https://umassarts.site/yaasamarfbsummer

Electric Root Presents: The Sound Of (Black) Music Sunday, December 8, 3 p.m. Bowker Auditorium https://umassarts.site/soundblackmusicfbsummer

Adam Pascal And Anthony Rapp: Celebrating 30 Years Of Friendship And Music Friday, January 31, 8 p.m. Bowker Auditorium https://umassarts.site/pascalrappfbsummer

Endea Owens And The Cookout Friday, February 7, 8 p.m. Bowker Auditorium https://umassarts.site/endeafbsummer

Limón Dance Company Thursday, February 13, 7:30 p.m. Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall https://umassarts.site/ldcfbsummer

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