Virginia Tech Faculty and Staff
"The enlightening impacts that visiting artists have brought to my class are beyond my expectation. The power of the arts has opened a new channel for students to delve into course content."
— Chengqui Wu, research assistant professor, Department of Political Science
we're here to help
Please reach out with questions about teaching, learning, and engaging with our programs.
Performances and Engagement
Ben Jewell-Plocher
Associate Director of Engagement
benjp@vt.edu
540-231-0872
Exhibitions and Gallery Tours
Savannah Penven
Exhibitions Program Manager
spenven@vt.edu
540-231-0840
If you’re looking for ways to deepen curriculum, invigorate programming, and create exceptional learning experiences for your students, consider collaborating with us.
As a home for experiential learning and interdisciplinary dialogue on campus, the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech seeks to build diverse perspectives, foster creativity, and promote collaboration among students, faculty, and artists. We're dedicated to giving every Virginia Tech student access to creative experiences that can transform the way they see the world and the people in it. One way to achieve that goal is through arts integration in the classroom and beyond.
In a regular season, we present:
- 25+ performances from national and international professional artist
- 4-6 exhibitions featuring the work of emerging and world-renowned visual artists
- 200+ hands-on, free engagement activities with visiting artists from around the globe and close to home
Explore engaging opportunities to compliment your syllabus or co-curricular programming through:
- facilitated gallery tours
- live performances
- class visits by guest artists
- hands-on workshops and master classes
Did you know? During the 2024-2025 academic year, the center:
- partnered with 57 academic departments, co-curricular programs, and student organizations
- hosted 63 in-class, cultural community center, and living-learning center artist visits
- facilitated 49 gallery tours for academic courses
- engaged 3,800+ Virginia Tech students through free activities
What can the arts do for you? Arts-based experiences can:
- provide a new entry point to course material and enliven the learning routine
- become one of the "texts" through which to explore course or co-curricular themes, bringing questions to bear in another mode of inquiry
- create space to survey and investigate complex or unfamiliar ideas
"Working with the Center for the Arts to bring artists to the classroom has been an immensely wonderful gift for both me and the students. In the past school years, we have had such a wealth of experiential knowledge and insight about what it means to be a working artist across multiple disciplines. These craft talks and discussions have only deepened student engagement with their own creative processes over the semesters. I'm truly indebted to the center for these priceless connections"
— Sophia Terazawa, visiting assistant professor, Department of English
Arts Integration in Practice
Music artist No-No Boy discusses the creative process with CID students
Partnering with the Creativity and Innovation District (CID), the center presented No-No Boy to connect with students in the living, learning communities. Singer-songwriter Julian Saporiti was joined by his wife and collaborator, Emilia Saporiti. As part of their visit, they served as Creativity and Innovation District Fellows, which meant living at the CID and doing a lot of work with students.
I’m Interested. What's Next?
Check out answers to common questions to help you plan enrichment opportunities for your syllabus or co-curricular group.
Virginia Tech student tickets are always $10 (excluding Broadway). Recommendations for handling this cost include:
- Invite your students to sign up for the center's free student rush ticket program. Text “arts” to 833-966-1838 to receive text alerts when tickets are available.
- Ask students to purchase their own tickets. The cost is cheaper than most textbooks!
- Incorporate a fee into your course — as many labs on campus do — to ensure students are aware of the additional cost during registration.
- Inquire with your department or campus unit to see if funds can be made available to cover the cost of tickets.
- Contact our staff to inquire about additional options.
- List the event prominently in your course syllabus and make your expectations of attendance clear.
- If the date/time of the center event falls outside of your class time, anticipate that some students may not be able to participate. As a substitute, consult with our staff and suggest alternative arts experiences for those students to attend.
- Incorporate in-class activities, course readings, or media to review as homework. Our staff are available to recommend substantive resources for your syllabi and, in select cases, connect you directly with guest artists in advance for collaborative planning.
Whether in person or virtually, guest artists regularly visit Virginia Tech classes, deliver talks at the center, and conduct workshops and lecture/demonstrations — and have interfaced with every college at Virginia Tech and numerous co-curricular programs. Contact center staff to request class visits by specific artists or ask for recommendations for arts experiences that would be germane to your course/program.
- Encourage students to interact with artists directly during regular post-performance talks or meet-and-greets.
- Invite students to reflect on their experiences by assigning post-event response papers or creative projects.
- Host center staff in your class to facilitate post-event discussions and critiques.
The center regularly develops new programs based on recommendations from faculty and staff. Share your ideas and start a collaboration by contacting Ben Jewell-Plocher or Savannah Penven.