Virginia Tech® home

Supporting Creative Work

Abigail Lucien's spring 2026 exhibition, "Molt," featuring several commissioned works. In the foreground is a piece of art, while gallery attendees explore the other works deeper in the gallery.

Artistic experiences begin with artists. Behind every performance, exhibition, and creative project is a process of imagination, experimentation, and discovery. As one of the nation's leading campus-based arts institutions, the Center for the Arts plays an important role in supporting that creative process through commissions and artist residencies.

These investments are about more than financial support. They create the conditions for new artistic work to exist, giving artists the time, resources, and collaborative opportunities to develop new ideas and bring them to life.

Each season, the center commissions new performance and visual art projects, while welcoming artists whose residencies foster creativity, collaboration, and engagement with students, faculty, and the broader community. As these new works are performed and exhibited in communities around the world, they also elevate the visibility of both the center and Virginia Tech.

Artist Impact

The center supported the creation of these new works:

Tania León's Young Songs, featured in Julia Bullock, Seth Parker Woods, and Conor Hanick’s performance, From Ordinary Things.

Abel Selaocoe's Pula and Sefako, Ben Nobuto's Living, and Selaocoe's and Michael Van der Aa's Entanglements, featured in Selaocoe's performance.

Visual artist Brian Dettmer’s mural, Memories of the Mountains (2025-2028), currently on view in the center's Grand Lobby.

Abigail Lucien's  L'UNION (M/L); makouti (CANE), makouti (PATIENCE), and makouti (louvre), featured in the spring 2026 exhibition, Molt.

Donor Profiles

  • General Item
    Betty Hahn stands with works she donated from her family's private collection to the Virginia Tech collection.
    A Legacy of Inspiration

    Inspiring learning experiences.: Virginia Tech alumna Betty Hahn's recent donation of artwork is helping shape the future for the Center for the Arts' exhibitions and the university's collection.

  • General Item
    David Parr and his mother, Nancy Fidler Parr, visit the Center for the Arts galleries.
    Shaping Creative Futures

    For C. Edward Marr Jr., creativity was never confined to a canvas.: Marr Jr.'s passion for creativity continues to inspire others through a recently establish fund to support artist residencies.