Explore Visual and Performing Arts at UMBC
With more than a dozen art majors, you can dive deep into your artistic passions at UMBC. Plus, you can become a certified teacher or get creative and craft your own major through our Individualized Study program—either way, you’ll be learning alongside other dedicated artists.
Discover our Majors and Programs
With more than a dozen art majors, you can dive deep into your artistic passions at UMBC. Plus, you can become a certified teacher or get creative and craft your own major through our Individualized Study program—either way, you’ll be learning alongside other dedicated artists.
- Acting
- Animation
- Art Entrepreneurship
- Art History & Museum Studies
- Dance Performance and Choreography
- Graphic Design
- Jazz Studies
- Music Composition
- Music Education
- Music Performance
- Music Technology
- Photography and Cinema
- Print Media
- Theatre Design & Production
- Theatre Studies
- Visual & Media Arts
Take a Tour: A Stellar Place For Creative Practice
An important aspect of studying the arts in preparation for a professional creative career is access to topnotch facilities and equipment. You’ll hone your craft and learn industry practices in our excellent facilities and performing venues. Go ahead and check out our amazing venues, studios and practice spaces, and workshops.
Dance
Take a walk-through, 360-degree tour of our dance studios and performance venues.
Music
Take a walk-through, 360-degree tour of our concert venues, recording studios, and more.
Theatre
Take a walk-through, 360-degree tour of our theatre venues, rehearsal spaces, scenic and costume shops.
Visual Arts
Take a walk-through, 360-degree tour of our cinema, animation, photography, and design studios.
You’ll Make Your Own Adventure
Your UMBC experience is what you make it. We’ve got the map, but you’ll build your own path. From our 250+ clubs and student organizations to study abroad and service-learning, there’s something for you. One evening you could be playing Humans vs. Zombies and the next cheering on one of UMBC’s 17 Division I sports teams. Here you can help save the Earth, experience new cultures, and make lifelong friends—all in the same day.
The Linehan Artist Scholars Program
The Linehan Artist Scholars Program is a four-year scholarship and mentorship program for students who enter UMBC as freshmen with a major in the arts.
Linehan Scholars
- Receive a scholarship of up to $15,000 (in-state) or $22,000 (out-of-state) per academic year
- Explore ideas about contemporary concepts in the arts in a first-year seminar
- Live on campus in a Living Learning Community with artists who share your passion
- Attend performances and visit museums in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
- Receive summer research support to study with professional artists across the globe
Meet Our Faculty
Our diverse, internationally acclaimed faculty are committed to guiding future arts professionals to think independently, work imaginatively, and develop creative responses to the challenges of our times. Here are just a few of the people you’ll have the chance to learn from.
Nigel Semaj
Theatre
Semaj is a Baltimore-based director, movement director, and educator originally from Washington, D.C.
Carol Hess
Dance
Carol was born in New York City where she trained as a dancer and received her BA from Barnard College. She has performed with Hannah Kahn and Dancers, The Rondo Dance Theater, DANCES/Janet Soares, and as a tap soloist she appeared on television and in concerts in the United States and York, she received a MA from Columbia University, where she studied dance composition from Robert Ellis Dunn.
Dr. Phillip Mann
Orchestra
Dr. Phillip Mann’s remarkable career achievements include transforming the Arkansas Symphony into an internationally acclaimed ensemble. Currently, he serves as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra. He continues to inspire through music and community enrichment.
In Their Own Words
What our students and alumni say about their UMBC experience
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