WWU College of Fine and Performing Arts

09/02/2026

Brian Nigus, Instructional Technician for the Department of Art and Art History at Western will have works featured in the Make.Shift Art Space Clipboard show for the September 4 First Friday event. All works sold support working artists studios, facility restoration and repair at the community art space.

Brian Nigus, Instructional Technician for the Department of Art and Art History at Western will have works featured in the Make.Shift Art Space Clipboard show for the September 4 First Friday event. All works sold support working artists studios, facility restoration and repair at the community art....

08/24/2026

The 2026-27 Bellingham Chamber Music Society concert season features WWU music faculty members Laura Camacho, Celeste Fraser, Mehrdad Gholami, Pat Nelson, Jay Rozendaal, Eli Schille-Hudson, Jill Whitman, Judith Widrig, and Kay Zavislak. The Society's fifth season pays tribute to the composers featured in Leah Broad’s biography "Quartet: How Four Women Challenged the Musical World."

The 2026-27 Bellingham Chamber Music Society concert season features WWU music faculty members Laura Camacho, Celeste Fraser, Mehrdad Gholami, Pat Nelson, Jay Rozendaal, Eli Schille-Hudson, Jill Whitman, Judith Widrig, and Kay Zavislak. The Society's fifth season pays tribute to the composers featur...

08/18/2026

Dancer Atlas Hovdesven started dancing when he was 2 years old. He began studying contemporary dance in 2023 at Opus Performing Arts and began dance classes at Western in 2024. While combing the internet for summer intensive opportunities, Hovdesven found the American Dance Festival Internships at Duke University and settled on the Stagecraft Apprenticeship, which gives participants the opportunity to take dance classes while doing stage production work.

Dancer Atlas Hovdesven started dancing when he was 2 years old. He began studying contemporary dance in 2023 at Opus Performing Arts and began dance classes at Western in 2024. While combing the internet for summer intensive opportunities, Hovdesven found the American Dance Festival Internships at D...

08/14/2026

Allied Arts of Whatcom County’s new Whatcom County Arts Awards honors local artists and organizations who inspire, encourage and sustain the community through their creative work. The five categories are: Arts Legend, Arts Advocate, Visual, Literary and Performance. Pam K***z of WWU Dance was recognized for her contributions in the Performance category.

Allied Arts of Whatcom County’s new Whatcom County Arts Awards honors local artists and organizations who inspire, encourage and sustain the community through their creative work. The five categories are: Arts Legend, Arts Advocate, Visual, Literary and Performance. Pam K***z of WWU Dance was reco...

08/11/2026

Planks abound in the dance and conditioning realm and are recognized as an effective exercise to build core strength. Without the appropriate upper body strength, the plank can create more issues than it solves, including injuries to the lumbar spine, shoulder, neck, and pelvic floor. Director of Dance Susan Haines presented her research on core training for dancers at the annual conference for the Dance Science and Somatic Educators in Salt Lake City in July.

Planks abound in the dance and conditioning realm and are recognized as an effective exercise to build core strength. Without the appropriate upper body strength, the plank can create more issues than it solves, including injuries to the lumbar spine, shoulder, neck, and pelvic floor. Director of Da...

07/20/2026

What an incredible experience! This dynamic group brought the class to life with curiosity, creativity, and energy! We’re not done yet! Keep an eye out for more details about the exhibition in the B-Gallery during the Fall 2026 term. We can’t wait to see everyone’s NYC inspired journals & projects!

What an incredible experience! This dynamic group brought the class to life with curiosity, creativity, and energy! We’re not done yet! Keep an eye out for more details about the exhibition in the B-Gallery during the Fall 2026 term. We can’t wait to see everyone’s NYC inspired journals & proj...

07/16/2026

WWU Theatre’s Summer Test Kitchen is in its third year of convening students, faculty, alums, and writers to workshop and test-drive play scripts and screenplays. After week-long intensives, the company will present a series of staged readings of the works in development.

06/30/2026

Each year, WWU honors seven graduates with the Presidential Scholar Award, honoring the high achievements of students for exceptional scholarship, success in furthering multicultural programs and activities, and other service to the university and community. Presidential Scholars are nominated by faculty members, recommended by deans and formally selected by the president. Presidential Scholars will also wear their award medallions during their commencement ceremonies.

Sofia Choi brings intellectual rigor, genuine curiosity and a deeply held commitment to community to their work in the Design Program. Known for their integrative thinking, Choi's work moves fluidly between editorial design, web and community-based workshops – all grounded by the belief that design can expand public access to arts, culture and education. With their minor in digital humanities, Choi's work incorporates perspectives from literature, philosophy, fine art, history and technology. They applied these skills to work with the Civil Rights Oral History Archive project, where they designed a website prototype sensitive to the historical and cultural importance of the archive’s content. They also worked with Western’s Basic Needs Hub as both designer and advocate, creating publicity materials and programs that helped students secure crucial basic services.

Each year, WWU honors seven graduates with the Presidential Scholar Award, honoring the high achievements of students for exceptional scholarship, success in furthering multicultural programs and activities, and other service to the university and community. Presidential Scholars are nominated by fa...

06/30/2026

WWU student Nathan Christner, a Design major from Bellingham, recently won one national and three district American Advertising Awards (also known as “ADDYs”) for his “Fish Are People Too.” His work building and designing an ad for MCON, a game controller for mobile devices, also won two district ADDYs. Quite the trophy haul.

WWU student Nathan Christner, a Design major from Bellingham, recently won one national and three district American Advertising Awards (also known as “ADDYs”) for his “Fish Are People Too.” His work building and designing an ad for MCON, a game controller for mobile devices, also won two dis...

06/30/2026

Guitars, fiddles, banjos, mandolins and a lone accordion all tuned to the key of A on the lawn facing Old Main. The sounds of a 1935 folk classic filled the circle of students, who sang together; “If you fill up ma jug, with some good ole mountain dew.” On Old Main lawn, old-time tunes continued to ebb and flow with the setting sun as the Western Americana Music Group (WAM) hosted a weekly jam session. WAM’s primary focus is old-time, country and bluegrass music, but they will play virtually anything musicians bring to the table, said Henson Burk-Fawcett, a co-band manager of the club. Every Thursday, WAM hosts a lesson from 6:30 to 7 p.m. to prepare for the jam session that goes from 7 to 8. Anyone can join – even if they don’t play an instrument.

Guitars, fiddles, banjos, mandolins and a lone accordion all tuned to the key of A on the lawn facing Old Main. The sounds of a 1935 folk classic filled the circle of students, who sang together; “If you fill up ma jug, with some good ole mountain dew.” On Old Main lawn, old-time tunes continued...