For many years, the University of Dayton’s visual and performing arts departments came together for Celebration of the Arts, an annual showcase in which students shared their talents with the community at the Schuster Center in downtown Dayton.
That event served as the model for the new UD Department of Visual and Performing Arts, which unites the former UD departments of art and design, music, and the theater, dance and performance technology program. The merger, effective July 1, was the result of more than a year of planning by faculty, staff and administrators.
The new department creates a unified presence for the arts at UD and in the Dayton community and takes advantage of the transformative opportunities presented by the Roger Glass Center for the Arts, the first building on campus dedicated to visual and performing arts.
The department preserves the distinct identities and strengths of each discipline while encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration. It is intended to support student success through expanded opportunities across artistic fields, grounding the work in Marianist values, community engagement, creative practice and research.
“This is an opportunity to look ahead and rethink what we’re doing and meet the 21st century a little more head-on,” said Toby Rush, associate professor and UD Department of Visual and Performing Arts chair. “Celebration of the Arts was a great opportunity for the visual arts and performing arts to get together. It was always such a thrill and exposed us all to the larger artistic world that we live in.”
The department continues to offer professional degree programs in fine arts, graphic design, photography, art education, music performance, music education and music therapy, as well as liberal arts degrees in visual arts, music and theater. It also allows students to participate in and learn about the arts through lessons, ensembles and courses, regardless of their major.
“I think that’s something that sets our programs apart from a lot of other universities, where you have to major in music, theater or art to participate,” Rush said.
With the rise of artificial intelligence, faculty see a growing desire among students to work with their hands and learn how to create, said Darden Bradshaw, associate professor and UD Department of Visual and Performing Arts assistant chair.
“When we think about focusing on adaptation and change, artists — whether they are musicians, performers or visual artists — have always been at the forefront of commenting on the challenges that are experienced in communities and society,” Bradshaw said. “As we focus on preparing visual and performing artists for their role, we have to think about collaboration, communication and the ways in which we can build networks of cooperation. Our department now becomes a living model of that structure.”
Rush said the department is dedicated to relaunching Celebration of the Arts, which has been paused for several years, in spring 2028 at the Glass Center.
Opened in January 2024, the Glass Center features a concert hall, experimental theater, art gallery, and experiential learning facilities for Flyer TV, Flyer Radio and Flyer News.
“Before the Glass Center was built, we were all in different spaces across campus, so there was quite a bit of separation,” Rush said. “Once this new facility opened, we started seeing each other’s work a lot more and we’ve really started to see the building as a cohesive whole.”
Even before the merger was official, visual and performing arts faculty explored ways to collaborate within their shared facility. On March 8, in honor of International Woman’s Day, faculty presented Drawn Together: A Celebration of Creation and Connection at the Glass Center, with support from the Ohio Arts Council and Montgomery County, Ohio, administered by CultureWorks.
The program featured performances by faculty vocalists Ryu-Kyung Kim and Andrea Chenoweth Wells, pianist Ji-Hyang Gwak and dancer Jennifer Sydor. Visual arts professor Erin Holscher Almazan created digital animations that accompanied several selections, as well as an oil painting that was projected on stage and featured on silk scarves worn by the performers. Almazan’s painting also inspired the lighting design created by UD student stagehand Jane Goodhart ’27.
“We conceived Drawn Together as a celebration of collaboration, viewed through the lens of women’s voices and experiences,” Wells said. “By bringing music by women composers, performed by women artists, into conversation with dance and visual art, we hoped to create an interdisciplinary experience that invited the audience to explore new and exciting connections among different forms of creative expression. It was a joy to create this experience with colleagues from our newly combined Department of Visual and Performing Arts.”
Photos from ‘Drawn Together: A Celebration of Creation and Connection’ at the Roger Glass Center for the Arts.