The Williams Center for the Arts is the focal point for cultural programming at Lafayette. Its 400-seat theater/concert hall is host to world-renowned touring companies and visiting artists. Recent performers include American Brass Quintet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Awadagin Pratt and Friends, noted trumpet player Roy Hargrove and his quintet, African drumming troupe Grupo AFROCUBA de Matanzas, bassist Edgar Meyer, and Sean Curran. The Williams Center gallery presents art exhibitions in a wide variety of media and genres each year.

Student theater and musical performances are presented in the black box theater or on the main stage through the College Theater Program. Auditions are open to all students and other members of the community. Among recent plays have been Studs Terkel's Working, which was one of five productions selected by the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival for regional competition. Other recent productions include Thornton Wilder's Skin of Our Teeth, Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Shakespeare's Othello. Student ensembles perform throughout the year both in concert and at College functions.

Lafayette's Artist-in-Residence programs bring distinguished artists to campus each year to perform, to teach, and to work with students. Noted artists Juana Valdes and Ann Hamilton gave talks on their work and talked one-on-one with senior honors art students. Sandra Starck gave a workshop on printmaking. Other recent visiting artists have included master African musicians of WOFA from Guinea, Aquila Theatre of London, and Shafaatullah Khan.

Poetry flourishes at Lafayette. You have the opportunity to work with noted poet and writer-in-residence Lee Upton and interact with Pulitzer Prize winning poets who visit the campus. Recent guest poets have included James Tate, Maya Angelou, Campbell McGrath, W. D. Snodgrass, and Nikki Giovanni. Readings are held often and two poetry competitions occur each year.

In addition, various student groups sponsor bus trips to New York City to see Broadway plays, opera, and shows. The International Students Association organizes sight-seeing trips in the College van to sites of interest in the Eastern United States and Canada.

You have many opportunities to perform, to write for publications, and to participate in dramatic productions -- whether on the stage or behind the scenes.