About Us
Who We Are
The WSU School of Performing Arts awards both a BA in Performing Arts (Dance, Theatre) and BFA in Performing Arts (Dance, Design and Technical Theatre, Musical Theatre, Theatre Performance/Acting). The School of Performing Arts values and promotes applied learning in the classroom, studio, on stage & screen, in the community and through site-specific engagement and performance. In addition to curricular-related showings on and off campus, the school annually produces plays, a national student playwriting competition, dance and theatre films, audio shows, dance concerts, musicals, a musical theatre incubator program, and more. Three student-led organizations produce shows and events as well.
The WSU School of Performing Arts envisions an inclusive world where curiosity, creativity, and collaboration are essential and valued for an engaging career and artistic life.
The School of Performing Arts guides scholarly and artistic endeavors, supports creativity, and facilitates an education focused on developing sustainable and engaged creative citizens.
Community – Create an equitable, inclusive, and transparent environment and culture that promotes growth, belonging, and impactful citizenship.
Creativity – Facilitate, embrace, and hold space for new ideas and innovation in curriculum, programming, and applied learning.
Curiosity – Encourage and support inquiry as a necessary foundation for creativity, collaboration, and innovation.
Collaboration – Prioritize and value co-creation, partnerships, and group-based exploration to develop equity-minded, collaborative, artistic leaders.
Courage – Create a culture which supports vulnerability and positive risk-taking while honoring individual perspectives, boundaries, identities, and values.
- Use “I” statements – do not generalize or make assumptions about another person’s perspectives/experiences.
- Assume good intent.
- Be present.
- Practice active listening.
- Share time and space equitably.
- Notice your power/privilege.
- Be mindful of differences in lived experiences.
- Engage in conversation from a place of curiosity versus debating or arguing.
- Avoid binary thinking – right or wrong.
- Seek out other perspectives.
- Be open to how your words and actions impact others.
- Come prepared to contribute to gatherings/meetings.
- Respect and recognize different methods of communication.
- Faculty & Staff
- In the Spotlight
- Performing Arts Angels (PAA)
- Student Groups
- Mid America Dance Theatre (MADT)
- Empty Space
- Student Marketing Team (SMT)
- Wichita State Music Theatre Company (WSMTC)
- SPA Student Leadership Alliance (SPASELA) formerly SPACO
What is the School of Performing Arts and where did it come from?
More than a 125 years ago, creative artists & teachers were making their way to Wichita and building an artistic community of students, faculty & staff sharing their passion for the arts.
Here are some key developments along the way
- (1920's) Musical productions of operas and operettas combined singers, actors, and dancers in the early days.
- (1924) George Wilner arrives and develops a theatre program at Fairmount College.
- (1930’s) After training on the East coast, Alice and Elizabeth Sherbon return to teach dance at the University of Wichita.
- (1960) Richard Welsbacher arrives and guides theatre through the next 30 years.
- (1963) WSU Summer Theatre founded and produced plays & musicals for more than 25 years for the Wichita community.
- (1964) The university was renamed: Wichita State University.
- (1978) 1st Bachelor of Fine Arts Dance Degree was developed by Dean Gordon Terwilleger.
- (1986) The Theatre program, formerly in the College of Liberal Arts, and the Dance program, formerly in the College of Fine Arts, united to become the The School of Performing Arts within the College of Fine Arts.
- (1997) The Musical Theatre Program was created and joined Theater and Dance in the School of Performing Arts.
- (2011) The new Welsbacher Theatre was created in the WSU Eugene M. Huges Metropolitan Complex (Metro Plex) to honor Dick Welsbacher.