About the College of the Arts

The College of the Arts (COTA) at CSULB is California’s largest and most comprehensive publicly funded school for the arts, with more than 4,000 graduate and undergraduate majors. It includes the Departments of Art, Dance, Design, Film and Electronic Arts, Music, and Theatre Arts, as well as the University Art Museum (UAM), the Carpenter Performing Arts Center (CPAC), the Center for First Amendment Studies, the California Institute for the Preservation of Jazz, and the ArtsBridge Program.

The college features seven different performance venues seating 2,500 patrons, and multiple exhibition spaces offering more than 9,600 sq ft of designated areas for art and design installations and shows. These facilities annually house approximately 500 arts and arts-focused events, welcoming more than 200,000 audience members and exhibit visitors to the CSULB campus.

• The Art Department is the largest department on the CSULB campus, and one of the largest visual arts programs in the country. In 2006, Installation artist and sculptor Kendall Carter, a current MFA candidate in the Art Department, and photographer Christine Nguyen, a recent Art Department graduate, had simultaneous exhibits at the prestigious Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. In 2007, Graduate student Matt Wedel’s monumental Ceramic sculpture, “Child” was featured in an installation on the grounds of the Long Beach Museum of Art. The installation process was documented photographically on the LBMA website. 
• CSULB’s Dance Program is regularly ranked among the top ten educational programs in the nation. Its impressive dance facilities include 93,000 sq. ft of studios and a 250-seat theatre. Because of the professional and personal ties of its highly experienced faculty, CSULB has been granted permission to restage works by Martha Graham and Twyla Tharp, an honor that is highly unusual for a university dance program.
• The Design Department at Cal State Long Beach is recognized as one of the top design schools in the nation, with practical-hands on programs offered in Interior Architectural Design and Industrial Design. Interior Design Alumnus Christopher Petit was recognized in a student design competition hosted by nationally-recognized design periodical, Contract. Chris was awarded a prize for his senior thesis project centering on creating a disaster preparedness facility in California. A pair of design students -- Jesse Moyer and Lindsey Winchell -- at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), captured awards recently in the Planning and Visual Education Partnership's (PAVE) 2007 Student Design Competition, which was sponsored by Sony Electronics, Inc.
• The CSULB Film and Electronic Arts department is one of the strongest undergraduate training programs for undergraduate filmmakers in the nation. It is regularly the top contributer to the annual CSU Media Festival, and this past year our students were, once again, frequently in the winner’s circle, with multiple first, second and third place wins in diverse categories such as: Music Video, Narrative Film, Experimental and Documentary.  In support of our Film and Electronic Arts Department, SONY sponsored a special preview of Ghost Rider—written and directed by CSULB alumnus Mark Steven Johnson—held on our campus February 15, 2007. It was part of the First annual Sony Premiere Film Festival.
• The Music Department prides itself on the combination of practical and theoretical experience that its students receive in all areas of Music Performance, Music Education and Music Composition and Theory. The excellence of Music Department students and ensembles is regularly showcased on a national level: the CSULB Chamber Choir made its Carnegie Hall Debut, Pacific Standard Time – CSULB’s premiere vocal jazz ensemble – received a prestigious invitation to perform at the International Association of Jazz Educators, and the CSULB Concert Jazz Orchestra won the Next Generation Jazz Competition at the University Level, earning a performance spot at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival. 
• The Department of Theatre Arts at Cal State Long Beach is large, diverse and extremely active. Each year, 10 mainstage productions are presented, along with more than 20 student-produced one act “showcases.” It is also one of the very few programs in the nation that now offers a joint MFA/MBA in Theatre Management. For the second year in a row, the Theatre Arts Department was honored by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, which nominated California Repertory Company (CalRep)—the graduate arm of the department— as best ensemble in a theatrical production.
• The University Art Museum enjoyed unprecedented success and attention with their unusual collaboration with the THUMS company, escorting patrons on a rare tour of the “Fantasy Islands,” the oil drilling platforms just off the Long Beach coast. The islands have long been celebrated for their landscape design ingenuity, but are generally closed to the public. Over the past two years, the UAM has brought in world-renowned artists – Filmmaker Anthony Minghella, Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and Composer Tod Machover – as speakers and presenters at the UAM’s “WideAngle” fundraisers.
• The Carpenter Center is an elegant 1100-seat performance hall, with a tradition of more than 10 years of outstanding arts and entertainment events presented by the University, guest artists, resident companies and the community at large. The eclectic roster of world-class artists who have performed at the Carpenter Center include Arturo Sandoval, Bob Newhart, Pilobolus, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Davis Gaines, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, John Cleese, Harry Shearer, Jane Fonda, Hal Holbrook and – of course – Richard Carpenter.
• The Center for First Amendment Studies recently completed a new report, entitled “The First Amendment and the Media.” Center Director Dr. Craig Smith presented the report and its findings at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

During the 2006-07 academic year, the college—including CPAC and the UAM—raised $3,530,181 in gifts and pledges, bringing in 147% of its annual goal.