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Future of the arts at SMU

Celebrating its dedication on Friday, September 16, 2022, Meadows School鈥檚 transformation of its visual arts facilities will foster creativity and encourage innovative teaching, creation, exhibition and interdisciplinary collaboration across the Hilltop. Empowered by these improvements, Meadows School will further bridge the classic, the contemporary and the emerging frontiers of artistic expression, attracting a gifted community of artists, scholars and visitors from across the region and around the world.

Transformation of the Meadows School visual arts facilities

To walk through the doors of the visual arts facilities at SMU Meadows School of the Arts is to enter a world that transcends conventional boundaries; bridges the classic, the contemporary and emerging frontiers; and equips a new generation of artists, creatives, innovators, and thinkers to become more influential in every sector of a rapidly changing world.

Photo rendering of Meadows renovation

Inspiring spaces for aspiring artists

New and renovated spaces will foster creativity; encourage innovative teaching, practice, creation, exhibition and collaboration; and attract a talented and diverse community of artists, scholars and visitors from across the campus and around the world. What emerges is a pipeline of creative and artistic talent and leadership that continues to elevate Dallas as a significant nexus for design, innovation and artistic practice and contributes to the rising national and international reputation of Meadows as a leading school of visual, performing and communication arts.

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Helping artists thrive

NBC5’s Texas Today visited SMU to get an inside look at its renovated visual arts facilities. Meadows School dean Sam Holland and Sophie Kim ’25 also discuss the role the school plays in the Dallas arts community, the importance of outstanding faculty and scholarships in attracting great students, and how SMU is one of the few schools that offers students a conservancy-level arts training and a top-notch science education that can prepare them for medical school.

Phase One: $34 million

Phase One of the center鈥檚 renovation modernized the north wing of the complex from Hillcrest Avenue to Bishop Boulevard. The project has created and improved academic spaces for the visual arts, art history and creative computation while transforming exterior entrances into grand, welcoming and accessible spaces.

We thank the donors who make it possible 

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