Facilities

On this page:

• Creative Arts Center
• Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures
• Allyn Hall

Creative Arts Center

The beautiful, newly renovated Creative Arts Center (CAC) is the home of many College of Liberal Arts programs and events.

In addition to classroom and faculty spaces, the facility features two concert halls and two theaters that provide settings for plays and dance performances; concerts by the orchestra, chorus, and several instrumental groups; and other performances and exhibitions by visiting artists as well as students and faculty.

Among the striking changes visitors will find following the renovation are new studios for art, dance, and music students; light-filled art galleries; a catwalk connecting offices and classrooms on the second floor; and a spectacular front entrance. The iconic entrance features a stunning wall of dichroic glass fins that change color based on the angle of the sun.

The commons area has been refurbished with spaces filled with comfortable furniture where students can study, talk and collaborate. Hanging over the middle of the commons is the Lily Pad, a lounge filled with comfortable, moveable furniture. Two new computer labs are available with stage design technology and computerized piano software.

• The Festival Playhouse
• The CAC boasts a state-of-the-art playhouse presenting dramas, musicals, and dance concerts throughout the school year. It offers excellent sight lines and acoustics in an intimate atmosphere. The playhouse features a large main stage comparable to many Broadway and regional theatres, offstage wings and storage areas, and a hydraulically adjusted orchestra pit. The handicap-accessible auditorium seats 376 on the main floor and in the balcony.
• The Dorothy M. & Isabel Herbst Theatre
  The Herbst Theatre is a large, flexible performing facility, seating from 70 to 100 audience members. This unique space, often called a "black box" theatre, can be configured to host a wide range of actor/audience configurations, including proscenium, three-quarter-thrust, and in-the-round seating. Productions in the Herbst Theatre often complement the season of shows in the Festival Playhouse with a wide range of theatrical presentations.
• Other Theatre Facilities
  Other School of Fine and Performing Arts facilities for theatre students include the 92-seat Directing Lab, available to any theatre arts major who wants to rehearse and present their own theatrical production; a multifunctional dance studio featuring performance-level sprung flooring and dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows; and the Movement/Stage Combat Studio supporting the teaching of stage combat.
• The Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries
  The Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries feature six airy, natural light-filled gallery spaces. Two galleries, The Stein Collection Gallery and the Lower Gallery, are located on the main floor of the Creative Arts Center (CAC 160). Four more galleries, including the Eugene and Jean Cantelupe Gallery, Gallery 263, and a video gallery, are located on the second floor. The centerpiece of the Stein Collection is Red on Pink on Yellow-Orange, a vibrant painting by the influential American artist Mark Rothko. The painting is one of about a dozen pieces from the Stein Collection currently on display. The galleries are free and open to the public five days a week and during events.
• Other Art Facilities
  Other School of Fine and Performing Arts facilities include a state-of-the-art digital photography lab, expanded painting, printmaking, and photography studios, new drawing studios, and a dedicated screen-printing studio. The sculpture studio building is just a few minutes away from the CAC.
• Benjamin & Marian Schuster Hall
  The Benjamin & Marian Schuster Hall is a world-class 250-seat concert hall. It features excellent natural acoustics enhanced with modern electronic acoustical adjustment and a studio-quality recording booth. Schuster Hall is trimmed with natural cherry, walnut, and maple, providing an aesthetically pleasing as well as acoustically perfect venue for visiting artists, School of Music ensembles, and faculty and student recitals. Meeting ADA requirements and offering flexible seating arrangements, Schuster Hall is one of the region’s premier classical music concert performance spaces.
• Other Music Facilities
  Other School of Fine and Performing Arts facilities for music students include the more intimate Recital Hall and numerous purpose-built teaching studios, offices, and practice rooms. The music library is located next door to the CAC in the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library. New soundproof practice rooms include a dedicated percussion studio.

---

The Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures

The Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures is a state-of-the-art facility housing the university’s award-winning motion pictures programs. Students study all aspects of the industry, including directing, producing, camera work, art directing, and scriptwriting as well as film theory, history, and criticism. At 14,500 square feet, the new center houses a production studio, editing suites, a multipurpose classroom, a digital animation lab, and even a “green room” that serves as a lounge as well as a think tank where students can develop future film projects.

---

Allyn Hall

Allyn Hall was the first and only campus building completed in 1964 when Wright State opened as the Dayton Branch Campus of The Ohio State and Miami Universities. Named for WSU founder Stanley Charles Allyn, retired president and chairman of the National Cash Register Corp., Allyn Hall received a modernizing makeover in 2000.