The Department of Cultural Affairs provides experiences in the arts to foster creative thinking and cultural engagement. The Department produces up to 20 cultural events per year and we are one of the major purveyors of cultural experiences for our region, with numerous venues throughout campus: Light Hall Theater, an historic theatre that was completely refurbished in 2014, the Fine Arts Center Theatre, which is the largest venue in Grant County, seating nearly 1000. We also present outdoors at the Gardens at Light Hall, a lovely grassy area adjacent to Light Hall, and the newly renovated Regents Square, adjacent to Old James Stadium.

Cultural Affairs presents a full season of events, starting in September and running through April. We present all genres, including world music, classical music, dance, family, and lectures. Cultural Affairs showcases female visual artists as part of the Edwina and Charles Milner Women in the Arts Lecture and Exhibit Series in the Francis McCray Gallery of Contemporary Art on campus, and we also place sculpture around campus, as part of the Art in Public Places initiative, and the 1% for the Arts Program, both funded by the state of New Mexico. In addition to the regular season, Cultural Affairs produces the Great Race Weekend concerts (April), the Back Together Bash (August), Jingle & Mingle (December) and our signature event, Fiesta Latina, in June (fiestalatina.org).

Shows are free to faculty, staff and students with a current Mustang ID, and we keep ticket prices to the public low. Tickets can be purchased on line or in our offices in the Webb Theater. Look out for our season brochure, which comes out in August. We offer a season pass at a reduced rate, which gets you in to every regular season show, and a President’s Chamber Music Series Season pass, which allows entry to 3 chamber/classical events per season plus a bonus concert. We encourage you to sign up for our mailing list to receive regular announcements.