Wake the Arts

Your Artistic License!

At Wake Forest University, the arts belong to everyone, regardless of major! From the studios and stages of Scales Fine Arts Center to our galleries and museum-quality art collection, our students combine creative ingenuity with scientific rigor and business acumen. In fact, 93% of our students who participate in performing-arts organizations major in something other than the arts. To encourage that cross-disciplinary involvement, Wake Forest offers the Interdisciplinary Arts Center, our campus hub for connecting chemists and choreographers, painters and programmers, to produce new forms of impact in unexpected places.

Wake Forest seeks out creative students by offering Presidential Scholarships for those who show exceptional talents in art, dance, debate, music, and theatre. These scholars don’t always pursue a major in the area of their talent, but they do participate actively in that activity on campus, fostering our incredible interdisciplinary culture.

One of those activities is the Student Union Art Buying Trip. Wake Forest sends a group of selected students to New York City to purchase important contemporary artwork to add to our world-class collections. We also take student groups to the top-tier Venice Biennale on a regular basis. Locally, the Reynolda House Museum of American Art and Gardens as well as the Southeast Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) are close by and open with free admission for all Wake Foresters.

And for life after Wake, DeacLink is our exclusive arts alumni network, connecting students with successful producers, gallerists, stage designers, performers, and more – as they become part of the international Wake the Arts family.

Did You Know?

There was a student performance at Scales Fine Arts Center, on average, once every three days during the Fall 2019 semester.

Wake Forest art professor Leigh Ann Hallberg brings her class to the Hanes Art Gallery to make collages.

The Wake Forest dance company holds the final dress rehearsal for the Fall Faculty & Guest Artist Dance Concert.

An exhibit of new works in the Wake Forest Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art opens in the Hanes Gallery. The art was purchased by students on the quadrennial Art Buying Trip.

Wake Forest music professor Matt Kendrick teaches jazz improvisation.

Wake Forest students look at the painting The Andes of Ecuador, by Frederic Church, at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art.

Student filmmakers in Wake Forest art professor Joel Tauber’s class project their films onto the wall of Bailey Power Plant in downtown Winston-Salem as a temporary public art project.

The Wake Forest Theatre performs The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller and directed by Sharon Andrews, on the Tedford Stage.

Keep Exploring

Exciting things happen at Wake Forest every day! Check out additional topics to discover your niche and where you’ll leave your mark as a Demon Deacon. Learn more about affordability and explore our residence halls.

Secure Your Seat

Learn more about how to enroll and make your deposit.

Attend an Event

We will be hosting in-person panel conversations, student-led campus tours, and webinars, all designed just for you.

For more information, check out our events for accepted students.

Connect with Students and Faculty

Start a conversation with a current Wake Forest student or faculty member. We’ll send you a text to see which majors you’re interested in, and we’ll make the connection!

Let everyone know you chose to make the Forest your home by using #WFU26. Then, if you haven’t already, be sure to follow Wake Forest Admissions on Instagram.

WFU26 Resources

Virtual Campus Tour

Take a virtual tour to get to know our campus better.

The Facts about Wake

View our Viewbook or visit our About site to see what makes Wake Forest special.

Questions?

Reach out to your regional dean, who will be more than happy to answer them.

Class of 2026

Your Artistic License!