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Visual & Performing Arts

Building the premier arts institution in the West

Visual & Performing Arts at UCCS

Through broad exposure to creative thinking and focused attention from faculty in their own program, VAPA students develop deep collaborations with peers across the performative and visual arts, producing professional projects that launch them into vibrant careers.

About the Department

UCCS is the only university in the US where students in the visual and performing arts receive cutting-edge education and training in their fields of specialization while also benefiting from a department that allows them to articulate their interests, skills, and performances across artistic approaches backed by a strong interdisciplinary curriculum. 

At UCCS, students have opportunities both to participate in professional performances and exhibits and to produce or display their own creative works in world-class facilities. Students participate in multidisciplinary arts festivals where classmates from across the programs work together. These intersections allow our students to generate ideas that simply wouldn't happen in more isolated programs.

VAPA Programs

Our six vibrant programs share a mission to explore interdisciplinarity, creative vision and artistic innovation. Learn more here.

Career Opportunities with VAPA

Upcoming Events

Senior Art Show

Date: April 14 - May 13, 2023
Time: 12 - 5 pm
Location: 121 S. Tejon St., #100 Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Join us at GOCA 121 for OUROBOROS, the 2023 Senior Visual Art Majors Exhibition! The show will be on view from April 14 - May 13, 2023, with a First Friday Arts Walk Event on May 5 from 5-8 pm.

Annual Student VAPA Festival: Stars Above!

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The UCCS Department of Visual and Performing Arts is proud to present the Annual Student VAPA Festival: Stars Above! We invite you to celebrate our community and remember those lost at Club Q with four days of art, performances, and showcases created by students in VAPA. This year we present the 22nd Annual UCCS Student Short Film Festival, the 17th Annual Senior Visual Art Exhibition, UCCS Theatre & Dance’s production of Circle Mirror Transformation, music recitals, art history presentations, and so much more. No matter what medium fits your fancy, we hope you will come to engage with the phenomenal works created by students and participate in the many festivities we offer! 

Through a Glass Darkly VIII

Date: October 2-14, 2023
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Through a Glass Darkly VIII will take place on 12-14 October 2023, and for the first time will be co-hosted by Colorado College and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. The conference organizers are Carol Neel (Colorado College), Regula Evitt (Colorado College), Colin McAllister (UCCS), and Roger Martinez (UCCS). This year's title is: 'O tempora! O mores!': Mediaeval Apocalypticism and Beyond.

The study of humankind's fascination with the apocalyptic worldview is a vast field which has increased in interest over the last three decades with the approach and passing of the start of a new millennium. It is a subject that spans cultures, religions, time, and space, and one that resists easy categorical definition. In Through a Glass Darkly, scholars and artists gather each year to deliver presentations and engage in dialogue.

Dr. MJ Sullivan Memorial