This Spring, WWU Opera Studios produced Cole Porter's KISS ME, KATE and drew an audience of 1200 people for singing, dancing, and fun. The production featured students from the Departments of Music and Theatre & Dance, with a full pit orchestra of student musicians. The sets and costumes were designed and created by faculty and students.

These wonderful productions happen because of your support. If you saw KISS ME, KATE, or another great musical production at Western - give now!

Watch the video for a peak of the action.

Drake added the Female Scholar Athlete award in her final season in the college ranks. The graduate student has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA while pursuing her Master in Teaching with an emphasis in art education. Her collegiate career included three GNAC Academic All-Star awards and she will be a four-time USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete selection.

Support Bethany, and the multi-talented, dedicated students she inspires with a gift to a departmental scholarship today.

Elsi Vassdal-Ellis' mentorship is a cornerstone of the Design Department at Western. 2016-17 is her last year of teaching here. No doubt, she'll continue to inspire and instruct students and designers for many, many years to come. Give a gift honor of her legacy to inspire four more decades of world-class design instruction at Western.

Our Design students are using VR to create therapeutic and meditative tools, address privacy issues, explore inclusivity within shared music consumption, and reimagine the future of the search engine.

This spring, students spent six-weeks in a workshop led by UX designer Paul Hoover of the Seattle design studio Artefact learning to use this powerful new technology to develop experiences that would have positive social impact.

Give today, and your gift will be matched!

For the thirteenth year in a row, WWU Art History students traveled to Seattle to present their research at the University of Washington Undergraduate Research Symposium. Students apply to the Symposium by submitting an abstract via a faculty mentor who can speak to the quality of the research; this includes students working on faculty research, as well as students working on their own research under the supervision of faculty. All abstracts are reviewed by a committee comprised of University of Washington faculty, advanced undergraduates, and staff.

All of our Art History professors hold Ph.D.'s - and they teach all the classes themselves - which is one of the strengths of an undergraduate-focused institution like Western. The students were mentored by WWU Art History faculty members Dr. Jimena Berzal de Dios, Dr. Monique Kerman, and Dr. Barbara Miller. Dr. Miller has also served as a panelist at the Symposium for a number of years.

Below (L to R): Josephine Butcher, Krys Murry, Zoë Fejeran, Jody Thompson, and Jordan Braun. Photo by Bryan Nakata

This video captures a bit of rehearsal for Graffiti Dance Theatre - better still, it was filmed by Dance BFA alum, Juliette Machado. Your contributions allow these students to maintain the level of focus required to perform at this level; the rehearsal and training require far more time than regular class hours allow. Scholarships are crucial to the students' success.

The students in the Music Department are taught by accomplished faculty musicians - who are amazing performers in their own right. Our faculty work constantly to improve their teaching and their musicianship. Watch this great video recorded just last weekend at KING FM in Seattle - when three Music faculty members performed live: Gustavo and Laura Camacho, and Milica Jelača Jovanović.