Columbia University School of the Arts’ Lenfest Center for the Arts is a dynamic new hub for cultural and civic exchange in Upper Manhattan. Featuring four flexible venues and a public plaza, this state-of-the-art facility offers unprecedented opportunities for the presentation and generation of contemporary art across disciplines.

From readings and installations to performances, screenings, and symposia, the vibrant array of activity at the Lenfest Center for the Arts aims to strengthen local partnerships while highlighting contemporary scholarship, global perspectives, and compelling voices of our time.

Recent guests to Columbia University School of the Arts include visual artists Kerry James Marshall, William Kentridge, and Deb Willis; filmmakers Lizzie Borden, Mira Nair, and Aaron Sorkin; writers Alexander Chee, Maggie Nelson, and Zadie Smith; theatre artists Annie Baker, Ping Chong, and Bill T. Jones; composers Hannah Lash, Jason Moran, and Steve Reich; theorists Chantal Mouffe and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak; South African Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs; economist Joseph Stiglitz; and designer Mabel O. Wilson. In addition, the School of the Arts has organized residencies with visiting artists Joan Jonas, Issac Julien, Young Jean Lee, Ralph Lemon, B. Ruby Rich, Rebecca Solnit, Richard Rodriguez, and Elia Suleiman; and hosted readings by New York City high school students who have produced original work in collaboration with young artists from Columbia University.