

3
Arts programs ranked in the top 25
400+
Annual performances by the Division of Performing Arts
300+
Events around Iowa through Arts Share
900
Undergraduates majoring in arts programs
Arts
Our College has long been an innovator in the literary, visual, performing, and cinematic arts:
- We were the first institution to accept creative work as final theses for advanced degrees, giving rise to today’s Master of Fine Arts degree.
- We were the first to combine the study of art history and the studio creation of visual art within the same school.
- Our literary arts programs are renowned worldwide, and have helped build the prestige that made Iowa City a designated UNESCO City of Literature.
- Our Division of Performing Arts offers extraordinary opportunities to all University of Iowa students for the study and performance of music, theatre arts, and dance.
- And we are at the vanguard of the cinematic arts and the rapidly evolving fields of the digital arts.
The arts are central to our history—and essential to our future.