Then, they reveal. And reflect. And refocus. They force us to sit with uncertainty and criticism. They celebrate method and practice. These skills follow us into every career imaginable.
Even if you don't choose to study visual art, music, film, theater, or dance, Bowdoin is a place where you can immerse yourself in the arts. Each year, our campus is host to hundreds of performances, gallery talks, lectures, recitals, and exhibitions, in addition to a number of student groups who share their talents with the community.
The Bowdoin College Museum of Art is one of Maine's oldest museums, and one of the earliest collegiate art collections in the nation. Founded in 1811 through a bequest of James Bowdoin III, it presents world-class exhibitions year-round, in addition to displaying its own renowned collection. The Museum of Art is free and open to the public, and encourages visitors to browse, get curious, ask questions, or even just settle into a quiet place to study.
The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, located in the John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies, is built around material donated by Donald B. MacMillan during his long career as an arctic explorer and researcher. In addition to encouraging the understanding of, and appreciation for, northern cultures and environments, the museum also is home to the Arctic Studies Center: an interdisciplinary academic program that explores cultural, social, and environmental issues involving Arctic lands and peoples.
The Harriet Beecher Stowe House, located at 63 Federal Street in Brunswick, Maine, was the rented home of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her family from 1850 to 1852. During Stowe’s time in Brunswick, she wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin and sheltered John Andrew Jackson, a fugitive slave from South Carolina. The building is a National Historic Landmark and a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site, and the public is invited to visit Harriet’s Writing Room.