A 21st-Century Home for Creative and Artistic Expression on Campus

Designed by renowned architect William Rawn, the Gordon Center will provide a new home for Colby’s departments of theater and dance, music, and cinema studies. Studios and makerspaces, combined with performance venues that have the capacity to inspire multiple types of performance and creation, will define the new building and provide critical space for a variety of both academic and expanded co-curricular activities and programs.

Central to the College commitment to growing a robust arts ecosystem with several capital investments, the new Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts is the physical manifestation of Colby’s commitment to collaboration and  innovation. A vibrant new cultural center on campus, its 21st-century design will position Colby to be a leader in the arts by fostering creative collaboration across disciplines and throughout the liberal arts curriculum. Its modern design will provide creators and makers with enhanced physical spaces for multidisciplinary collaboration with departments and programs throughout the College and the community.

Enabling projects to make way for the Gordon Center at the gateway to campus on the south end of Mayflower Hill are currently underway. The new Center will serve to deepen the connections between the College and the Waterville and greater central Maine community.

The forum will connect the Gordon Center to the campus and the community. With a two-story glass exterior and interior connections to studios, the performance hall, and a number of gathering spaces, the forum will be the creative hub of the building, serving both as the main point of entry for all venues and as a performance space in its own right.