FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

How many events does the Herberger College produce annually?
There are more than 1,000 performances and exhibitions attended by 500,000 each year.

How many guest artists have taught at the college over the past decade?
Hundreds of national and international guest artists have worked at the college, across all of academic units.

How many students graduate from the college each year?
Approximately 500 students.

Which programs are nationally ranked?
All of the Herberger College's programs are nationally ranked.

How many works of art are in the ASU Art Museum’s collection?
There are 12,486 works of art in the museum’s collection, including 234 works by 84 Cuban artists—the most important collection of contemporary Cuban art outside the island.

When did the collection begin?
Oliver B. James donated 149 paintings to start the ASU Art Museum collection in 1950.

When was the first dance class offered?
The Department of Physical Education offered the first dance class, "Interpretive Dance," in 1931. The Department of Dance was established in 1954.

When was the first theatre class offered?
The first drama course at ASU was offered in the English Department in the early 1920s. The Department of Theatre in the College of Fine Arts was established in 1978. The School of Theatre and Film was created in 2005.

Why is the printmaking program nationally renowned?
In Spring 2001, the acquistion of six rare and historic fine art printing presses - worth more than $2.5 million - established the Herberger College of the Arts as an unrivalled center for fine-print research. U.S. News & World Report ranks the print-making program in the Herberger College School of Art among the top 10 in the nation.

How many slides are in the School of Art's Visual Resource Collection?
There are 293,407 slides archived.

How many musical scores are in the School of Music's library?
There are 18,400 scores in the library.

How many costumes are in the Lyric Opera Theatre (LOT) costume shop?
The LOT costume warehouse is home to 52,500 items.

When did the Arts, Media and Engineering (AME) Program begin?
The program, a division of the Institute for Studies in the Arts, began enrolling graduate students in 2003.  The Institute for Studies in the Arts began in 1990 and sponsored a total of 212 research projects in its first decade.