The fine arts at Grinnell are anchored by the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, dedicated in 1999 and designed by Cesar Pelli. The building houses the departments of music, theatre, and art, as well as the Faulconer Gallery.

Participation in the art, music, theatre, and dance programs at Grinnell is widespread. Students, faculty, and staff appear regularly in performances or present their works in exhibitions in the Faulconer Gallery. In addition, the fine arts departments, the Faulconer Gallery, and the College's Public Events Committee bring a variety of visiting artists, performers, companies, and musicians to campus throughout the year. Many of the visitors are of international stature and greatly enrich the cultural life on campus. All events are free and open to the entire community. Recent visitors have included South African artist William Kentridge, Ailey II (dance), Orpheus Ensemble (chamber music), and Chinese artist Xu Bing.

Students participate in the visual arts in a number of ways. In the exhibition seminar, students work intensively with art department faculty and the Faulconer Gallery staff to curate an exhibition from start to finish. Using a body of work from the College's permanent art collection, the students research the art, select works for the exhibition, design the installation, develop programming, and write a catalog published by the gallery. Students also serve as desk attendants and docents for all exhibitions.

The annual Student Art Salon is open to all students who have created artwork during the past year. The exhibition is a juried show organized by students and presented in the Faulconer Gallery, with cash prizes awarded by the juror. Students may utilize studio art courses to make their work, or one of several recreational craft workshops on campus. Several other spaces on campus also show student art and work from the Grinnell College Art Collection.

Music touches almost every member of the college community. Hundreds of students participate in performances of solo, chamber, jazz, folk, choral, and orchestral music. The Department of Music sponsors the orchestra, chorus, Medieval/Renaissance/Baroque ensembles, chamber singers, jazz band, opera workshop, a Javanese gamelan ensemble, and chamber ensembles involving woodwinds, brass, and strings. The department offers lessons on nearly every standard orchestral instrument, plus banjo, guitar, harpsichord, organ, and voice. Instructional programs are supplemented by an outstanding listening facility, strong collections of nonwestern and early musical instruments, and a MIDI-based electronic and computer music studio.

The theatre and dance program includes four major faculty-directed productions each year. Recent productions include Shakespeare's Macbeth, Stoppard's Arcadia, Brecht's Private Life of the Master Race, Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer, Lorca's Blood Wedding, O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms, Fugard's The Island, Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good, and Churchill's Top Girls. Gogol's The Inspector General was recently directed by visiting Cowles guest artist-in-residence Venia Smekhov of Moscow's Taganka Theatre. All students are invited to try out for parts and to participate in stage work. Students also develop skills as directors, actors, and designers in student-directed Open Space one-act productions, in 317 and 380 advanced acting and directing projects, and in more informal improv and playwriting groups. The large student staff has wide responsibility in the department's production season, handling front-of-house, box office, stage management, and crew in costumes, set, light, sound, props, etc.

Facilities include Roberts Theatre (a modern caliper stage), Flanagan Studio Theatre (a smaller, state-of-the-art black box theatre with flexible seating), and the informal "Wall" studio space. Occasional visiting theatre and dance companies--such as The Acting Company and Pilobolus--add further variety to the program.

Modern dance is taught as part of the theatre curriculum, with performances each year both as independent events and as part of dramatic and musical presentations. Folk dancing is popular and is practiced in both a student-sponsored club and in courses taught by the Department of Physical Education. Both modern and folk dance give students a chance to choreograph as well as perform.