Arts Facilities & Performance Spaces
At Milton, Art is Essential
In Milton’s classrooms and beyond, the arts are alive and thriving, filling our community with imagination, beauty, discipline, and discovery. Through music, theater, visual arts, dance, film, and creative writing, students develop artistic skill, creative confidence, and the ability to communicate ideas in powerful and meaningful ways.
Whether composing music, shaping clay, performing a monologue, or designing a set, students experience the magic of making something meaningful—and the deep satisfaction that comes from sustained creative work.
test
Why All Students Study the Arts
In each division, Milton students engage in the arts as part of a robust, well-rounded curriculum. Arts study develops habits of mind and heart that serve students in every field.
- Structured, sequential courses build both technical skill and creative confidence.
- Students learn from accomplished practitioners who bring professional expertise, passion, and real-world perspective to their classrooms.
- Creative and transferable skills: Through studying the arts, students strengthen critical thinking, collaboration, problem-solving, and the ability to revise and refine their work.
- Cultural fluency and expanded horizons: The arts provide powerful entry points into different cultures, histories, and perspectives, broadening students’ understanding of the world.
- Confidence and ownership: Presenting original work fosters self-expression, resilience, leadership, and a sense of pride in one’s voice.
- Communication for life: From critiques to speech and debate, from stage performances to technical direction, students develop public speaking skills and lifelong tools for clear, compelling communication.
In Milton’s art classes, students do more than create—they discover who they are and how they will contribute to the world.
Dare to Create
Milton students have myriad opportunities to express themselves artistically outside of the classroom, with school- and student-organized programs throughout the academic year. Whether you’re new to a discipline or a seasoned artist, there are plenty of moments to shine.
Co-Curricular Arts
- Act in a play or musical
- Bring stories to life by working on a technical theater crew
- Choreograph performances—or dance for the first time—in the Winter Dance Concert
- Display paintings, drawings, graphic designs, sculpture, ceramics and more in on-campus art shows
- Play an instrument in an orchestra or ensemble, or jam with the jazz band
- Sing with a school-organized vocal group, join the Gospel Choir, or harmonize with one of Milton’s several student-run a cappella groups
- Expand your skills with voice and instrumental private lessons
- Flex your oratory skills on the Speech and Debate team
- Create short films or direct a one-act play
- Perform original poetry, stand-up comedy, or music at Beatnik, Milton’s open-mic night
- Find a new passion in one of the student clubs dedicated to the arts: Art Club, Art with a Social Conscience, Classical Music Club, Fashion & Design Club, Improv Club, Magus Mabus (literary and art magazine), Music Production Club, Needle & Stitch (textile crafts), Photography Club, and Poetry & Creative Writing Club—and more!
Arts Beyond Campus
Milton’s proximity to Boston and its rich art and cultural offerings add to the school’s arts programming. Students explore world-class museums like the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; see plays at the Huntington Theater or the Boston Center for the Arts; attend concerts at the Boston Symphony Orchestra and much more. Within a short drive, New England’s rich artistic, literary, and cultural offerings are all within reach!
Nesto Gallery
The Nesto Gallery, located on the lower level of the Art & Media Center, shows work by professional artists from across New England and beyond.
Arts Calendar
Find out what’s happening on campus!
Upper School Arts
US Performing Arts auditions begin
all day