Awards & Connections

Students in Palm Beach Atlantic University’s College of the Arts are earning recognition at the regional, national, and international levels. Across the arts, media, and communication disciplines, students regularly test their work against professional and collegiate standards while gaining valuable experience beyond the classroom.

Recent awards, honors, and competitive opportunities include recognition from:

These accomplishments demonstrate the College of the Arts’ commitment to combining rigorous academic preparation, professional creative practice, meaningful mentorship, and opportunities for students to engage their disciplines beyond the classroom. From NATS and the National Trumpet Competition to the Telly Awards, BEA Festival of Media Arts, SETC, FSNE, and international music and dance festivals, College of the Arts students are regularly evaluated against standards beyond the University. These accomplishments reflect a College where students have opportunities to compete, perform, create, publish, exhibit, and engage professionally while preparing to pursue their callings with excellence, creativity, and purpose.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

College of the Arts students benefit from connections with leading arts organizations, cultural institutions, professional companies, community organizations, and industry partners in Palm Beach County and beyond. These relationships extend students’ education beyond the classroom, creating opportunities for professional engagement, performances, exhibitions, internships, masterclasses, mentorship, community-based projects, and experiential learning.

Arts & Cultural Organizations

Students engage with an exceptional network of professional arts and cultural organizations, including:

• American Guild of Organists
• Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens
• Ballet Palm Beach
• Jazz Society of the Palm Beaches
• Korea National Dance Company
• Maltz Jupiter Theatre
• Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches
• Norton Museum of Art
• Palm Beach Opera
• Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival
• Palm Beach Symphony
• Project Dance Foundation
• Society of the Four Arts

These connections provide opportunities for students to experience the professional arts ecosystem firsthand while learning from working artists, performers, directors, designers, musicians, and arts leaders.

The College also connects students with organizations beyond traditional arts settings, demonstrating how creativity, communication, and artistic practice contribute to communities and organizations across a variety of sectors.
Connections include:

• Baxter Foundation
• City of West Palm Beach
• Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Florida
• Leadership Business Council of West Palm Beach
• Lion Country Safari
• Palm Beach Zoo
• Women in the Window International

Through these relationships, students have opportunities to apply their creative and communication skills in real-world contexts while developing professional networks and serving the broader community.

PBA’s location places students within one of South Florida’s most dynamic cultural communities. Relationships with professional arts organizations, museums, performance venues, community organizations, and employers create a learning environment in which the classroom and the professional world regularly intersect. For students, that means opportunities to learn from professionals, build relationships, develop portfolios and résumés, perform and exhibit their work, and discover where their talents can make an impact.