Two separate departments – the Department of Art and Art History and the Department of Performing Arts – have been formed from the Department of Art, Music and Theater.

The new departments, which were formalized in July, are expected to benefit from having separate budgets, office locations, faculty and improved abilities to raise money for programs.

Anna Celenza, chair of the Department of Performing Arts and director of the music program, said the departmental split makes sense because the programs operate with different missions.

“The visual arts are very different from the performing arts,” Celenza said. “While art can have more to do with creating something permanent, performing arts have a lot to do with interacting with audiences.”

Alison Hilton, the Wright Family Professor of Art History and the new chair of the Department of Art and Art History, said the split can give both departments an academic advantage. “As smaller, more specialized departments, the degrees will be more exciting,” she said.

Both Celenza and Hilton said being in the nation’s capital continues to generate the scholarship and creativity for which Georgetown is known.

“The idea that Washington, D.C., is our classroom has been especially true for art history and art,” Hilton said.

Now, performing arts has started producing more performances that allow social engagement with audiences outside the university community. The department has also tried to make connections between politics and the performing arts, taking advantage of the university’s location. “In some ways, politics is a performing art,” Celenza quipped.

The 2008-2009 theatrical season, “Worlds In Motion: Politics and Citizenship in Flux,” reflects Washington’s political culture.

In the weeks leading up to the November presidential elections, Gonda Theatre will stage “The Race,” a living ethno-fictional performance that will focus on the issues and dynamics of the historic 2008 presidential election.

Georgetown students and professional guest artists will explore campus and the larger D.C. community to ask: What does leadership mean today?

Celenza also said this semester’s Friday Music Series includes an Oct. 17 concert featuring a selection of candidate and party songs from past campaigns performed by student musicians and curated by visiting assistant professor of music Patrick Warfield.

“It’s exciting to see the performing arts program, particularly the theater program, mature and take advantage of Washington’s political climate in their work this season,” said Chester Gillis, interim Georgetown College dean. “I look forward to watching both departments continue to pursue increased opportunities for students, faculty and staff to engage in the arts and the community.”