‘You need the arts when it’s a cloudy day’: Why BU is doubling down on art now

As the Trump administration cuts funding for the arts and many colleges pivot toward career-oriented programs, Boston University is making a gamble: expanding arts programming.

When university president Melissa Gilliam — whose father was abstract painter Sam Gilliam — took office in July 2024, she created a BU Office for the Arts with a mission of spreading arts throughout the university and beyond. Her initiatives go beyond installing public artwork around campus — though the university does that too. It’s about running arts education programs while collaborating with outside organizations to spread art to the public. The arts, Gilliam told the editorial board, “pushes us, challenges our ideas, gives us new literacy.”