Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center

The 32,000-square-foot center is one of the largest facilities on our campus and showcases our Visual and Performing Arts programs. The project also replaced a parking lot with new, pedestrian-friendly green space between the new building and the dining hall and moves parking and daily traffic away from the campus core. This building represented the first step of our comprehensive, long-range Campus Master Plan.

The building includes:

  • A state-of-the-art, 415-seat, performing arts theater where the entire school gathers for meetings and events
  • Community and event space for multiple uses
  • Classrooms and collaborative spaces
  • Studios for drawing and painting, ceramics and graphic arts
  • Darkroom and photography studio
  • Gallery spaces to regularly display student work and permanent collections
  • Choral and instrumental practice spaces, including a drum room
  • A technical shop for building and assembling sets

In my opinion, this is a game changer for Gunn students and for generations to follow. It will provide this wonderful school with the facilities to deliver a distinguished, diversified and unique curriculum. The performing arts program at The Frederick Gunn School is currently thriving and soon it will have a venue to match its caliber and advance it to its greatest potential. This is truly a dream come true!

Thomas S. perakos '69

I have always thought that the addition of a comprehensive arts center, including performing and fine arts, makes an educational institution complete and whole. Art raises the quality of our lives. I am pleased to be part of all of this, an initiative that will bring many opportunities to students of The Frederick Gunn School for many years to come.

Richard C. Colton Jr., '60

Arts News

Silver Breath_Cleve Gray
"Cleve Gray: Towards an Art of Hope," A Retrospective Exhibition, on View Through May 22

A retrospective exhibition, "Cleve Gray: Towards an Art of Hope," opened April 10 in the Perakos Family Cares Art Gallery at The Frederick Gunn School, featuring works by American Abstract Expressionist painter Cleve Gray.

An opening reception will be held on Thursday, April 25, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the gallery, which is located in the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center on campus. The gallery is open to the public free of charge, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Parking is available in the Upper Parking Lot off Kirby Road, with a limited number of accessible parking spaces outside the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. Please see the Campus Map for details.
 

Gunn Music students Aryel Sealey, Stella Zhu and Colin Hall
Highlanders to Perform at All-State Music Festival

Three students from the Gunn Music Program will perform at the Connecticut Music Educators Association’s All-State Music Festival being held this weekend, April 4-6, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. The students were selected by audition after qualifying for the CMEA Northern Region Festival in February. 
 

Nicole Zuraitis at Litchfield Jazz Camp in 2019
Grammy-winner Nicole Zuraitis Returning to Gunn This Summer

Fans of Litchfield Jazz Festival, which has been hosted at The Frederick Gunn School since 2019, were thrilled when Connecticut native Nicole Zuraitis won her first Grammy Award on February 4, at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Zuraitis, a former student at Litchfield Jazz Camp, also hosted at Gunn, won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album for “How Love Begins.” This summer, she will return to campus as a vocal instructor at Litchfield Jazz Camp, and fans can see her perform at the festival’s Jazz Brunch on Sunday, July 28, 2024 in Bourne Courtyard.
 

Painting by Kelsey Ketchum '26
Student Work Exhibited at Kent Art Association

Twenty seven Gunn students enrolled in Visual Arts courses and the Technique and Artistry co-curricular program are participating in the Kent Art Association's 32nd Annual Student Art Show. An opening reception and awards ceremony were held on February 10. The gallery, located at 21 South Main Street in Kent, will be open to the public from 1-5 p.m. on February 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, and 24.
 

Portrait by Michal Schroeder '26
Student Work Featured in Fall Technique & Artistry Show

A new art exhibit featuring work by students in the Technique & Artistry co-curricular program opened in the Perakos Family Cares Art Gallery in late November. The multi-media show includes work by 24 students who participated in the program, led by visual arts teacher Andrew Richards P'20 '23, from the opening of school in September through the end of the Fall Term. The exhibit will remain on view through the end of December.
 

Big Noise From The North Pole graphic
Gunn Music Presents "Big Noise From The North Pole"

The Frederick Gunn School Music Program will present a holiday concert, Big Noise From The North Pole, featuring performances by String Ensemble, Vocal Ensemble, Jazz Band, and special guests. This year's holiday concert is one night only, December 12, at 7 p.m. in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center, and is open to students and faculty only. A limited number of seats are available for Gunn families.