PolyArts
Art Spaces
WELCOME! Our Preliminary Application for 2026-27 is now closed.
PolyARTS Center
The 10,000-square-foot PolyARTS Center (PAC) opened in January 2024. Since then, our community enjoys students’ visual works of art in the Howard Aibel Lobby Gallery as well as the bright and expansive space that the Brandman Family Theater Lobby provides such as:
- A welcoming entry point for both performing and visual arts events
- Professionally-designed gallery showroom with state-of-the-art lighting, digital technology, and display cases
- Comfortable seating, media displays, and space for exhibitions, events, and receptions
Richard Perry Theatre
Named in honor of Poly alumnus and renowned record producer Richard Perry ’60, the theater serves as a creative home for Performing Arts events. Highlights of this creative space include:
- Seating for 380 people along with two designated areas for wheelchair users
- A hands-on theatrical learning environment where professional designers teach students how to create sets, costumes, and develop lighting and sound skills in stagecraft courses and as part of theatrical productions’ crew.
- Thanks to a generous gift from alumnus Robert Martinson ’59, a new state-of-the-art LED lighting system was installed in 2024.
- An integrated orchestra pit elevates performances with live music, offering depth, emotion, and energy to productions.
Dance Studios
Designed to inspire movement and creativity, Poly’s dance studios support all levels of dancers with modern amenities, from mirrored walls to acoustic sound systems and resilient flooring. Features and highlights include:
- Our PAC dance studio includes floor-to-ceiling windows to allow for a natural light-filled environment and a soaring ceiling that enhances movement and sound
- Purpose-built and dedicated spaces for both group instruction and 1:1 coaching
- Barres for ballet and conditioning and mirrored walls for technique refinement
- Greater opportunities for advanced dancers to rehearse independently and to prepare college auditions
- The PAC studio doubles as a performance space for works in development and creative capstone projects
Music Rooms
Combining. advanced sound technology with warm acoustics, Poly’s PAC music studio gives students a professional space to practice and perform. The music classroom retains the school’s original period character and is used primarily for string instruments and provides an inviting, intimate environment for collaboration. Other highlights and features of the PAC Music Room include:
- Opportunities for students to rehearse and perform large-scale works
- Dedicated space for Grade 12 students preparing college audition materials
- Acoustic paneling and floors, along with professional-grade instruments
- The state-of-the-art PAC space is perfect for master classes and workshops with professional musicians
The Marrus Family Media Lab and Darkroom
Opened in 2025, the Marrus Family Media Lab has elevated Poly’s photography experience and visual arts education. The enhanced studio lab setup allows for a more thorough study of images and the opportunity to improve skills to create professional-level portfolios. A traditional photography darkroom will open later in 2025. Students have access to:
- State-of-the-art photo printers
- 20 digital workstations equipped with Mac desktop computers with large, high-resolution monitors, enabling better editing
- Building skills such as creating digital negatives and experimenting with alternative printing techniques, among others
- Magnetic panels which are used for displaying photography projects ahead of exhibitions
Ceramics Studio
Our Ceramics Studio is home to a variety of professional equipment and tools that nurture students as they develop their hand-building and wheel-throwing skills. Working with clay is a uniquely tactile creative experience which students enjoy as they build imaginative functional and sculptural works.
The studio has 13 wheels and access to one gas and two electric kilns, which support students in producing both small and large-scale ceramic works.
More about ceramics
Mixed Media Art Studios
Our three mixed media studios are filled with a range of materials that support our Middle and Upper School artists. These studios provide our Visual Arts students with an inspiring space as they explore diverse art-making techniques and mediums from drawing and painting to sculpture, collage, paper engineering, textiles, printmaking, and more.
Students may also experiment with such specialized equipment as a printing press and an air-brush machine that exposes them to new approaches to artistic production and reproduction and image blending and detailing.
More about visual arts
Lower School Visual Arts Studio
At the Lower School (LS) level, students are introduced to a multitude of mediums, allowing them to exercise their creativity while building a strong base of artistic knowledge.
- Three distinct studio spaces for ceramics, woodworking, and fine art
- Dedicated kiln room for firing ceramic projects
- Specialized tools and materials appropriate for Lower School students
- Flexible furniture and work surfaces to accommodate various art projects and group sizes
Lower School Dance Studio
At the Lower School, the bright and airy dance studio is home to creative movement and dance classes, drama, special events, and after school classes. Its huge windows overlook Park Slope and Prospect Park. The dance studio is equipped with:
- Bluetooth stereo, microphones, and overhead sound system
- Large screen for viewing videos and presentations
- Marley-style dance floor
- Ballet barres
- Variety of props, equipment, yoga mats primarily used for early childhood classes
Lower School Music Room
Stepping into the beautiful, period music room at Poly Lower School, complete with its warm dark wood, lofty ceiling, stained glass windows, and unique features, one can’t help but feel both warmly welcomed and inspired. It is truly a jewel of the Hulbert Mansion, which was designed and built in the Romanesque Revival style by acclaimed architect Montrose W. Morris in 1892.
Lower School’s music room is home to hundreds of instruments used to provide a diverse, enriching musical education centered around experiences with recorders, percussive/ rhythm instruments, and cultural instruments.
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