About the BAC

A Living Heritage of Arts and Culture

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University have a long standing tradition and commitment to bringing arts and culture to the CSB/SJU students as well as the greater Minnesota community.

All CSB/SJU students have the opportunity to study and create in the extraordinary spaces of the BAC. More than 1,000 CSB/SJU students take classes or lessons in the facility annually. In addition, each year the BAC plays host to 200 public events such as:

• The college-sponsored Fine Arts Series, including the Minnesota Orchestra
• Education Outreach
• Plays
• Concerts
• Speakers series
• Artists in Residence Programs
• Other college-produced offerings

The History of the BAC

In the early 1960's, some very visionary women recognized the need not only for more space on the CSB campus for fine arts students, but a greater community need of a performance venue that could attract major productions from around the country. These women turned that vision into reality with the opening of the BAC in 1964. Learn more.

The Building

The Escher Auditorium is a state-of-the-art concert hall and the only venue outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul offering an annual Minnesota Orchestra series. In fact, when the Minnesota Orchestra designed its new concert hall in Minneapolis, the BAC was used as a model because of its outstanding acoustics.

In addition to the Escher Auditorium, the building houses the Gorecki Family Theater, gallery spaces, the Helgeson Dance Studio, rehearsal halls, and offices and classrooms for theater, visual arts, music and dance.

The Interactive Education

Thousands of school children and teachers from the region have benefited from arts education programming at the BAC. The Fine Arts Program brings a variety of culturally diverse performances to Central Minnesota audiences, providing students and the wider community opportunities for interaction with regional, national, and international artists through lectures, master classes, extended residencies and performances.

The departments of art, music and theater thrive in the well-planned instructional facilities and share with professional touring companies and community organizations in the utilization of the versatile and fully equipped performance facilities.