The Griffith Fine arts Building in Historic Nacogdoches
The Department of Theater, the SFA Art Gallery, and Turner Auditorium are located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University. The Theater Department, a member of the National Association of Schools of Theater, offers training and individual development through a diverse course of academic and performance activities leading the student to examine and reflect upon the ideas and passions of mankind's most acknowledged artistic creations. The theater presents year round entertainment on campus and in the community. La Traviata,Tales of Hoffman, Romeo and Juliet, and the Magic Flute are examples of recent performances in the Opera Theater Program. In addition, the SFA Art Gallery sponsors exhibitions of regional, national, and international artists. (SFA General Bulletin)
Griffith Fine Arts is the cornerstone building of the campus, eclectic modern in style, connecting historical images of the past to the university's contemporary architectures and prefiguring within its form the interrelated geometric symmetries expressed in variables of the rectangle, circle, and triangle seen in the remaining buildings of the campus. The pyramidal shape, exterior relief sculptures, 3/4 circles, tower, loggias, and grand staircase accumulate in that order, Egyptian, Greek, medieval, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque motifs in an introductory statement to this unified collection of architectures whose characteristics present the same foundation themes expressed in music, literature, drama, and art.