The idea for Princeton University's Arts and Transit Neighborhood grew from a vision articulated by President Shirley M. Tilghman not long after she took office in 2001.

This vision sought to increase dramatically the opportunities Princeton students have to engage in the creative and performing arts. Tilghman was motivated by a personal view that engagement in the arts is just as important to educate young people for productive and meaningful lives as engagement in the sciences and engineering, in languages and literatures, and in the other fields in which the University offers programs.

She believes the arts provide opportunities for students to learn about themselves and their world; to shape their identities; to expand their imaginations; and to participate in the creative process with others. Princeton's existing resources have not been sufficient to meet the interests of students, and this is as true for students with no intention of majoring in the arts as for students who do want to major in these areas.

There have been excellent students in recent years who have decided not to attend Princeton because they believed it does not provide adequate opportunities in the arts, and there have been other students who have come to Princeton in part because they found that they could pursue their interests in the arts, even as they also pursued their interests in neuroscience, or environmental engineering or many other fields.

Tilghman also recognized that universities are among the few institutions left in this country that have the resources to serve as incubators for new artists, and she believed that the overall quality and vitality of life on the campus — and in the community — could be significantly enhanced if there were more creative and performing artists on campus and more venues where they and their students could practice and perform their crafts.

In January 2006, a significant gift gave Tilghman's vision the boost it needed to become a reality. Peter B. Lewis, a 1955 graduate and trustee of the University, announced he would contribute $101 million to support a major new initiative to enhance the role of the creative and performing arts in the life of the University and its community.

Lewis' gift is funding a significant portion of an ambitious new initiative. That initiative — based on an intensive yearlong assessment of Princeton's strengths and aspirations in the arts — includes an expansion of programs in these fields, a significant increase in the number of artists teaching and collaborating on research at Princeton, and the creation of a new physical complex with improved and expanded facilities for the study and presentation of the creative and performing arts.

In 2006 when a team of architects, landscape architects and planners led by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners began developing a 10-year comprehensive strategy to guide development through 2016 and beyond, the Arts and Transit Neighborhood became part of that effort. As the Campus Plan was evolving, organizers provided many opportunities for involvement and updates. In November 2006, a "Plans in Progress" event at Chancellor Green drew 900 people from the campus and community.

The decision to focus on the area near the intersection of University Place and Alexander Street was driven by several considerations: its ability to accommodate performance spaces, rehearsal spaces, and faculty offices and studios; its proximity to other spaces being used for similar purposes to allow synergies when possible — especially the nearby McCarter and Berlind theaters; and its accessibility to community members interested in seeing performances, exhibitions and other programming — the location near the edge of campus and near public transportation was very attractive.

In November 2007, the University named its new arts center the Lewis Center for the Arts in recognition of the Lewis gift. Two months later, in January 2008, Steven Holl Architects, an award-winning firm with extensive experience in the arts, was selected to design the initial academic buildings for the new Arts and Transit Neighborhood.

“... An arts neighborhood should be a part of the campus that looks outward and draws the outside world into Princeton, helping to increase interactions between town and gown. Because of their broad appeal, the arts provide a special opportunity for Princeton to engage with the surrounding communities and the world beyond. I believe that the community as well as the University would benefit from an expanded and more visible public presence of the creative arts.”
— Shirley M. Tilghman from the President’s Report on the Creative and Performing Arts at Princeton
 

10-year comprehensive
Princeton Campus Plan