Perched at the top of Embassy Row, one of the highest points in the nation’s capital, and stretching 600 feet along Massachusetts Avenue—long enough to house the Washington Monument horizontally with room to spare—the Katzen Arts Center was lauded as an architectural gem when it opened in fall 2005. 

But the true treasure is what’s inside.

Katzen is the first facility in American University history to bring all the visual and performing arts programs together under one roof. Home to the AU Museum, the largest university exhibition space in the DC area, the 130,000-square-foot Katzen features classroom, studio, rehearsal, and performance spaces for Eagles in the College of Arts and Sciences to experiment, innovate, and create. The center is also a lively gathering space for the broader AU and Washington communities.

Here, we celebrate the building’s 20th anniversary with a look back at the people, programs, and performances that have made the Katzen sing.