The Department of Performing Arts was formed during the 1980s. The department is made up of three programs: Dance, Music, and Theater. The School of Music and Art was first established in the 1917-1918 school year. The three majors were originally individual departments before being combined into the Department of Performing Arts.

Music has been a part of the school since its inception in 1889. Vocal music was offered the first year, and instrumental music was added the second year. Art instruction was started in 1891. The school band program was developed between 1905-1923 by Ernest W. Nichols. As of the 2012-2013 school year there are two choirs and ten instrumental groups that students can audition for and participate.

Dance classes were first offered during the 1909-1910 school year. Folk and interpretive dancing were added to the curriculum in 1926. Students can participate in Orchesis, a modern dance troupe, that was started around 1949. There is also the Moving Company, which provides community based learning performance experience in significant dance works on and off campus, lecture demonstrations, and teaching opportunities in the public schools and for campus and community organizations.

Drama was first established at Weber in the 1917-1918 school year. A dramatics club had existed prior to this time. During the time Weber offered high school classes, the different grades presented plays. In the 1915-1916 school year the school began presenting an annual play that students could audition; the first play was Brown of Harvard.