When the doors of the Maryland State Normal School [MSNS] opened in January of 1866, Art and Music were part of the curriculum for all students who would soon be teachers themselves. Speech was added as a subject by the turn of the century. As teachers specializing in elementary classrooms in often very rural areas, MSNS graduates would be the sole source of information for their students, so it was important that they had a good grounding in a variety of subjects, including the Arts.

One or two MSNS faculty members taught Art and Music, which could mean both instrumental and vocal music, until the 1930s when additional faculty members were added, most likely in response to a growth in student enrollment. Various student literary organizations on campus such as the Normal and Pestalozzi Societies had long practiced both public speaking and journalism and had dabbled in song- writing and theatrics.

This remained the status quo until after World War II. As the school, now known as the State Teachers College at Towson, began its journey towards becoming a comprehensive liberal arts college, the programs in the Arts also began to expand. In 1945, Speech was established as a department and ten years later, the department took on drama as well, becoming known as Speech and Drama. In 1961, the Theatre Department was established.

But the true breakthrough in the Arts programs at Towson came after the school became Towson State College in 1963. Besides growing the faculty in each department, degrees in Art, Music, and Theatre were offered, and classes in Audiology were offered, signaling a shift towards creating classes focusing on speech and language disorders. In 1971, Towson established both the Center for Asian Arts, now known as the Asian Arts and Culture center, and the radio station WVTS, which was the forerunner of WTMD.

The Theatre Department became its own department in 1972, and Speech was now known as Communication Studies. By 1979, the department would split again between Mass Communications and Communication Sciences and Disorders. 1979 also saw the establishment of Dance, which previously been taught as a subject within the Physical Education department.

With the creation of the college system in 1982, the departments of Art, Dance, Mass Communications, Music and Theatre would all fall under the College of Fine Arts and Communication. That year also saw the first large collaboration among the departments as the Summer Arts Festival debuted. This festival was renamed the Maryland Arts Festival in 1987, and would continue until 2005 when it was deemed too costly and ended.

Towson would host other large festivals, often in collaboration with exchange programs with international universities and conservatories. In 1989, Towson worked with the Leningrad State Conservatory program to bring dancers together. Later, Towson would organize and host World Music, World Guitar, and World Cello Congresses, featuring such luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma.

The academic program for the various disciplines has also expanded. In 1994, a Masters in Fine Arts and Communication program began. In 2000, the Electronic Media and Film department was established, splintering off from the Mass Communication department.

The Center for the Arts, a building originally constructed in 1973 and renovated in 2005, houses most of these programs, however Mass Communication and Electronic Media and Film also have classes and department offices in the Media Center, Van Bokkelen, and as of 2013, the radio station WTMD has moved to a new facility in Towson City Center, a space off-campus.