COA enjoys a remarkable campus setting. With 1,700 feet of shorefront on Frenchman Bay, the 35-acre campus is adjacent to Acadia National Park on the eastern shore of Mount Desert Island. COA also has a gallery, performance center, pottery studio, and other facilities for the arts.

The college offers a range of special events, including theater, film festivals, film series, concerts, visiting artists and lectures, and field trips to Boston, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and Portland, among others.

The Digital Design Studio is for students working in graphic design, digital photography, web design, video editing and student publications. Computers and software in the Digital Design Studio enable high-level production of images, reports, and photo-documents.

The Ethel H. Blum Gallery provides display space for artwork by students, faculty, alumni and visiting artists. College of the Atlantic also collaborates with local schools, museums and the Union of Maine Visual Artists to present special exhibitions ranging from photography to sculpture, painting, prints and crafts. Recent exhibits include: "Ancient Traditions, Contemporary Visions," "Unmasking Tribal Africa," "Sewing Trees: An Installation by Barbara Andrus" and numerous senior projects.

The Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Community Center offers an acoustic stage for music, theater, dance, and performing arts classes and events.

The George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History showcases student work exploring the natural history of the region. Courses based in the museum allow students to develop the skills to design, fabricate and install thematic exhibitions. Recent exhibits produced by students include: "Evolutionary History of Modern Cetaceans," "Winter Ecology of Maine's Wildlife," "What's for Dinner: The foraging ecology of native animals" and "Plants and Animals in Peril: Maine's Endangered Species."