Department of Art

The Department of Art offers the following degree programs:

The department believes that at the undergraduate level students are best served by a liberal university education with a specialization in art. Specialized degree programs emphasize the traditional disciplines of painting, sculpture, design, art history, and art education. Students seeking vocational specializations should pursue relevant post-baccalaureate studies.

All transfer students should make an appointment with the department’s Director of Transfer Advising, Mr. Richard Gantt, for a transcript and portfolio review to approve transfer studio art and art history transfer credit. Director of Undergraduate Advising, Pat Wasserboehr, advises all art education majors and all other undergraduates throughout the year.

Courses in drawing, painting, and sculpture in the 20s, 30s, and 50s series emphasize working from dual approaches of observation and abstraction. Still life, landscapes, interior environments, and the human figure are the primary sources of study from which students work toward developing basic observational skills. Students focus on conceptual approaches as they incorporate research, skill, interpretation, and invention into abstract forms of art making. Courses in the design concentration include digital imagery, ceramics, photography, color theory, and crafts. Courses in the 40s, 70s, and 80 to 84 series focus on the inherent systemic logic, or functional aspects of art.

The department provides a thorough background in art history and museum studies through introductory courses and subsequent graduated offerings that extend focus, range, and depth.

The art education program offers courses in studio art and art history to majors while preparing them in theoretical and philosophical foundations as well as curriculum and teaching methods. Students gain the expertise necessary for teaching in a variety of settings.

Students in all concentrations in the department also avail themselves to courses that allow for the advanced pursuit of relevant topics in studio art, art history, museum studies, art education seminars, independent study, internships, practicums, and student teaching experiences. The faculty includes studio artists, art educators, and art historians of acclaimed accomplishments in their areas of specialization.

The Weatherspoon Art Museum and the Department of Art each sponsor a program of exhibitions, lectures, and workshops that enhances the educational goals of the art curriculum.

Starting in the fall of 2006, the department’s studio and art education facilities will be located in a new art building on Highland Avenue. Art historians will remain in the Weatherspoon Art Museum.

Art as a Second Major

Students who wish to declare a second major in art must complete all requirements listed above under the degree (B.F.A. or B.A.) and concentration selected.

Art Minor

An Art Minor requires 18 semester hours of studio and/or art history courses. A Minor in Art History requires 3 hours in ART 100 or 101 and 15 additional hours of 200-level or above art history courses. A Minor in Studio Art requires 3 hours in ART 100 or 101 and core studio courses ART 120, 140, 150, 220, 221.