Studying studio art, art history or architecture and design in the Art and Art History Department at Southwestern exposes students to high quality technical, historical and experiential learning in these fields framed by a the perspective of a broader liberal arts education.

Overviews of majors and minors

Studio Art:

Studio Art at Southwestern is a pre-professional program in a liberal arts context that deals with art as an expressive medium; it intends that each student should acquire technical proficiency in a principal medium, knowledge of a variety of media processes as well as liberal arts breadth in critical and verbal skills. The program is a preparation both for students intending to apply to Master of Fine Arts programs and go on to professional work as artists; and for students who wish to acquire a liberal arts degree which can lead to work in a wide variety of fields in graduate school both inside and outside the world of art (such as art history, architecture, commercial art, design, arts administration, teaching art in elementary and secondary schools, etc.).

 Architecture and Design:

The Architecture and Design Studies program is a “pre-architecture” minor which allows students to explore different design professions and to prepare strong portfolios and acquire studio skills and historical background for graduate school applications. A liberal arts background normally gives professional architects much greater depth and flexibility throughout their entire careers in solving the daily challenges of the design professions. In architecture, students will normally apply to three and a half year First Degree Master of Architecture programs and have often been given some advance standing based on credit for courses at Southwestern. Students from Southwestern’s program have also gone to graduate programs in  landscape architecture, urban planning, interior design, industrial design, building contracting, engineering and into private design consulting firms, and have been admitted to such graduate schools as Harvard, Yale, University of Texas, UCLA, Clemson, Texas A & M, and Rhode Island School of Design.

Art History:

Art History at Southwestern is a scholarly, humanistic discipline that investigates objects and images through stylistic analysis, study of cultural and historical contexts, and theoretical models of interpretation. The Art History program consists of six broad areas of study: East Asian, Latin American, Pre-Modern (Classical and Medieval), Early Modern (Renaissance and Baroque), Modern, and Design History. As a liberal arts program, the Art History major enables the student to develop visual literacy and to critically assess the complex meanings of material culture within diverse settings. To foster such understanding, Art History courses take a broadly contextual approach, situating art objects in relation to contemporaneous political and historical events; issues of race, gender, class and power structures; intellectual history and aesthetic criticism. In addition to preparing students for application to MA and PhD programs in art history, art history students are well prepared for professional and graduate work in other areas of the visual arts, such as arts administration or museum work, as well as other academic disciplines (e.g., history, philosophy, etc.).

Faculty

All of our faculty members are exhibiting artists or publishing scholars. This means students have direct contact with leading professionals in their field, and can often participate or collaborate in their work or research. In pursuing a major or minor in studio art or art history, or a minor in architecture and design studies, students find they receive significant direction in the first two years, but in their junior and senior years are increasingly encouraged to develop their own line of research, in close interaction with a faculty member. This approach has led students to be well prepared for their first research seminars in graduate art history programs and, in studio art, to prepare professional portfolios for exhibitions and graduate school applications.

On- and Off-campus Programs

Moving beyond the robust classroom and studio curriculum, one of the strongest features of our Art and Art History Department is the opportunity to participate in remarkable off-campus programs in the junior and senior years. Majors and minors, both in studio art and art history, are encouraged to take part in at least one of the university’s off-campus programs such as the summer or fall semester in London or the GLCA New York Arts Internships, where they can work directly with professionals in their field of study. The department also features a regular programs of gallery exhibitions, lectures, and studio critiques by well-known artists, scholars and practicing professionals, all of whom bring the living, breathing world of art and art history to the experience of being a Southwestern art student.