Academics
Department of Art
The mission of the art department is to lead students to deeper awareness of the role of the visual arts in culture, both historically and today. Through courses in both art-making and art history, our curriculum fosters skills in critical reading and analysis, in the interpretation of and communication with visual forms, and in the clear expression of ideas through a variety of visual and verbal media. The art history classes investigate the art forms of diverse historical eras and topics, while the studio art classes encourage the thoughtful use of a broad range of techniques to express complex ideas.
Because the visual has been and remains such a central realm of human communication and self-expression, the study of art is an important component of the liberal arts education. Whether in the making of art or in the interpretation of the visual arts, the study of art has much in common with other humanistic disciplines. Art history is, at its core, a branch of history and shares the concerns and methodologies of that discipline, yet it also shares many of the concerns of literary studies in that it often focuses on the self-consciously creative manipulation of themes, symbols, and narrative. Studio art finds its closest parallels in writing courses, for both aim to develop students’ creative faculties in relation to the history of the discipline. At the same time, the physical, material qualities of art bring its study and creation close to the procedures in the physical sciences, where knowledge is formed through experimentation with physical materials. This experimental quality in the making and study of art links it to the study of philosophy; indeed, art can be seen as the application of the theories of aesthetics that are the concern of many philosophers. Recognizing the fundamentally interdisciplinary nature of the study of art, the art department welcomes students from across the College to its courses and encourages its own students in interdisciplinary study.
Department Contact:
847-735-5181
