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Professors Thomas (Chair), Brand, Burleigh, Luman, Rich

The department firmly believes that art is fundamental to liberal arts education and that the opportunities provided for the study of artistic forms and concepts reflect the College’s commitment to creativity.

The department’s major programs are designed to develop a broad intellectual grounding in the traditions of the visual arts through an understanding of studio and art history, coupled with knowledge from other disciplines. Students learn to discriminate between the processes of production, interpretation, and evaluation and to think creatively about all aspects of artistic problem solving. Through the examination and creation of original works of art, students learn to contextualize works of art and understand the relationship between praxis, theory, and history.

Courses in Studio Art and Art, Science, and Innovation are offered to meet the needs of majors and minors as well as students taking art courses as electives. Our curriculum is designed to be hierarchical in structure. Studio Art has breadth in foundation courses and depth through intermediate and advanced work in a medium. An experiential learning component allows students to explore ways of applying art in various professional environments. Art, Science, and Innovation is an interdisciplinary program that encourages artists to engage with the ethics and cultural implications of scientific and technological developments by combining work in artistic media with science disciplines. Both programs lead students to accept increasing responsibility for the concepts, imagery, and media with which they work. Especially in the Junior Seminar and Senior Project, students learn to write about, speak about, research, contextualize, produce, exhibit, and document their work.

Housed in the Department of Art, the Allegheny Lab for Innovation & Creativity is a leading edge design, editing, programming and fabrication facility. With laser cutters, 3D printers, a CNC machine, 3D scanning equipment, VR gear, and powerful desktops running everything from Unity to the Adobe Creative Cloud, the Center for Innovation supports collaborative work across campus and outside the classroom.

The Bowman, Megahan, and Penelec Art Galleries provide a major exhibition facility for northwestern Pennsylvania, offering a lively and varied exhibition program with an accent on contemporary art. Field trips to the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, or the Carnegie Museum of Art, Andy Warhol Museum, and the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh each provide contact with major art collections. Other resources include a College collection of paintings, prints, drawings and photographs.

Courses

To see the courses offered in this department or program, please use the “Course Search” link from the menu at the right of this page.

Programs

• Studio Art Major

• Studio Art Minor

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