Willamette University: Arts Programs

Willamette's Art Department teaches the practice of fine art-making, of mastering technique and harnessing intellect to create visual artwork. Students work in experimental and traditional media drawing upon the breadth of Willamette's liberal arts education. Art is taught in an interdisciplinary way and our curriculum emphasizes the development of technique and craftsmanship as well as theory and conceptualization in the context of the Fine Arts.

Willamettes Art Department teaches the practice of fine art-making, of mastering technique and harnessing intellect to create visual artwork. Students work in experimental and traditional media drawing upon the breadth of Willamettes liberal arts education.

By creating, showing and critically analyzing work, students viscerally experience art culture, while learning to use the language of contemporary art and preparing to participate as makers in a complex visual world.

Art majors express their aesthetic, personal and social ideas through a wide variety of media. Studio courses are lab-based and encourage active engagement with faculty and peers. Areas of study include drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography and video.  All are fine-art focused.

Students initially explore broadly, later focusing on an area of interest. Opportunities for learning beyond the classroom include professional and student art exhibitions, internships, work-study jobs and collaborative summer projects with faculty. The senior thesis is a self-defined creative project, guided by a faculty mentor, culminating in the Senior Art Exhibition at the universitys Hallie Ford Museum of Art.