Studio Art
Visual and Performing Arts
Why Major in Studio Art at Allegheny College
The Art Department embraces, encourages, and promotes diverse perspectives using the cultural power of art to catalyze change. Express yourself, convey meaning, and make a difference.
Make original works of art.
- Demonstrate effective design principles, creative problem-solving, and appropriate craftsmanship and technique in a range of mediums.
Interpret and critically evaluate art and media.
- Write and speak about art from an informed perspective by carrying out relevant research, contextualizing and interpreting relevant works.
Know art of the past and present.
- Exhibit familiarity with Western and global artists, designers and historical movements as well as contemporary art and critical theory.
Develop professional practices and problem-solving abilities.
- Gain skills through the exhibition of your work, documenting it in a portfolio, writing proposals, and curating exhibits.
Produce meaningful work that integrates other disciplines.
- Your art will investigate human experiences, demonstrate conceptual sophistication, and integrate knowledge from other cultural contexts.
Unusual Combinations
Students often combine Studio Art with:
Division
- Visual and Performing Arts
Program Type
- Major
- Minor
Number of Credits
50 for major24 for minor
Where Studio Art Alumni Work Today
Studio Creative Director
Wizards of the Coast
Ben Cammarano ’92
Appraisal Administrator
Christie’s Auction House
Maggie Susse ’06
Web Developer
Q.Digital
Marc Kreidler ’11
Art Therapist
Pittsburgh Mercy
Jacqueline Reynolds ’12
Project Manager
R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc.
Molly Soffietti ’14
Data Analyst
EOG Resources
Jonathan Yee ’17
Allegheny’s Art Department is unique because the professors and staff treat students as their peers, which really raises expectations and has helped me push myself as an artist and a student. Everything I create is motivated by the question ‘why?’ Everything I do has a reason and meaning and, because of this, I’m able to apply knowledge from every spectrum of my education.
Your Four-Year Journey
Year 1: Understanding
Begin with introductory courses in 2-D, 3-D art, or art history. We offer instruction in ceramics, photography, digital art, sculpture, painting, and introductory drawing. Join the Student Art Society, Clay Club, or Photo Club to get to know other art students and engage in special projects.
Year 2: New Approaches
Pick your favorite mediums to explore at the intermediate level. Continue to gain experience in a variety of mediums that will allow you to express yourself broadly and communicate effectively. A course in contemporary art or feminist theory will help you understand your place in the art world. Field trips and exhibits in the Art Galleries introduce you to current artists and practices.
Year 3: Delving Deeper
Solidify your pathway with advanced courses. Although they can happen any time, it’s traditional to plan for internships with galleries, museums, or arts organizations in the junior year. Study-away at the NY Arts program or in a foreign country is a great way to connect with the bigger art world. The Junior Seminar offers you the opportunity to explore the kind of art you want to make by creating and displaying a large body of work.
Year 4: The Comp
Senior year is the time for Senior Project for majors, an ambitious display of a body of your work. In addition to advanced work in your medium, think about gaining career skills with the professional practices course or a hands-on gallery exhibition/museum studies class. For Studio Art minors, scheduling the Junior Seminar in your fourth year allows you to bring everything together in a final project.
Featured Courses
- ART 600 – Senior Project I: Studio Art
- ART 523 – Internship: Gallery or Museum
- ART 584 – Contemporary Institutions of Display
Research and Internships
We’ll help you develop a broad intellectual grounding in the traditions of the visual arts through an understanding of multiple hands-on disciplines. You’ll learn to contextualize artworks, and understand the relationships between praxis, theory, and history.
Our studio art students exercise their creativity through internships, community engagement, study away, and more.
The Allegheny Lab for Innovation & Creativity (ALIC) is an ecosystem of resources that give students the tools to best demonstrate the skills they’ve learned while at Allegheny in their post-graduation lives. The lab is a space where science and the humanities intersect, providing hands-on experience with technology and opportunities to think critically about its context, history, and implications.
The ALIC consists of two distinct resources:
- The fabrication lab, which houses 3D printers, laser cutters, and a CNC/plasma cutter
- The computer lab, which contains 26 design and game development computers
The Bowman, Penelec, and Megahan galleries comprise the Allegheny Art Galleries, located on the first floor of Doane Hall of Art. The Allegheny Art Galleries receive state funding through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PPA), a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Allegheny offers sponsored study-away programs in more than 15 countries across the world.
Faculty and Staff
Email: ithomas@allegheny.edu
Phone: 814-332-3379
Email: dluman@allegheny.edu
Phone: 814-332-2881
Featured News
Art as a Catalyst for Change: Ian F. Thomas’s Exhibit Confronts Gun Violence in America
(Warning: content may be triggering for some.) A spring semester exhibit by assistant professor of ceramics and sculpture for the studio art program, Ian F. Thomas, drew attention for its poignant and powerful commentary on gun violence in America. Titled “Everything Will Be Okay,” the exhibit used everyday objects to create a visceral and thought-provoking […]
Program Contact
Byron Rich
Associate Professor of Art; Director of Academic Innovation Partnerships
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Address:
520 North Main Street
Meadville, PA 16335
Contact:
814-332-4351
info@allegheny.edu
admissions@allegheny.edu
