Member of the Division of Humanities
Chair(s):
Lee Emma Running
Faculty:
Jenny Anger
Timothy Chasson
Jeremy Chen
Andrew Kaufman
Matthew Kluber
Jill Davis Schrift
Susan Strauber
Lesley Wright
The Department of Art provides curricular opportunities for the development of technical skills, aesthetic judgment, and historical understanding. Participation in both studio and arthistory courses stimulates critical thinking and refines creative potential in the visual arts. The Grinnell College Art Collection of approximately 5,000 original works of art and the changing exhibitions of the Faulconer Gallery and the Print and Drawing Study Room supplement formal course study.
Students who major in art may elect a studio or an art history concentration, with opportunities for advanced work in 300- and 400-level courses. Students who receive a 5 on the Advanced Placement exam in Art History will be exempted from ART 103 . Students with a score of 4 may, upon consultation with the department, be exempted from ART 103 . Students electing an art history concentration must consult with the department about appropriate foreign language study. Majors are expected to enrich their concentration through selected courses offered by other departments. For example, appropriate courses in film, history, literature, philosophy, and religious studies, or syntheses of these materials in humanities courses contribute to the art history concentration. Furthermore, computer science, literature, education, economics, and the sciences, especially chemistry, contribute to the study of studio art.
Students are encouraged to consider the advantages of a semester abroad in an approved program. Off-campus programs in this country also are available to majors with adequate preparation for advanced study. Students interested in museum work can take the museum studies course (ART 260 ) and/or the exhibition seminar (ART 360 ). There are opportunities for academic internships at the Faulconer Gallery and Axelle Fine Arts (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and others as arranged. Competitive summer internships at national museums and institutions are open to qualifying students with considerable preparation in either discipline. A competitive scholarship in studio art allows for a ninth semester of portfolio preparation for graduate study.
Major Requirements: A minimum of 32 credits
Studio Art: Required for the studio art concentration are 24 credits in studio art (beyond ART 111 ), which must include ART 134 - Drawing , three courses of series 200, and two courses of series 300. In addition students must complete two courses in art history: ART 103 and one course at the 200 level. Students in studio art must also complete a public exhibition under the advisement of studio faculty in their senior year.
Art History: Required for the art history concentration are 28 credits in art history (beyond Art 103), which must include one course from each of the following groups (ART 214 or ART 227 or ART 230 ; ART 221 or ART 222 ; ART 231 or ART 232 ) and ART 400 , and one course in studio art (ART 111 or ART 134 ). With permission, up to eight credits in the art history concentration may be taken in related studies outside the department.
The senior project in studio art and the senior thesis in art history will be considered ART 499 and must follow the College’s procedures for Mentored Advanced Projects (MAPs) as well as departmental procedures. Only one Art 499 (4 credits) may count toward the major. Pre-architecture students must include one semester each of laboratoryphysics and calculus and are advised to fulfill the studio concentration, though other majors are possible.
At least 20 credits of coursework must be taken with the Department of Art at Grinnell. No more than 16 credits within a single art history area may count toward the major unless approved in advance by the department.
*Not offered every year.
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