Art and Art History Department

The study of art & art history is central to a liberal arts education, especially in a world increasingly shaped by images and seemingly endless visual information.   The Department of Art & Art History makes rich contributions to St. Lawrence’s liberal arts curriculum.  While studio art courses involve creativity and the physical or conceptual production of artworks, art history courses engage students in the interpretation of art from many different regions and times.    

Our studio art program offers courses in drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, installation art, digital photography, and video. Art history courses include surveys of historical and contemporary African, Asian, European, and American art, as well as seminars in theory and criticism, and museum studies.

After graduation, recent majors and minors have found work in the following fields:  Art History (through M.A. and Ph.D. programs); Studio Art (through M.F.A. programs); Art Conservation; Museums and Historic Preservation (in curatorial, museum education, and fundraising positions); Architecture; Graphic Design; Book Authorship and Illustration; Editing and Publishing; Art Librarianships; Arts Management; Auction Houses and Art Galleries; Professional Photography; K-12 Teaching; and Art Therapy.  [See the link, Featured Alumni, for further information.]

Campus publications like The Laurentian Magazine and The Underground provide opportunities for our students to publish artworks and essays.  In addition, many students work in the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, and seniors concentrating in studio art hold an exhibition in the art gallery each spring. The SLU ArtScene webpage collects information about periodicals, symposia, competitions, and grants that may be of interest to Art and Art History students. For some examples of student class work see the Student Highlights webpage.