The Department
The Department t of Art was established in 1945 and is part of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland. At present, we offer students a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Studio Art and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA). Our large full-time faculty consists of 17 highly visible artists and scholars who are active and well-known for their professional achievements and dedication to teaching. The Department also has visiting artists as well as adjunct faculty, exposing students to additional vision in contemporary art and criticism. There are approximately 350 undergraduate art majors and 20 students enrolled in the MFA program. The setting of the University is seven miles north of Washington, DC, and 30 miles south of Baltimore. The area offers a rich environment of art and culture with numerous galleries and museums of national and international renown.
The Major
The Department of Art is a place where students transform ideas and concepts into objects and visual experiences. It is an environment rich in art theory, criticism and awareness of diverse world culture. Students are taught to articulate and refine creative thought and apply acquired knowledge and skill to the making of images, objects and experimental works. Courses are meaningful to students with the highest degree of involvement in the program and those who take additional studio art electives. Students majoring in Studio Art take a focused program of courses folded into a general liberal arts education offered by the University. The Department of Art also emphasizes a multi-cultural awareness of historical, theoretical and contemporary art issues. This is reflected in the Art History/Art Theory requirement.
The diverse faculty of artists in the Department of Art strives to foster a sense of community through the common experience of the creative process, sharing their professional experience freely with the students. The areas of concentration within the major are design, drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. Other courses of study available are photography, art theory, digital imaging, internships and independent studies. In addition to the many art courses offered in the Department of Art, there are also other art-related opportunities available to students such as director of staff of the West Gallery, a student-run art gallery exhibiting student work; undergraduate teaching assistant, assisting faculty with classes; the internship program, an experiential learning experience outside of the University; and participation in the Art League, a vital student-run art organization that plans special events and trips.
Studio facilities/classrooms are spacious and well-equipped. Painting and drawing students are encouraged to explore a broad range of media. The sculpture area includes a woodshop, a welding and forging area, a stone and related materials area (both indoors and outdoors), and an active foundry. Printmakers may choose to work in intaglio, lithography, photo processes, relief and multimedia. Within the art building, there are two galleries and two libraries. The Art Gallery, an independent unit that works closely with the Department of Art, features national and international contemporary and historical exhibitions, as well as faculty and annual MFA Thesis shows. The West Gallery is a student organized gallery featuring student exhibitions, lectures, special projects and a space for social activities. The Art Library, separate from the large research libraries on campus, has an outstanding collection of books, catalogues, periodicals and reproductions, all indexed on computer and CD-ROM systems.
Important Links:
- Undergraduate Brochure (in PDF format) Click Here
- Course Offerings
- Department of Art Design Concentration
- The Creative And Performing Arts Scholarships
- Van Crews Jr. Scholarship
- Special Programs in the Department of Art
- Directions to the University:
The Department of Art : University of Maryland |
Tel: 301.405.7790 |