Art History, Bachelor of Arts
Art Department Chairs:
Kellie Bean, Assistant Provost (Acting Chair)
Faculty:
Elizabeth Ayer; Richard Barlow; Leah Frankel; Katharine Kreisher; Douglas Zullo, Adjunct Instructors: Erik Halvorson, Kevin Gray, Normandy Alden, Luke Dougherty.
Majors
Art History
Minors
Art History
About
Producing art as a means of personal expression enriches the life of every student, and every person.
Art challenges each of us to discover and invent ways to communicate ideas through visual forms. Art speaks to us about the past, helps us to confront the present, and prepare for the future. Art encourages us to understand and explore a vast range of traditional and non-traditional ideas, materials and forms.
Students may choose from majors in Art or in Art History. Both of these programs culminate in a Bachelor of Arts degree. The department also offers minors in Art, Art History, Documentary Photography, and Graphic Communications.
The Major in Art History
The major in Art History is designed for the student interested in researching and writing about the history of ideas through the study of works of art and their makers. This program includes three core Art History survey courses, normally taken in the first three terms. The surveys serve as the foundation for six additional Art History courses required for the major, which introduce the student to the discipline of Art History through an investigation of a variety of historical styles, techniques, and ideas. Art History majors also are required to take eight credits of Studio Art courses. This experiential learning enables the student to directly engage skills and concepts used by artists, and to understand how different materials and tools affect the creative process. Art History majors will also achieve reading competency in a foreign language. This is generally achieved through a two-course beginning language sequence (culture courses do not fulfill this requirement).
The required art history capstone comprises a Research and Methods course (taken in the Spring of the junior year) and the Senior Thesis (completed in the Fall of the senior year), and culminates in a symposium in which seniors present their research to the Art and Art History faculty.
The department also offers a varied schedule of art events, including visiting artist and art historian lectures, art films and art exhibitions, which are designed as part of the student’s education. Studio and Art History majors are required by department policy to attend out-of-class events sponsored by the department.
A number of special study opportunities offered by the department further enrich the art program at Hartwick. Individualized instruction in studio classes gives students the opportunity to work closely with professional artists. The full- time faculty is joined each semester by resident artists-specialists who teach courses in such areas as glassblowing and drawing— and by prestigious visiting artists who conduct occasional workshops or lectures. Past visiting artists have included Andy Warhol, Richard Artschwager, Nanette Carter, Steve Currie, Fred Escher, Robert Fichter, Denise Green, Maren Hassinger, Nancy Holt, Roxanne Jackson, Steve Linn, Martha Madigan, Duane Michals, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Olivia Parker, Sal Romano, Juan Sanchez, Paul Soldner, Kay Walking Stick, John Wood, Donna Dennis, Susan Unterberg, Michael Bramwell, Alvaro Garcia, Suzanne Bocanegra, Niki Berg, John Moore, Yong Soon Min, James Luna, Ik Jung Kang, Tom Nussbaum, and Sandy Skoglund.
Other special opportunities include department-sponsored study programs in Europe. In addition, students may do advanced work or independent study with a professional in a medium or area of special interest. They also may intern with professional artists or art historians in a variety of fields including book illustration, advertising, photojournalism, gallery and museum management, and art history research. Students interested in curating exhibitions for museums or galleries are encouraged to gain experience through internships supervised by appropriate department faculty, or by taking museum studies courses offered through The Yager Museum of Art & Culture.
Material Fee: All studio art courses carry a 25$ per credit hour materials fee. This fee is automatically applied to student accounts and offsets cost of materials and equipment used in the courses such as paint, clay, glass, software costs etc. By purchasing materials in bulk and tax free the department is able to reduce materials costs for students are encouraged to consider completing the interdisciplinary Museum Studies Minor.
All majors in the department take courses in other disciplines as part of their liberal arts and sciences education. The background and experience gained by students of art and art history at Hartwick has enabled them to begin careers in a wide range of art-related fields. Others pursue graduate study at such institutions as Otis Art Institute, Columbia University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, Washington University, Pratt Institute, Rutgers University, Massachusetts College of Art, New York University, Hunter College, the University of Pittsburgh, American University, St. Andrew’s University, State University of New York at Albany, Columbus College of Art and Design, Drexel University, and San Francisco College of the Arts.