Art Major

Become a Visual Thinker and Visual Storyteller

The art program stands on the shoulders of trailblazers like Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Hale Woodruff, Jenelsie Walden Holloway and Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell and equips students to become visual thinkers and storytellers. Following in their innovative example the current iteration of the program is designed for interdisciplinary studio artists to work across printmaking, papermaking, installation, digital media and small metals.

Foundational to all of these artistic practices is the rigorous utilization and application of drawing – an essential tool for ideating, communicating, and visualizing. As emerging studio artists, all majors and minors will be required to cultivate a consistent practice of critique, iteration and self-directed artistic research and production.

Students will be immersed in a vernacular of contemporary art that understands art and artists as integral to shaping, transforming, and reflecting our world as students develop the language to critique, write, and present, as professional practicing artists. All courses are contextualized via extensive writing, reading and viewing, of art, artists, and art historical movements, that challenge and expand the Western canon. Majors and minors will be introduced to and expected to utilize resources available in The Spelman College Innovation Lab and collaborate with peers in art history, curatorial studies, photography, documentary film and across the Division of the Arts.

The art program has developed competitive summer scholarship opportunities to further support the development of student’s independent studio practice. Additionally, exceptional students have the opportunity to be recognized through annual departmental awards. Successful students are self-motivated, critical thinkers, intellectually engaged, creative risk takers, collaborative problem solvers and consistently active in their artistic practice.

*Please Note: The program does not provide instruction in graphic design, animation, painting, product design or fashion and students interested in these processes will be directed to cross register at Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University or participating institutions in the ARCHE Program

A Few More Questions is an online journal of exceptional creative and scholarly research by students in the Division of the Arts at Spelman College. A Few More Questions publish work that pushes the boundaries of creativity, technology and innovation in all forms of media, performing arts, and their related practices.

A Few More Questions

Major Course Requirements and Credits (Total: 48 Credits)

Foundations Program

FOUNDATIONS PROGRAM (12 Credits)
Students are introduced to design thinking materials and software.

  • SAVC 120 Surface: Visualization, Representation, and Process (3)
  • SAVC 215 Space: Materials, Form, and Process (3)
  • SAVC 122 Digital 2D Foundations (3)
  • SAVC 135 Digital 3D Foundations (3)
Studio Practice

STUDIO PRACTICE (15 Credits)
Where students learn to make.

  • Concentration Studios (2 courses in area of study) (6)
  • Advanced Concentration Studio (choose Print + Paper or Clay + Fiber) (3)
  • SAVC 342 Topics in Studio Art: Black Feminist Thought (3)
  • SAVC 280 Technology Innovation and Art (3)
Theory and Thinking

THEORY AND THINKING (13) Credits
Students learn about art movements and consider the past.

  • SAVC 142 Ways of Seeing II (3)
  • SAVC 243 African American Art (4)
  • SAVC 275 Contemporary Art Making Strategies (3)
  • SAVC 390 Art Process and Practice (3)
Personal Practice and Career Building

PERSONAL PRACTICE AND CAREER BUILDING (8 Credits)
Student prepare for a real-world usage of skills.

  • SAVC X20 Arts Division Seminars (0)
  • SAVC 442 Internship (2) SAVC 492 Portfolio Criticism I (3)
  • SAVC 492 Portfolio Criticism II (3)

Common Career Paths

  • Studio Assistant 
  • Studio Technician (printmaking, papermaking, jewelry, maker spaces)
  • Studio Manager (printmaking, papermaking, jewelry, maker spaces) 
  • Teaching Artist
  • Museum Education
  • Illustrator
  • Fabricator
  • Studio Artist/ Craftsperson

 

View What You Can Do With This Major

Alumna Spotlight

Shannon Brogdon Grantham, C'09

Photograph and Paper Conservator Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute

Discover Grantham's Work

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