PROGRAM The Department of Art + Art History Whenever the intensity of looking reaches a certain degree, one becomes aware of an equally intense energy coming towards one through the appearance of whatever it is one is scrutinizing. From looking to seeing. -John Berger We in the Department of Art + Art History embrace the interdisciplinary possibilities within the liberal arts setting that Washington College provides. We participate in methods of making that cultivate the conceptual and technical skills necessary to understand and act in relation to the world around us. Our faculty engage students in material processes and the study of a wide variety of images, artifacts, and built environments. Issues of interpretation and ethics that attend the reception, care, and exhibition of works of art are explored in the classroom, studio, gallery, and natural landscape. Affirming the intrinsic value of making and studying the various mediums of art, we also prepare students for graduate school or work in any number of fields this, at a time when images proliferate as never before. Seeing to doing.
The Art + Art History Major Whatever one s interest, the major is structured to serve as an intellectual base from which the student can make connections across disciplines, as she/he seeks to understand, criticize, and engage our world, and especially the role of the visual in it from study of works of art in museums, to the images scientists use to model our bodies and cosmos. In fact, many of our majors complete an additional major while here, in fields ranging from Anthropology, English, the Humanities, and Political Science, to Biology, Psychology, Mathematics and Computer Science. The student interested primarily in the study of visual cultures, past and present, is given the tools for historical analysis and a theoretical grounding in the discipline of art history, as well as an understanding of techniques and concepts of current studio practice. The student concentrating in studio art, in turn, benefits from the perspective of those artists who came before her/himself, by taking one introductory and three advanced courses in art history, and learning something of the traditions of which she/he is--or is not--a part, in addition to immersing herself/himself in contemporary visual culture. The curriculum throughout is integrated with a vigorous complement of internships, study abroad programs, exhibitions, public lectures and classroom visits by leading artists, critics, historians and curators. In addition, the department schedules regular field trips to galleries and museums in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, DC.
COURSES =========== Studio Arts Concentration {Core Sequence} =========== Art -250 Visual & Critical Thinking -{2} Intermedia Courses [Drawing Painting Sculpture Video & New Media] -392 Contemporary Practices: Junior Seminar -491 Studio Art Senior Seminar -SCE Studio Senior Capstone Experience + Art History -200 Intro to Western Art -{3} 300 or 400 level Art History Courses
Studio Arts Mission The studio art program s vision is focused on increased rigor, collaboration between students and between students and art faculty, and greater interdisciplinary focus. This is curriculum wide from the entry level studio courses up to and including the SCE project in the senior year. Courses have been structured to lessen media-focused classes and emphasize conceptual depth and fluidity between media. A major tenet of the program is the connection between meaning and making. Through research, critique, and dialogue our students engage the world at large while contemplating humanistic concerns. Through an inquiry into the skills and methodologies of contemporary artistic practices, our students consider the hows and whys of various artistic processes. SANDBOX Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, SANDBOX is Washington College s new initiative fostering collaboration between the creative arts and the sciences. Seeking to uncover a freshness of vision through the juxtaposition of interdisciplinary approaches using processes that others may not see SANDBOX exposes students to unconventional, non-linear attitudes toward problem solving, preparing them to enter the world as creative thinkers capable of adding fresh insight to any field. Through this discourse between disciplines, new sensibilities grow and unexpected results are the norm.
COURSES =========== Art History Concentration {Core Sequence} =========== Art -250 Visual & Critical Thinking +Art History -200 Intro to Western Art -{3} 300 or 400 level Art History Courses -495 Junior Seminar: Methods of Art History -SCE Art History Senior Capstone Experience
Art History Mission The art history faculty and curriculum aim to provide students with the critical and methodological tools needed to analyze visual culture and its role in history. The study of art history provides a significant contribution to a liberal arts education, especially in a world increasingly shaped by the circulation and exchange of visual information and images. The art history major enables students to develop modes of critical seeing and greater awareness of historical and cultural diversity, which will extend to affect their experience and understanding of images and visual data in life beyond the classroom. Kohl Gallery Embracing both traditional and contemporary art, the Kohl Gallery strives to showcase contemporary curatorial practices and contemporary artwork in an academically enriched environment. Curated exhibitions inspire and welcome related programming designed in collaboration with other departments, programs, and organizations at Washington College and in the community. Expanding opportunities for students to study art history, contemporary curatorial and critical practices in art and art theory, museum methods and gallery operations, the gallery offers art exhibitions and public programs. Related programming also brings visiting artists, art historians, critics and curators to campus for the education and enjoyment of the Washington College community, the community of Chestertown, and beyond.
FACULTY The Department of Art + Art History Aileen Tsui {Chair} Benjamin Bellas Heather Harvey Donald McColl Alex Castro Associate Professor of Art History Assistant Professor of Studio Art Assistant Professor of Studio Art Nancy L. Underwood Associate Professor of Art History Director of SANDBOX 3 0 0 w a s h i n g t o n a v e n u e c h e s t e r t o w n, m a r y l a n d 2 1 6 2 0 41 0.7 7 8. 2 8 0 0 w w w. w a s h c o l l. e d u