Art and Art History

The study of art involves art theory, art history, and the creation of art in a variety of media. Studying art and art history at a liberal arts college creates unique opportunities for students and faculty alike. The number of students in most art studio and art history classes is limited, so that the atmosphere is intimate and intense. Faculty and students enjoy a great deal of interchange of ideas in and out of the classroom.

Students in art may focus their studies in studio arts or art history. Students often double-major, or pursue a minor in studio art or art history while majoring in another discipline.

St. Mary's Project (SMP)

Projects can be historical in nature, an act of creation, or an exercise in curation or restoration. Examples include:

• Art education in the Soviet Union: Breeding grounds for dissidence
• The intersection of art and literature in the Harlem renaissance
• Pious boys and wrinkled women: Representing age in 16th-Century holy family images
• More than meets the eye: Trends of appearance in the workplace
• Women artists and the solidification of gendered responsibilities in New Deal art
• Figuring out--a series of self-portraits

Travel Abroad

If you major in studio art or art history, you are well-suited to take advantage of travel and study abroad. Studying abroad can be combined with an internship or an SMP at places like the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Oxford, China, France, West Africa, Germany, Thailand, and Italy. One student spent the fall semester at Charles University in Prague (Univerzity Karlovy) creating an SMP on "Gender Dilemmas in Czech New Wave Cinema."

Life After St. Mary's

Our recent majors in studio art and art history have studied in the following graduate programs:

You might be surprised at the variety of careers chosen by majors in art and art history:

Special Opportunities

Internships prepare you for a career in one of the many galleries or museums in the Washington-Baltimore area such as the Baltimore Museum of Industry, American Art Museum, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Pyramid Atlantic, National Gallery of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden�all recent placements for art and art history majors.

For more information, visit the Art Department Web site at
http://www.smcm.edu/art