The School of Art

School of Art website

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The School of Art at Illinois Wesleyan University provides a creative and challenging atmosphere for the student who seeks the opportunity to investigate the many facets of the visual arts. The faculty of the School of Art is proud of the long history of strong individual attention given to each student during their study and the excellence the student carries with them after graduation. While at Illinois Wesleyan, students have opportunities for international study, supervised internships and to pursue a minor in a wide variety of subjects in the College of Liberal Arts.

At the School of Art a student may choose to concentrate in one of the following areas of studio art: drawing, ceramics, graphic design, painting, photography, print making or sculpture. A student may also elect to take additional courses in a related studio area. The School of Art is dedicated to the student who wishes to grow visually, but who also seeks to acquire a historical reference to their visual language. The art history program provides strong support to the studio areas by offering courses ranging from basic survey to advanced period and topics studies.

Degree Requirements:

Major Sequence: A Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree consists of a minimum of 32 course units including:

• Art 111, Foundation Art
• Art 113, Drawing I
• Art 115, Introduction to Art
• Art 130, Painting I
• Art 135, Print making I
• Art 137, Sculpture I
• Art 139, Ceramics I
• Art 213, Drawing II
• Art 300, Art Theory and Criticism
• Art 320, Surrealism to Pop Art
• Art 322, Pop Art to Present
• Art 490, Senior Seminar

Students must also complete five course units of studio art above the 100-level.

Minor Sequence in Studio Art: The minor program in studio art is designed to provide students with many of the basic skills and knowledge which are stressed in the degree programs. The minor includes foundation level courses, introductory and/or intermediate studio courses and courses in art history. A minor consists of a minimum of seven course units to include

• Art 111, 113, 115, 320 
• One course unit of 100-level studio art 
• One course unit of 200-level studio art

or one additional unit of 100-level studio art 

• One unit of 300-level art history 

Minor Sequence in Art History: The minor program in art history is intended to introduce students to works of art in relation to their cultural and historical context. Students should select courses in consultation with the art historian. A minor in art history consists of a minimum of five course units to include:

• Art 115 
• Four units of art history; at least two must be at the 300-level 

For course descriptions, please see the University Catalog.

Faculty:

Learning is greatly enhanced at Illinois Wesleyan by the quality, individualized instruction you will receive from our faculty. Our school of Art instructors will work closely with you to answer questions in and out of the classroom as well as to provide academic advising and collaboration on research projects. In addition, their outside publishing and professional activities add an important dimension to their in-class teaching. Faculty members include:

• Miles Bair, MA.
  School Director and Painting
• Timothy Garvey, Ph.D.
  Art History
• Jennifer Lapham, MFA.
  Gallery Director
• Sherilyn McElroy, MS.
  Graphic Design
• Therese O'Halloran, BFA.
  Ceramics
• Kevin Strandberg, MFA.
  Photography and Sculpture
• Connie Wells, MFA.
  Print making and Drawing