Art and Art History

Department Head: Andrea Lepage; lepagea@wlu.edu; 540-458-8305

Academic Division: The College

The Arts: The Department of Art and Art History offers majors in studio art and art history, and minors in art history, studio art, and cultural heritage and museum studies. Housed in Wilson Hall and located next to the Lenfest Center for the Arts, the department offers a wide range of courses for both majors and non-majors. Attractive classrooms and studios overlook Woods Creek. Regular exhibitions of paintings, sculpture, prints and photographs are held in the Staniar Gallery.

HONORS: Honors Programs in art history and studio art are offered for qualified students; see department head for details.

Offerings

Art History, B.A.  

Studio Art, B.A.  

Art History minor   

Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies minor  

Studio Art minor  

Art History

The Department of Art and Art History includes a major and a minor in art history, as well as a minor in cultural heritage and museum studies. Art history classes are small - with caps on lecture courses set at 25 - and plentiful, with all courses taught in state-of-the-art facilities.

In a world that has become increasingly dependent on images, and in an age marked by the manipulation of information through them, the importance of understanding the vitality of visual literacy and the challenges facing image-makers and image-readers has never been so strongly felt. The discipline of art history provides students with the intellectual tools to consider these issues and fosters an academic forum in which to address them thoughtfully, critically and innovatively.

Studio Art

Featured in the W&L curriculum for almost 60 years, the Studio Art program hosts a vibrant community of creators who specialize in the communication of ideas through visual forms.

While rigorous in design and implementation, the studio art curriculum has been crafted to work within the liberal arts tradition and students are encouraged—even advised—to bring to the creative process the ideas and concepts they have learned in classes offered by other departments across the W&L academic landscape.

A vigorous visiting artist program brings to campus contemporary artists who work closely with students, critique their work and provide special workshops for majors and non-majors alike. Some students take advantage of internship opportunities that connect them with internationally known artists. 

About the Program

The studio art major consists of 12 courses (36 credits) and encourages experience in design, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. Additionally, majors must take two courses in the history of art, one of which must focus on modern or contemporary art. Seniors must undertake and complete a specific thesis project, exhibited in Staniar Gallery at the end of Winter Term senior year. 

Students majoring in studio art often begin their academic experience by taking 100-level foundation courses in drawing and design. They then move on to introductory classes in sculpture, painting, printmaking and photography. Art history courses are often taken before the end of the junior year to help the studio major recognize—before they begin their thesis work—the trends and currents that have influenced their predecessors and contemporaries in the world of art.

NOTE: The studio art and art history courses are numbered according to the following schemes.

Art History

100 - survey

200 - period lecture

300 - seminar

400 - direct/independent work

0 - General/Ancient

1 - Islamic

2 - Native American and Indigenous (North America)

3 - African American

4 - East Asian and South Asian

5 - European to 1800

6 - Modern

7- Indigenous, Latin America and US Latinx

Studio Art

100 - beginning

200 - middle

300 - advanced

0 - criticism 

1 - drawing and painting

2 - photo and printing

3 - design and sculpture

Faculty

First date is the year in which the faculty member began service as regular faculty at the University. Second date is the year of appointment to the present rank.

Leigh Ann Beavers, M.F.A—(2004)-2004
Instructor of Art
M.F.A., University of Wisconsin Madison

George R. Bent, Ph.D.—(1993)-2007
Sidney Gause Childress Professor of Art History
Ph.D., Stanford University

Christa Kreeger Bowden, M.F.A.—(2006)-2017
Professor of Art
M.F.A., University of Georgia

Wendy M. Castenell, Ph.D—(2022)-2022
Assistant Professor of Art History
Ph.D. University of Missouri

Sandy de Lissovoy, M.F.A.—(2019)-2019
Assistant Professor of Art
M.F.A. University of California, Irvine

Melissa Robin Kerin, Ph.D.—(2011)-2024
Professor of Art History and Director of the Roger Mudd Center for Ethics
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Elliott Haigh King, Ph.D.—(2012)-2024
Professor of Art History
Ph.D., University of Essex

Andrea Lepage, Ph.D.—(2008)-2020
Pamela H. Simpson Professor of Art History
Ph.D., Brown University

Emma Steinkraus, M.F.A —(2022)-2022
Assistant Professor of Art
M.F.A. University of Iowa