Art

Courses in art are offered in a variety of media, which provide wide-ranging methods and perspectives. Our courses emphasize creative and critical approaches to learning. The department of art offers a rigorous, socially minded, and research-driven curriculum. Students engage in an immersive laboratory of fearless experimentation and challenge the rapidly expanding role of art in our society. Through trans-disciplinary thinking and experimental methodologies, students utilize a range of artistic disciplines in a state-of-the-art facility. Equal emphasis is placed on both individual and collective exploration, where students are encouraged to develop relationships across the university and broader communities.

Many students will use the program in art as a foundation for careers in which creativity and visual studies are especially valued, as the basis for advanced training in professional schools (such as art, architecture, museum studies), and for employment in galleries, museums, commercial art, or design-related fields. An important goal of the department is to help students become readers of the rich visual environment in our culture throughout their lives, as well as to encourage creative approaches to learning in all disciplines.

The Department of Art offers several opportunities for extracurricular activities in the arts including a student-run art gallery, and Space 204 arts laboratory which hosts exhibitions and workshops throughout the year. Studio VU lecture series brings some of the most important artists working today to campus for lectures and one-on-one studio visits with students.

Since 1984 the Department of Art has supervised the Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Award given to an eligible senior art major. This prestigious award provides the means for travel and independent art activity for one year, culminating in a one-person exhibition at Vanderbilt. Our immersive program includes both junior and senior major trips to New York and other important art destinations.

Many other prizes are awarded in our department. The Allan P. Deloach Memorial Prize in Photography was established in 2000 in memory of Allan Deloach (B.A. 1963) by two of his colleagues at IBM. This cash award is open to any student who has taken a studio class in any discipline at Vanderbilt. Midsouth Ceramics awards are given to the top three ceramic projects in the annual open house, and the Plaza Artists Materials awards are given to four students each year. All competitions are judged by outside professional artists.

• All required parts of the Common Application or Coalition, powered by Scoir, including the personal essay and short answer
• $50 nonrefundable application fee, or fee waiver for qualified students
• Official high school transcript
• Counselor letter of recommendation
• Two academic teacher letters of recommendation
• Optional for students applying for fall 2024 entry: SAT or ACT scores (SAT code: 1871 / ACT code: 4036)

Three Ways to Apply:

• Coalition, powered by Scoir
• Common Application
• QuestBridge

Choose the application system that is right for you - we do not prefer one over the others. Do not submit an application through more than one system. Choose one application, and submit all required materials through that method.