Web Page: http://www.umsl.edu/~art
Degrees and Areas of Concentration
The department offers course work leading toward the B.A in art history and the B.F.A. in studio art.
Courses included in the B.A. in art history cover the arts of Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America, including Native American arts, from ancient times to the present. Courses examine the entire range of human visual expression from painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography to performance and festival arts in the tribal world. In each case the arts are examined within their historical, aesthetic, and cultural contexts.
The B.F.A. in studio art consists of a foundation art program and an emphasis area in one of the following: drawing, graphic design, painting, photography, printmaking, and general fine arts. UM-St. Louis has a transfer agreement with the St. Louis Community College District, which offers a direct credit transfer to upper division BFA courses for students who graduate with an AFA degree from the SLCC.
To support its teaching and research objectives, the department maintains a slide collection of over 80,000 slides. The collection, which includes examples of painting, sculpture, architecture, photography and decorative arts, is under the supervision of a professional slide curator, who is available for special assistance to staff and students.
Gallery 210
Gallery 210 located in Lucas Hall offers visual arts programming of regional, national, and international importance. The gallery's exhibitions and related arts programming have enjoyed a long and distinguished history of service to the university and to the St. Louis community. Gallery activities are supervised by a professional gallery director.
Gallery FAB
Located in the Fine Arts Building, Gallery FAB exhibits a range of work by artists of regional and national significance. The exhibitions are coordinated by members of the Studio Art Faculty and complement the teaching emphases of the Fine Arts program.
Gallery Visio
Gallery Visio is a student-run gallery located in the Millennium Student Center. Its exhibitions are devoted primarily to the display of student and faculty work.
Scholarships/Internships
Three scholarships are available on a competitive basis within the department: the Art Department/Barbara St. Cyr Scholarship, the William T. Isbell Jr. Scholarship, and the Aronson Scholarship. The department also sponsors a variety of internships with local arts institutions, including the St. Louis Art Museum, the Missouri Historical Society, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Laumeier Sculpture Park, and various private art galleries.
Career Outlook
Study in art history broadens and enriches a general education, offering insight into the visual, architectural, and cultural artifacts left by earlier, as well as modern, civilizations. Art history graduates have found career opportunities in teaching, museums, galleries, libraries, historical societies, sales and auction houses, and historic preservation, and as travel guides, art administrators, and editors and in art restoration.
Students with degrees in studio art find careers in teaching, advertising, public relations, graphic design, illustration, film and video production, art administration, art restoration, product and industrial design, framing, and commercial photography.