Welcome to the Art Department
At our new home in the Adams Center for the Visual Arts
We invite you to explore our site and discover what our academic courses, our faculty, and our environment can offer you.
The study of art and its processes is integral to the Christian liberal arts college curriculum, and is designed to stimulate full development of the whole person. The Art Department at Westmont is dedicated to help students discover and develop their creative abilities and to be attentive to the power of the visual arts in our world. Accompanying the serious study of the visual arts is the motivation to integrate artistic pursuit with the development of a maturing Christian faith.
Our program emphasizes basics and breadth. The central core of the Art major is based on sound understanding of the principles of design, it focuses on two-dimensional media, and is articulated through foundational and intermediate studies in drawing, computer graphics, painting, interpretive printmaking, and photography. Three-dimensional investigations in crafts, ceramics and stone carving, as well as the in-depth study of art history, compliment the core classes. Both studio and art history courses are designed to stimulate critical thinking and intellectual curiosity about the visual realm. Westmont's art courses are open to all students.
Distinctive Features
All studio and art history courses are held in the newly completed (August 2010), Adams Center for the Visual Arts, in the heart of the Westmont campus, between Voskuyl Library and Porter Theater. Highlights of the new center include a sculpture, ceramics, crafts, drawing, painting, and printmaking studios, a graphics lab, darkroom, a photodocumentation room and a state of the art classroom for art history. The eleven department members (5 full time, 6 part time) are all specialists in their respective fields, and all are active in their scholarly pursuits.
The art program offers four disciplinary tracks for the major: a 53-unit major in studio art, a 49-unit major in art history, and 24-unit minors in studio art or art history.
For students interested in graphic design, the general studio major can opt for a graphics emphasis within the major.
The Adams Center is also home of the Westmont Museum of Art, an invaluable asset to the department and the institution. The Museum serves both the Westmont community, and the Santa Barbara community at large with its exhibition schedule, lectures by guest artists, and a supportive community-based arts council that helps to oversee the museum program. The Westmont Museum of Art gives students the opportunity for work and internships in gallery management and curatorial practice.
A number of art related off-campus program opportunities are available for the serious art student in England, Italy, New York and San Francisco. We hope this Web site is informative and helpful to you. Please feel free to contact the Art Department office at (805) 565-6026, or email questions to Professor Scott Anderson, department chair, at sanderso@westmont.edu if you have specific concerns.