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Art

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Study art to prepare for distinct career paths and equip yourself for the future by developing creativity, persistence, and critical thinking skills.

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Interested in one of our majors, minors or certificates? Fill out the declaration form to declare a major or minor.

Undergraduate programs

Art

Undergrad major Undergrad minor Teacher license

Art involves using creativity, imagination and technical skills to invoke an emotion, communicate an idea or appeal esthetically. Studying art allows creative expression difficult to find in many traditional college courses. It helps students build skills and values such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation, critical judgment, tolerance of ambiguity, appreciation of diversity, aesthetic literacy, and more.

Areas of study

Education

Completion of the Art Education Program and associated benchmark assessments will lead to endorsement for a Wisconsin teaching license in Art Education for grades K-12.

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Art History

Undergrad minor

Art history is the study of objects from different cultures around the world and throughout history. Art history is an interdisciplinary field, drawing upon history, literature, religion, philosophy, economics, and more to examine works of art in their historical contexts. By studying art history, students are introduced to a diversity of cultures, and gain insight into how people have lived, thought about, and understood the world around them.

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Art Therapy

Undergrad minor

Art therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship, according to the American Art Therapy Association.

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Photography

Undergrad minor

Plenty of DIY online tutorials could teach you how to take a photo, but good photography goes beyond esthetics. It communicates meaning. In UWL’s Photography Minor, students are challenged to take creative risks and find their artistic voice. Just as people learn to write or speak, you can learn visual literacy through the study of photography.

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Featured courses

  • General Art Foundations
    ART 160 | 3 credits
    An introductory course in visual art, with emphasis on understanding the methods of art making in a variety of studio disciplines. Topics include recognition of visual elements and principles of design, methods of applying these elements and principles throughout a variety of art forms, thematic development, relationship of the visual arts to other fields of human endeavor, and an introduction to writing about visual art. Course content includes representative paradigms of world art, Western art, multicultural and contemporary art. Critical thinking is explored through responses to the visual arts through active involvement with various creative processes and media. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Introduction to Digital Art and Design for Non-Art Majors
    ART 206 | 4 credits
    This is an introductory studio art course surveying the growing field of digital art and design. This class will explore the process of visual expression, communication with attention to aesthetic considerations, and art created using a wide range of digital media. This class will also introduce digital tools to produce original, creative work. Using creative software, students will create a diverse array of art and design works, spanning digital imaging, compositing, and video editing. As with all fine arts studio courses, conceptual creative approach and development is prioritized. A basic knowledge of computer use is required. Lect. 2, Studio 4. Prerequisite: not open to art majors or minors. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Professional Practices and Exhibition
    ART 498 | 3 credits
    This capstone course is intended to assist students in the final stages of their education and help in the establishment of career goals beyond the college experience. Further the course will expose students to the theory and practice of the exhibition and presentation of artwork. This course will prepare students for the senior exhibition by fostering an understanding of professional presentation and an appreciation of the methodologies of presentation. Prerequisite: art major; senior standing. Consent of department. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Introduction to Metalsmithing
    ART 221 | 4 credits
    This course provides the student's introductory experience to a studio-based approach to visual art in the three-dimensional realm. Students apply design elements and principles to projects and experiences as they occur in the physical world. Concentration will focus on expanding visual vocabulary through investigations of introductory nonferrous metal fabrication and construction techniques utilized in the creation of jewelry and metal objects. The course will explore conceptual problem solving, introductory constructions/fabrication techniques, and an investigation into the inherent qualities of non-ferrous materials. Cutting, soldering, finishing, surface enrichment, cold connections, forming, forging, and raising will be covered in this course. Lect. 2, Studio 4. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Drawing and Painting Media
    ART 306 | 4 credits
    This course explores a variety of media and techniques and provides an expanded experience with drawing and painting. Students will be encouraged to work thematically as they build a portfolio with breadth in media and depth of expression. Studio practice emphasizes the hybridization of personal expression and the relationship between scale, media, and image; such issues will be examined in a variety of formats and techniques. Studio work will focus on experimentation beyond traditional drawing practice. Sources and examples by artists from the past--as well as the present--will be used to direct the students in this class toward inventive solutions for the assigned projects. The materials emphasized in this course include pen, ink, graphite, collage, acrylic, oil stick, and digital imaging. Lect. 2, Studio 4. Prerequisite: ART 162 or one 200-level studio course. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Writing About Art
    ART 315 | 3 credits
    This is an advanced course with a focus on research, analytical skills and writing about art. Students analyze essays by different artists, scholars, and critics, and will learn the practice of different forms of art writing, including formal analysis, wall text, exhibition review, and research paper. Prerequisite: ART 251. Offered Spring.
  • Print Media II
    ART 318 | 4 credits
    This course is the second of a two-part introductory series of studio courses designed for students interested in exploring the printed image's possibilities. The course is structured around two modules, each focusing on traditional analog and contemporary digital approaches to lithography and intaglio printmaking. Students will learn about the role these media had in the history of art and visual communication and examine their range of applications existing within contemporary fine art practice. Class participants will be required to produce a body of work utilizing the materials covered in class. Instruction includes tutorials, slide presentations, visiting artist lectures, assigned projects, readings, and critiques. Lect. 2, Studio 4. Prerequisite: ART 218. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Photography and Imaging II
    ART 372 | 4 credits
    This intermediate photography course explores techniques of digital capture, photographic editing software, image compositing, large-scale digital printing, and studio lighting. Students produce creative projects and investigate the work of a wide range of digital photographers and related artists. Class time consists of demonstrations, lectures, discussions, studio sessions, and group critiques. To complete the assignments for this course, each student must have access to an external hard drive and a digital camera with manual exposure control and the ability to capture RAW files. A limited number of cameras are available for rent through the UWL Photography Lab. Lect. 2, Studio 4. Prerequisite: ART 272. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Drawing Foundations
    ART 162 | 4 credits
    Drawing foundations introduces the student to a studio-based approach to the visual arts. Students in this course will learn to use and explore the descriptive and expressive characteristics of various drawing media. Students will also use close observation and analysis of visual experience. The course is primarily a study of perceptual observation, the materials and methods of drawing being the vehicle for investigation and interpretation. Lect. 2, Studio 4. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Survey of Art History
    ART 251 | 3 credits
    This course is a survey of selected art and design from diverse cultures - prehistory to the present. Students explore basic art history methods of formal, stylistic, and iconographic analysis and practice skills needed to develop critical looking and thinking. Emphasis placed on the relationships between artifacts and cultures, and how the production of art and design is a form of human world knowledge. Themes include the role of the artist and designer over time, techniques and materials as technological advancements, the social and religious context of art, how art history influences contemporary images and photography, and how to apply art history analysis skills to interpreting contemporary media images. Offered Fall.
  • Art and the Environment in the United States
    ART 331 | 3 credits
    This course presents a thematic overview of the visual arts of the United States - from pre-colonization to today - focused on the interrelationships between the natural environment and human society. Students study a diversity of artistic responses to the environment, including artworks that 1) depict landscapes and environments; 2) are sited in or made from the land; 3) engage with environmental issues such as biodiversity, deforestation, and climate crisis. In addition to art historical study, students also reflect on their own social responsibility about the environment by participating in an applied art project. Offered Fall.
  • Writing About Art
    ART 315 | 3 credits
    This is an advanced course with a focus on research, analytical skills and writing about art. Students analyze essays by different artists, scholars, and critics, and will learn the practice of different forms of art writing, including formal analysis, wall text, exhibition review, and research paper. Prerequisite: ART 251. Offered Spring.
  • The Practice of Art Therapy
    ART 350 | 3 credits
    As the theoretical orientation course in the art therapy minor, the class addresses current issues in the field of art therapy. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, students will explore art therapy theories, art therapy assessments, and the historical use of art therapy materials and media. Prerequisite: PSY 204 or PSY 212. (Cross-listed with ART/PSY; may only earn credit in one department.) Consent of department. Offered Occasionally.
  • Counseling and Personality Theories
    PSY 404 | 3 credits
    A comprehensive conceptual review of theories of psychotherapy and counseling with a focus on the processes of change. The theories examined include the psychodynamic, person-centered, gestalt, cognitive-behavioral, Adlerian, existential, and group therapy. This course focuses on the presentation of a transtheoretical analysis of these major theoretical views and methods used in psychotherapy. The course emphasizes the pragmatic and integrated qualities of major theories of psychotherapy and counseling. Prerequisite: PSY 100 or PSY 212; PSY 204; PSY major or minor, criminal justice minor, at risk child/youth care minor, or art therapy minor. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Introduction to Ceramics
    ART 216 | 4 credits
    This is a studio course which explores the process and materials of ceramics. The course begins with hand building techniques. The end of the semester focuses on throwing on the potter's wheel. Throughout the course the student will experiment in clay, glazes, and surface decoration. Lect. 2, Studio 4. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Advanced Digital Photography and Imaging
    ART 378 | 4 credits
    This class uses photographic software to explore the conceptual and practical fundamentals of photography in the digital era. Studio projects explore creative possibilities of composited photographs and the impact of digital technology on contemporary photographic practice. The coursework comprises hands-on studio time, lectures, readings, discussion, technical demonstrations, and group critiques. To complete the assignments for this course, each student must have access to an external hard drive and a digital camera with manual exposure control and the ability to capture RAW files. A limited number of cameras are available for rent through the UWL Photography Lab. Lect. 2, Studio 4. Prerequisite: ART 372. Offered Spring - Even Numbered Years.
  • Experimental Photography and Imaging
    ART 476 | 4 credits
    This course encourages advanced students to experiment with image making techniques. These include image-capture, traditional darkroom methods, non-narrative sequencing, non-silver processes, surface manipulation, the photograph as a sculptural object, photo-collage, and many other possibilities beyond the conventional representational photograph. The "camera" itself is reexamined by exploring the camera obscura, pinhole photography, cell phones, the scanner and video as legitimate tools for creating photographic works. Lectures and films will acquaint students with the history of experimental photography. Lect. 2, Studio 4. Prerequisite: ART 372. Offered Fall - Even Numbered Years.
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Portrait of Lillie Smith

Hear from an alum

Lillie Smith

The best thing about UWL’s Art History program is the professors, specifically Sierra Rooney. Her classes are engaging and educational, due to her own personal love for the topic. She cares about her students and wants to see them succeed.

Portrait of Emiko Wilks

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Emiko Wilks

Doing undergraduate research with Associate Professor Kate Hawkes helped me to expand my knowledge base. Her expertise, kindness and patience has enabled me to grow my confidence and showed me that art truly has a voice in the social and political world. I left UWL knowing I wanted to continue creating art for the rest of my life.

Portrait of Michaela Bromberek

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Michaela Bromberek

The first time we wood fired at UWL I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Since graduating, I have continued to foster this love. Without my professor's investment in the ceramics program and dedication to her students, I am not sure I would have found my passion.