Art

College of Arts and Letters

Program Description

Through courses, exhibitions, lectures, and public programs, the Department of Art at Sacramento State provides an environment in which students become the next generation of artists, scholars, and educators. The department also serves the larger university student population through a robust series of introductory courses geared towards a lifelong appreciation of the arts. The Department's curriculum is global in scope, with programs that are oriented towards creativity and critical thinking. Students make and study art through art education, art history, and studio art: ceramics, new media art, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and interdisciplinary media.

The Department of Art serves as a significant cultural resource in the region through its art exhibits, workshops, lectures, and symposia. In alignment with the university's Anchor Initiative, the department extends its influence out into the community through the involvement of its faculty, staff, and students in public art projects, K-12 student outreach, and partnerships with cultural organizations. Internship opportunities exist with the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, and other public and private art institutions and galleries in the capital region. The Faculty-Led Study Abroad program enables students to study art on site in short-term international programs that are led by department faculty. Longer term study abroad opportunities are available through Sacramento State’s Office of International Programs & Global Engagement.

California State University, Sacramento is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).

Visit us at http://www.csus.edu/art/.

Degree Programs

The department offers a BFA and an MFA in Studio Art, and BAs in Art, Art History, and Art Education. It provides a wide range of art studio, art history and art education courses. In the Studio Art programs, students develop their own visual language and content, underpinned by research and critical dialog. Art History students learn to analyze and interpret artworks within their historical and cultural contexts, ultimately producing original art historical research using various methodologies. Art Education provides students with a command of critical art education pedagogies, preparing them to be resourceful, creative, and socially engaged art educators.

BA in Art

BA in Art (Art Education)

BA in Art History

BA in Art Studies (Single Subject Pre-Credential Preparation)

BFA in Studio Art

Certificate in Curatorial Studies

MA in Art

MFA in Studio Art

Minor in Art Education

Minor in Art History

Minor in Art Studio

Laptop Policy for Art Majors

Art majors in the Art Studio (BFA), Studio Art Methods (BA), and Art Education (BA) concentrations are required to have a MacOS or Windows-based laptop by their third semester, and (for BFA students) in advance of taking the Junior Seminar. Art minors in Studio and Art Education are strongly recommended to also purchase a laptop according to the policy guidelines.  Laptop specifications are provided on the Department’s website.

Special Features

  • The Department’s main facility consists of two buildings, Kadema Hall and the Art Sculpture Lab. Art Studio and Art History courses also are taught in Mariposa Hall.
  • Two art exhibition spaces, the Robert Else Gallery and the R.W. & Joyce Witt Student Art Gallery, are located in Kadema Hall. Exhibitions featuring undergraduate, graduate, and regionally and nationally known artists are held here throughout the academic year.
  • Five types of Art Department awards are available. The Raymond W. and Joyce Witt Awards and the Frederick M. Peyser Studio Art Prizes are awarded annually during a juried exhibition of artwork by undergraduate students. There also is a Witt Award in Art History. The University Art Product Award is offered to undergraduate students, and the Increase Robinson Memorial Fellowships are open to all classified graduate art students.
  • Five Art Department scholarships also are offered. The Peggy Saunders Hall Memorial Scholarship, the Juanita and José Montoya Memorial Art Scholarship and the Marla Chicconi Memorial Endowed Art Scholarship are all intended to support outstanding undergraduate art students who have chosen teaching as a future goal. The Ruth Rippon Ceramics Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding undergraduate or graduate Art student who shows promise in making ceramic art a career. The Jeanette B. Yuppa Scholarship and the ACE Scholarship are available to all art majors.
  • Faculty members have national reputations as artists and scholars. Works by Art Studio faculty can be found in major collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum, the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the American Craft Museum in New York; the Minneapolis Art Institute; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Di Rosa Art and Nature Preserve in Sonoma; the Art Institute of Chicago; Yale University; the Rockefeller Institute; and the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. Art Education and Art History faculty have published articles in nationally and internationally renowned journals, and books in prestigious academic presses.

Career Possibilities

Animator · Art Conservator · Art Consultant · Art Critic · Art Dealer · Art Historian · Art Librarian · Artist · Artist Representative · Art Teacher · Arts Administrator · Art Therapist · Ceramicist · Gallery Director · Metalsmith · Museum Work · New Media Artist · Painter · Printmaker · Sculptor · Visual Resource Curator

Contact Information

Rachel Clarke, Department Chair
Kadema Hall 185
(916) 278-6166
Department of Art Website

Faculty

CLARKE, RACHEL

CONNELLY, ANDREW

DOSCH, MYA

FLOHR, SARAH

GARCIA, LUIS

HARVEY, IAN

HICKS, VERONICA

MILLER, RACHEL

ORTBAL, ROBERT

PARADY, SCOTT

VENTIS, SUMMER

WILLAMS, PETER