Art at Southern

Studio Art 

Do you enjoy painting and drawing, or building three-dimensional works of art, using clay, metal, wood, or found materials? Perhaps you are a photographer, exploring the transition from chemical to digital methods. You may be thinking of applying your creative skills to a career in publishing, advertising, or some other aspect of the graphic design profession. Is jewelry design your passion?

At Southern, studio art majors select a concentration in the fine or applied arts. Studio facilities for ceramics, graphic design, jewelry and metals, painting and drawing, photography, printmaking, and sculpture are designed so that students can explore their ideas in a safe and supportive environment.

Art History 

It may be the history of art, and the complexities of its existence over time and across cultures, that fascinate you. Perhaps you're looking forward to graduate study in art history, to pursue research, writing, or teaching. Where to begin?

Southern is the only campus in the CSU system offering an art history major. Students can immerse themselves in the theory and traditions of art, to begin preparing for careers with museums or art galleries, or in the fields of art appraisal or art conservation.

Art Education 

Your love of art may be expressed not only by making art, but in sharing your enthusiasm through teaching young people. If so, you may be planning to obtain K-12 initial educator certification, to launch your career as a teacher. Our Art Education program is also here for you, once you've begun teaching. We offer a program of graduate study that leads to the M.S. in art education.

In the Art Department at Southern, we can nurture your vision and ambition, and help you to develop and refine the professional skills you will need to navigate through the contemporary art world.

The Southern Advantage

By pursuing their studies in the context of a liberal arts university, art students can also draw upon the rich array of courses in other university departments. Want to delve into computer programming? Explore video production? Learn the journalism part of photojournalism? Choose elective courses from the computer science, communication, or journalism departments that are perfectly suited to your own individual career plans.

Organizations like the Student Arts League and Folio (a literary and arts publication) offer extracurricular participation in the cultural life of the university for all students. Sponsored exhibitions and guest lectures are only two of the many ways to get involved. 

New Haven is home to numerous galleries, as well as world-class museums where you can experience the works of masters like Picasso, Van Gogh, Degas, Warhol, and Sargent. The department schedules field trips to Boston or New York every semester, so students can enhance their studies in those cultural centers as well.