Art / Art History

Our art curriculum centers on generating insightful and creative thought. You’ll develop the necessary skills to begin a practice of creative problem solving. You’ll prepare for careers in higher education, museum work, the art and design market, architecture, historic preservation, publishing, cultural property law, and a variety of other fields. We’ve designed the major to be flexible, allowing you to initiate your own focus while building from strong formal and perceptual skills founded in intensive practice. Our light-filled studios in Voney Art Center have the best views of any academic building on campus. Together with the new James K. Schmidt Gallery, our facilities offer excellent resources for study and creative endeavors.

Our interdisciplinary art history program allows you to bring ideas from various fields to help elucidate the original meaning of works of art. You’ll reach back at least to ancient Rome in this time-honored discipline to develop research and writing skills and to learn current standard methodologies.

Major and Minors Offered

• Art: Studio Art (BA major, minor)
• Art: Art History (BA major, minor)

Why Study Art and Art History at Principia College?

• Our 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio allows invaluable access to faculty, who keep mentoring students beyond graduation.
• Our faculty maintain individual artistic or writing practices.
• You can take classes in architecture, fashion, printmaking, business and design, fiber arts, and more. 
• We expect that each student will develop ever-higher expressions and applications of learning and achievement.
• We approach the visual arts with the expectation of spiritual reflection and a metaphysical basis of creativity, and we reject any sense of limitation.  
• Our students develop transferable skills such as visual problem solving and communication, original and independent thought, critical thinking, and an awareness of the social, political, and religious contexts of the art world.
• We prepare students to continue their education in some of the top graduate schools in the country, including Savannah College of Art and Design, University of the Arts, University of Texas, Washington University in St. Louis, and the Art Center College of Design.
• We’ve developed outstanding internship opportunities at companies and organizations.
• Our art history minors have opportunities to give talks at local museums, interact with curators at the St. Louis Art Museum, and examine rare works and photographs.
• Our students curate exhibits from Principia’s outstanding art collection.
• Our faculty help students develop portfolios in preparation for graduate school and careers.

Abroads

Principia abroad programs are open to all majors, and students are encouraged to apply for any abroad program that interests them. All abroads involve individual research that students can tailor to their interests. Of particular interest to our art and art history students are the abroads to the Czech Republic and to Greece and Italy.

Note: See the College Catalog for more detailed information about our program and departmental learning outcomes.