Art

What Distinguishes the Art Program at St. Andrews? Sample Major in Art The Art Gallery - Senior Shows Online Catalog

The visual language of art is the most ancient, cross-cultural, and instinctual method of communication, predating writing by thousands of years. Artists reflect human history, and they are history: each painting, sculpture and computer animation is not only art, but also a form of individual and cultural commentary. The interdisciplinary nature of the St. Andrews curriculum encourages students to explore the connections between visual art and other disciplines, so that academic and career goals maybe fully realized. The College’s Electronic Fine Arts Center (EFAC) is an interactive multidisciplinary high-tech studio that allows students to combine visual art, video and music. The Art Department also offers a contract major, which is a program of study designed for a particular outcome, for example: drawing and biology, art and psychology, computer art and video, or art and creative writing.

Student's benefit from individual attention and instruction at St. Andrews. Plenty of space and time is available in the 2D, 3D and computer studios, all of which are open outside of class time to accommodate an art major’s evening or morning inspirations. Should a student desire to see firsthand the world masterpieces that have found their way into our visual vocabulary, the College’s academic calendar allows abundant opportunities for semester-long and short study abroad programs. Students have explored art and life in France, Italy, Great Britain, China, India, Japan, Vietnam, Switzerland, Spain, Ecuador and Korea.

Closer to home, works are displayed in the Vardell Gallery on the St. Andrews campus, offering students regular exposure to artists known regionally, nationally and internationally. The exhibition space also is the site of the annual student art show. The visual art experiences need not be limited to classrooms and studios. St. Andrews is close to regional museums such as the Mint Museum in Charlotte and the Reynolda House Museum of American Arts in Winston-Salem.

There are opportunities for student works to be shown elsewhere on campus, from the murals in the residence halls to the walls of the administrative offices and the formal spaces of the Vardell Gallery. The College’s literary magazine, The CAIRN, accepts student illustrations and photographs for publication, as do the student newspaper and yearbook.