The Art and Visual Culture Department nurtures and values creativity while providing sound training in art analysis, art history, and technical skills for a wide variety of media. The major consists of two concentrations.

The Studio Art concentration fuses art criticism and theory with studio production. Instead of segregating skills into lower level classes and concepts into higher level classes, students practice the marriage of the two from the beginning. New skills — and the refinement of those skills — are taught within the context of overarching conceptual themes like Time, Identity, Place, and Science, through the study of a diverse range of historical and contemporary artists who produce(d) related work.

The Arts Management concentration acknowledges that an array of occupations need art-focused, business-savvy people from a liberal arts background who bring creative thinking and cultural awareness to the table–including museums, architecture firms, municipal public art departments, urban planning firms, tech start-ups, and more. The Arts Management concentration equips students with skills in communication, marketing, and business administration, while still offering the art history and museum curatorial experiences for students wishing to pursue related graduate studies.

Students may also seek to gain additional knowledge through the Museum Management Program. 

The Art Department's classroom setting is complemented by regular exposure to local and regional artists and exhibitions. Students may also qualify for financial aid and talent-based art scholarships.