Visual art is an area of the fine arts that appeals primarily to the visual sense and typically exists in permanent form.

Essentially, it is any art that you can see, such as: graphic design, painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography, film and different arts and crafts, including ceramics and textile art. This discipline also includes the use of “new media” (or multimedia), which generally applies to art that is created with a use of a technology, especially a computer.

Spelman College offers the majority of the required core courses for majors in art through the coordinated art program of the Atlanta University Center Consortium. Though Morehouse students will complete the majority of their coursework at Spelman, they are advised by the visual arts program director at Morehouse.

Goals

The goal of the department is to serve students by providing technical, historical, and philosophical instruction in the visual arts. Our program supports Morehouse’s liberal arts tradition. It promotes excellence in the arts through a broad-based curricular framework rooted in the theory and practice of art as it relates to visual language systems and the principals of design.

Objectives

Through the curriculum in art and art history and curatorial, students will:

• Understand the role of the artist in historical and contemporary societies
• Use creative and research skills, as well as museum experiences, as a means of exploring interdisciplinary methods of inquiry that will promote excellence in the arts
• Demonstrate proficiency in the skills necessary for success in graduate school and/or the professional workplace
• Demonstrate the potential for a lifelong appreciation and understanding of the visual arts through classroom as well as co-curricular experiences
• Apply educational and experimental knowledge to further an appreciation of the arts of diverse cultures