Department of Visual Arts

Holland (department chair)

(SYMBOL: ART)

The mission of the John Brown University Department of Visual Arts is to equip students with the intellectual and practical skills required of a visual communication professional. These abilities are equally conceptual and technical.

This is a field that actively involves the Head, Heart, and Hand. The Department of Visual Arts strives to give students an overarching set of values that integrates thought and practice and has its expression in a tangible, visible form.

In each of our majors the ability to think creatively and solve problems in innovative ways is the critical skill to develop. Visual artists must be thinkers, not simply makers. On the other hand, successful careers are not possible for students who have great ideas but have not learned the critical techniques for making those ideas reality.

Student Learning Outcomes:

While specific skill sets vary from one media to the next, there are four common student learning outcomes:

Students will demonstrate the ability to generate creative, innovative, problem-solving ideas.
Students will demonstrate and showcase the ability to practice their media at a high level.
Students will understand professional practice in their chosen field.
Students will prepare a portfolio of work that demonstrates their ability to both think and create.

The Department of Visual Arts offers the Bachelor of Science (B.A.) degree with majors in Art and Illustration, Film, Graphic Design, and Photography and minors or emphases available in all multiple areas.

All major programs require a common Visual Arts core of 10 hours and an additional 42 hours in each specialized field.

The Visual Arts Department has incredible facilities: two large buildings in the center of campus with over 36,000 square feet of student space and every resource imaginable. The departments newest building is a 10,000 square foot “Art Barn”, on the north side of campus with additional space containing a state-of-the art photography studio and VFX studio, ceramics, woodshops, and an array of student creative spaces including individual student artist’s studios.

All of the Visual Arts degrees are highly demanding of student time, energy, and talent. The goal of these multifaceted programs is to graduate industry-ready professionals or gallery-caliber artists who are prepared to step into positions which demand diverse proficiencies. All students participate in either an internship or senior project (if not both) and prepare a professional portfolio to further aid them in their development toward a career. Our students are strongly encouraged to participate in foreign study and mission opportunities to broaden their understanding of our world and to enrich their Christian worldview.