Undergraduate Programs

What's an Art major?

Are you creative? Do you like to express yourself through a visual medium? Do you enjoy hands-on learning? Then a major in art is for you.

The Art Department offers a variety of majors and minors in the art field including art history, studio art, graphic design, and photography/film/digital media.

While pursuing a degree in art, you can take a variety of courses in the following fields:

Art history - from pre-history to modern art
Design techniques
Painting - including watercolor, oil, acrylic, dye on silk, mixed media
Drawing - including pencil, ink, pastel, calligraphy, perspective
Ceramics - including hand-building, wheel, sculpture, glazing techniques
Illustration and publication design - including layout and production techniques
Web design - including multimedia applications and animation
Digital Animation - including software and hardware for bringing things to life both cinematically and generatively
Photography - including basic to advanced courses in photojournalism and lighting
Film production - including short films, documentaries, video shooting, editing

Each major and minor program offered by the Art Department assures that you will have a strong knowledge base and the technical skills to enter either graduate school or the job market.

College of Liberal Arts, Sciences, and Technologies

Tracey Salaway, Program Director
Washburn Arts Building, Room 119

Located in the Washburn Arts Center, the Art department has fully equipped classrooms with Apple computers, studios, and labs up to field standards in an environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and the development of individual expression. The student experience in the department is enriched by an ongoing arts exhibition series and by visiting artists who offer master classes and lectures. With close ties to various campus units and world renowned museums, galleries and professional settings off campus, the department provides students with multiple opportunities to develop their professional portfolios and to exhibit their art work.

The Art Department offers four major programs: Digital Media, Graphic Design, Photography, and Studio Art; and five minor programs: Art History, Digital Media, Graphic Design, Photography, Studio Art. Students may declare one major in Art and one minor in Art only. A total of 45 credit hours of coursework are required for the completion of each major program; 21 credits are required for each minor. Students seeking admission to a major or minor in art must maintain an overall GPA of at least 2.50. In addition, students are required to complete four pre-major/minor courses (ART 140, ART 150, ART 160 and ART 170), in which specific elements for an admission portfolio are developed. Upon completion of the four pre-major/minor courses, interested students are required to submit an admission portfolio, a statement of purpose and two letters of recommendation from university faculty to the Art Department Chair for consideration.

Courses and majors in art require the use of specialized materials, equipment, and software. Students are required to procure at their expense all supplies outlined on the course syllabus and have these in hand in the classroom by the second week of the semester. Students who fail to have materials needed for instruction will risk being automatically dropped from the course or asked to withdraw (WD).

Students must acquire at their own expense a laptop, software, and any additional equipment specified for their major within the first semester following their acceptance into the major program. Equipment specifications are available and will be updated on the department's website art.gallaudet.edu.

Additional information may be obtained from department's website art.gallaudet.edu or the department chair.

The requirements listed above supersede and replace all requirements previously published in Gallaudet's Undergraduate Catalogs.

ADMISSION TO ART DEPARTMENT MAJOR/MINOR PROGRAM
Students seeking admission to a major in art must maintain an overall GPA of at least 2.5. In addition, students are required to complete four pre-major courses including Art History, Fundamentals of Design, Drawing, and Digital
Imaging, where specific elements of an admission portfolio will be developed. A visual artist’s portfolio contains a collection of materials, which together provides an understanding of how she thinks about her world and how she approaches and solves visual problems.

What is an admission portfolio?
Building and maintaining a portfolio is an important component of every artist’s education and career. It is an inherent part of Gallaudet’s visual culture. The admission portfolio is intended to showcase a student’s creative and technical potential and abilities as she begins her major in art. It is also an assessment tool for faculty to gauge development and progress through the program.
As an artist develops, he continuously reviews, expands, and revises his portfolio to accurately convey his personal style as well as his creative and technical development.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Students interested in a major in art are required to submit the following:

1. An Application for Admission to Art Department Major/Minor Program Form

----Click Here for the Form-----

....which includes the following:
A. a statement of purpose,
B. two letters of recommendation from university faculty
C. and a portfolio to the department for consideration.
The Portfolio Requirements include:
1. Two (2) Drawings
We’re interested in assessing your observational skills and ability to record what you see in a way that reflects your
level of competency in drawing.
2. One (1) Color work on paper
We will assess your understanding of tonal scale and ability to mix paint manually and
use it in a visually satisfying way.
3. Two (2) Photographic Prints
These samples should reflect your understanding and sense of compositional design including cropping, mood, depth
of field, and capturing space, line, shape, color, value and texture.
4. One (1) Three-Dimensional Object of your choice
Three dimensional construction demonstrates a student’s ability to combine ideas on volume and space with material and technique. Show us your ideas. (photographs of this will be sufficient)
5. Three to five (3–5) works of your choice (of an individual artwork, architecture, and visual art exhibition)
6. Three (3) written critiques
Provide samples of your ability to write about an individual artwork, an architectural space, and a visual art exhibition.
Total number of materials in the admission portfolio: 12–15 pieces
**Additionally, you will need to submit everything listed above burned on a DVD.

ADMISSION CRITERIA & RUBRIC
You will also need to refer to the Admission Rubric to better understand the criteria for how the Admission Portfolio and materials are judged.
----Click Here for the Admission Rubric (Criteria)----

Declaring a Major

Requirements for Admission to a Major in Art and Media Design

Students seeking admission to a major in Art and Media Design must satisfy the following minimum criteria:

A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.
Successful completion of ART 140 and ART 150 with a grade of C or better, in which specific elements for an admission portfolio are developed.
Submission of a statement of purpose, two letters of recommendation from university faculty, and a portfolio.

To continue and graduate in the Art and Media Design major, a student must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 in all major courses. For additional information, contact the department chair.