Global Learning: Students learn natural dyeing techniques in Japan (Fall 2018)
The Department of Art and Art History provides a transformational education that encourages students’ curiosity and facilitates critical inquiry, collaboration, creative problem solving, and community engagement. Through rigorous scholarship, studio practice, global visual arts studies, and experiences beyond the classroom, students gain knowledge and skills that prepare them for successful careers and global citizenship.
The three interrelated areas of Art Studio, Art History, and Art Education affirm the liberal arts tradition of the university and inspire innovation, active learning and community leadership.
We want to highlight a couple of programs in our department.
First, the BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) degree is a selective expanded program focused on the year-long development of a professional body of work (either at the end of the BA or during the final year of that major), culminating in a Western Gallery exhibition and catalog. This project has been generously funded by the David Marsh Gift Endowment, which sustains the creation of the exhibition and catalogue every year.
Secondly, the department is also excited about the continuing development of the Museum Studies Minor, which focuses students’ academic efforts while showing future employers or graduate schools that they have undergone the core applied training and conceptual coursework to become a museum professional. In addition, students gain valuable hands-on preparator experience working at the Western Gallery on campus or at the Whatcom Museum in downtown Bellingham during a year-long internship.
Our alumni have gone on to achieve success in a variety of fields and value the experiences they had in our department:
“My undergraduate experience prepared me for a career in the arts in countless ways. It introduced me to working artists - both my student peers and my mentor/professors – from which I developed a community with common goals and values. These long-standing relationships were and still are indispensable, and have deepened years on as a network of support and practice with a critical eye while making me aware of a wider art world of museums, materials, artists, and opportunities out there to explore and learn from, which prepared me in the subsequent professional steps towards career success.”
Amy Chaloupka, Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA (WWU BFA, 2002)
“My time in the Art & Art History Department at WWU was incredibly beneficial for my future in the arts. The stellar campus facilities and the knowledgeable faculty helped nourish the development of my creative practice. As a BFA student, the opportunity to take professional practice classes prepared me for my next steps in the art world.”
Debbi Kenote, Founder, Kenote Studio LLC (WWU, BFA, 2014)
"My years at Western Washington University were indelible due to an incredible, curious artistic community of like-minded peers and professors who both supported and challenged my ideas. The rigor of a small liberal arts university opened doors to a diverse range of questions and investment in the politics inherent in materials and artistic processes that I continue to carry into my practice as a working artist and educator."
Rachel Hsu, Manager of Children and Youth Education, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
Your financial support will help facilitate enriching activities that ground the excellence of our programs, such as:
- Field trips
- Guest Speakers
- Workshops
- Facilities Updates
- Studio Equipment
- Scholarships for Global Learning opportunities
Thank you for supporting our Art, Art Education, and Art History students!
Life drawing class (Professor Cara Jaye) 
Visit to Printmaking Studio by Art History 490 class (Professor Julia Sapin), to learn about printmaking techniques from Professor Lisa Turner, Chair, in preparation for work on an exhibition in collaboration with the Whatcom Museum.
The annual BFA exhibition in the Western Gallery (This was the very first of such exhibitions in 2015!)
Students make inks from foraged materials in Art 328 Art and Ecology Practicum (Professor Cynthia Camlin)
