The Department of Art and Art History provides a transformational education that encourages 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 live in a dangerous, interdependent world, and today's students need to hear not just the language of politics and propaganda; they also need to learn languages that transcend the intellectual and ideological barriers that distrust truth and suffocate the human spirit.
-Ernest L. Boyer, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Art is a demanding discipline, asking students to commit both intellectually and emotionally to understanding the forms and features of a dizzying cultural landscape. As our students learn and grow, they expand their ability to translate the world to us with fresh and provocative ideas that can go far beyond - and far below the surface of - the ordinary, the dogmatic, the circadian.
Your support is critical to their continued success. This isn't a path that many dare to take - our students are courageous and curious. You can help them on their way by giving today. Thank you.
Recent scholarships
Generous donors have committed themselves to supporting the important work of our students. Recent gifts have creates several new scholarships including:
- The Bennerstrom Prize - in honor of artist Susan Bennerstrom
- The Skipping Stone Scholarship for Photography
- The Skipping Stone Scholarship for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Art Scholarship
- The Skipping Stone Art & Ecology Scholarship
Your gift today can increase the awards those scholarships offer to our students - so they can focus on their work instead of worrying about debt after graduation.
Give Day Match Challenges
During Give Day, we have a couple of exciting challenges to make your dollars go even further for students!
The first $4,000 donated to any of the Skipping Stone Scholarships will be matched dollar for dollar by the Skipping Stone Foundation!
The first $1,000 donated to the Bennerstrom Prize fund will be matched dollar for dollar by none other than...Susan Bennerstrom!
When you click the "give" button, select "Bennerstrom Prize" or any of the "Skipping Stone" Scholarships as your designation to take advantage of these challenges.
Any gifts not matched by these generous challenges will receive a percent match from the WWU Give Day Challenge Pool. We appreciate your generosity!
About the Bennerstrom Prize
Created by friends and admirers of artist Susan Bennerstrom, the Bennerstrom Prize provides support for students in the Department of Art & Art History. Department faculty select students who exhibit superior artwork.
Susan Bennerstrom with Diane Norman, Uzma Randhawa, and a friend at the Western Gallery reception for the 2017 BFA Studio Art Exhibition
