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Studio Art

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Featured in the W&L curriculum for almost sixty years, the Art Studio program hosts a vibrant community of creators who specialize in the communication of ideas through visual forms. Among the techniques taught are those of oil and acrylic painting; sculpture in clay, wood, welded metal, and mixed-media materials; digital, traditional and alternative photography; and a variety of printmaking processes. Faculty both produce their own work for juried exhibitions and train undergraduates to think and to work as artists in the professional world.

Wilson Hall’s new facilities offer state-of-the-art studios for all students, and feature a separate space set aside for senior art majors to produce a body of work for their thesis projects. Because each studio contains large windows looking out onto the scenic Woods Creek basin, these teaching and working areas are well-lit and take full advantage of the surrounding landscape that has made the Shenandoah Valley so famous.

Due to the nature of studio courses, enrollments for introductory-level classes are limited and the bar of expectations is set quite high: this means, of course, that students active in the art program at W&L benefit from close interactions with faculty and frequently develop strong ties to their teachers and to their student peers. They also work long hours, learn to receive constructive criticism, and get their hands dirty.

Department News

  • Hamill, Dorothy, 1977, Polacolor Type 108, 4 ¼ x 3 inchesStaniar Gallery to Exhibit Andy Warhol Photographs
    Andy Warhol was a prolific photographer, creating tens of thousands of images over the course of his lifetime as he documented the people, places and things around him. To commemorate their 20th anniversary, the Warhol Foundation donated nearly 30,000 photographs by the legendary pop artist to educational institutions across the country. Washington and Lee University, [...]
  • Tip Floor, (detail), 2010, oil on canvas, 78 x 56 in.Minneapolis Artist Featured in Staniar Gallery Exhibit
    Washington and Lee’s Staniar Gallery will host an artist’s talk with Minneapolis painter Michael Kareken on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 5:30 p.m. in Wilson Hall’s Concert Hall. It will coincide with his exhibition Salvaged Views, recent paintings and drawings by the artist, which will run from until Dec. 10. The artist’s talk will be followed [...]
  • Washington and Lee University art professor Larry Stene participates in the Andy Warhol Screen Test Project.W&L Student Arts League Recreates Warhol’s “Screen Tests”
    “Bring a prop, wear a hat, or come up with your own way of portraying your personality on video,” declare posters inviting students, faculty and employees to take part in The Warhol Screen Test Project at Washington and Lee University. W&L’s Student Arts League is spearheading the project as part of a forthcoming three-part exhibition [...]
  • Wu Gorges (detail), 2007 by I-Hsuing Ju, Professor of Art Emeritus, Washington and Lee UniversityI-Hsiung Ju Returns to W&L for Staniar Gallery Exhibit
    Journey Home, an exhibition of paintings by Washington and Lee Professor Emeritus of Art I-Hsiung Ju, will be on view in Staniar Gallery from October 12 – November 2, 2011. Ju will present an artist’s talk in Wilson Hall’s Concert Hall before the exhibition reception on Oct. 19 at 5:30 p.m. Over the twenty years [...]
  • Pamela Hemenway Simpson, Ernest Williams II Professor of Art History, Washington and Lee UniversityPamela Hemenway Simpson, 1946-2011
    Pamela Hemenway Simpson, an art historian who was one of the most influential figures of the last four decades at Washington and Lee University, died at her home in Lexington, Va., on Oct. 4. She was 65. "She was a dear friend and colleague," said W&L President Kenneth P. Ruscio. "Washington and Lee is a [...]
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