Studio Art
- Degree Type Bachelor of Arts
- Department Art and Art History
- Academic Division The College
- Offerings Studio Art minor
Featured in the W&L curriculum for almost 60 years, the Studio Art program hosts a vibrant community of creators who specialize in the communication of ideas through visual forms.
Studio Art
While rigorous in design and implementation, the studio art curriculum has been crafted to work within the liberal arts tradition and students are encouraged—even advised—to bring to the creative process the ideas and concepts they have learned in classes offered by other departments across the W&L academic landscape.
A vigorous visiting artist program brings to campus contemporary artists who work closely with students, critique their work and provide special workshops for majors and non-majors alike. Some students take advantage of internship opportunities that connect them with internationally known artists.
About the Program
The studio art major consists of 12 courses (36 credits) and encourages experience in design, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. Additionally, majors must take two courses in the history of art, one of which must focus on modern or contemporary art. Seniors must undertake and complete a specific thesis project, exhibited in Staniar Gallery at the end of Winter Term senior year.
Students majoring in studio art often begin their academic experience by taking 100-level foundation courses in drawing and design. They then move on to introductory classes in sculpture, painting, printmaking and photography. Art history courses are often taken before the end of the junior year to help the studio major recognize—before they begin their thesis work—the trends and currents that have influenced their predecessors and contemporaries in the world of art.
Awards and Prizes
- The Studio Art Thesis Award is awarded to a senior studio art major for outstanding work on their Senior Thesis Studio Project.
- The Studio Art Prize is awarded to a senior studio art major for outstanding work done during their time in the Art Department.
- The Class of 1964 Fine Arts Prize is awarded annually to a junior or senior whom the art faculty identifies as having done the most outstanding work in any area of the fine arts. This award is shared with the Music and Theater Departments.
- The Sally Mann Prize for Photography is awarded annually to an exceptional photography student. This is also a purchase prize, used to acquire a piece of the student’s work created while at W&L. The piece becomes a part of the W&L art collection, and is permanently displayed in the photography area of Wilson Hall.
- The E. Wright Ledbetter Endowment supports student travel and participation in the Society for Photography Education conference.
- The Eileen Small Endowment for Printmaking supports summer opportunities and travel expenses to printmaking-affiliated conferences and exhibits.
- Scholarships awarded annually to students to fund attendance to the Society for Photographic Education National Conference.
W&L’s Staniar Gallery Presents “Transformations”
The senior thesis exhibition will be on view April 1-12.
After graduating with a double degree in English and studio art, Gabriela Gomez-Misserian ’21 took her talents to Garden & Gun Magazine.
Cole Gershkovich ’24 Earns David G. Elmes Pathfinder Prize in Psychology
The Elmes Pathfinder Prize recognizes a student who has shown extraordinary promise in psychological science through outstanding scholarship in basic or applied psychology.
W&L Students Curate Fall Art Exhibition
“Mohammad Omer Khalil: Musings,” co-curated by four Washington and Lee students as part of a seminar course in museum studies, will be on display in the Watson Galleries Sept. 28, 2023 through June 1, 2024.
W&L Art Professor Completes VCCA Fellowship
Sandy de Lissovoy was one of 22 fellows to participate in the prestigious residency program at Mt. San Angelo.
W&L’s Staniar Gallery Presents ‘Mary Mattingly: Proposals’
The solo exhibition will run from Sept. 4 through Oct. 25 and kicks off the gallery’s fall season.
W&L Art Professor to be Featured in Solo Exhibition in New York City
Emma Steinkraus’ exhibition “Princess Botticelli” opens June 29 at the 1969 Gallery in Tribeca
A Pair of W&L Professors Awarded Grants by the National Endowment for the Humanities
Melissa Kerin and Barton Myers will each receive $6,000 to support their research projects.
Katie Wall Podracky '05 painted the landscape of more than 40 state parks during the COVID-19 shutdown.
W&L’s Staniar Gallery Presents ‘Futile State’
The solo exhibition by sculptor Sam Blanchard is on view until Feb. 8.
W&L Art Professor’s Paintings Featured in Several Exhibits
A new member of the art faculty, Emma Steinkraus recently completed an exhibition at the Hashimoto Contemporary in Los Angeles.
W&L Presents ‘Selections from The Lindsay Webster Collection of Cuban Posters at Wofford College’
The show will be on display in Wilson Hall’s Lykes Atrium in conjunction with Esteban Ramón Pérez’s solo exhibition “Distorted Myths,” which will be on view in the Staniar Gallery Oct. 10 through Nov. 2.
Meet the Faculty
At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
Andrea Lepage
Pamela H. Simpson Professor of Art History and Department Head
- P: 540-458-8305
- E: lepagea@wlu.edu
Andrea Lepage offers classes in the following areas: contemporary Chicana/o and U.S. Latina/o art, modern and colonial Latin American art, arts of Mesoamerica and the Andes, and Early Modern European art (Italian, Spanish, Dutch).
Clover Archer
Instructor of Art and Art History, Staniar Gallery Director
- P: 540-458-8860
- E: archerc@wlu.edu
Archer teaches photography, arts management, as well as a studio seminar in the Department of Art and Art History. In addition to teaching classes, she is the Director of the Staniar Gallery and oversees the Staniar Gallery Internship.
Leigh Ann Beavers
Instructor of Art
- P: 540-458-8876
- E: beaversl@wlu.edu
Beavers teaches courses in drawing, creating comics, printmaking and studio projects.
Christa Bowden
Professor of Art
- P: 540-458-8880
- E: bowdenc@wlu.edu
Bowden started W&L’s photography program and teaches a variety of courses in the subject. She recently taught a class called Paris: History, Image, Myth, which featured a Spring Term in Paris.
Sandy de Lissovoy
Assistant Professor of Art
Professor de Lissovoy teaches courses in sculpture and design.
