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The Importance of
the Arts
Excerpt from the Bowdoin Baccalaureate Address:
President Barry Mills - May 28, 2004
The arts present our world as it is: a rich mix of variety and viewpoints. Research shows that those who study the arts develop analytical skills, creativity, critical thinking abilities, and aesthetic judgment. Art is communication - the communication of ideas and issues - that entertains but also teaches, persuades, and challenges us all. It is this process of thought and challenge that shapes an educated mind. At Bowdoin we have believed since our founding in 1794 that education at its best is meant to serve the common good.
[ the complete speech » ]
An actively engaged faculty of distinguished artists, small class sizes, guest speakers, field trips to studios, galleries, and museums in Maine, New York and Boston, an exchange program with the Maine College of Art, and individual studios for advanced work are just a part of the departmental framework to which students add the essential ingredients of curiosity, energy, and initiative. The Visual Arts Department also benefits from a wide range of campus resources, including the Art History Department, the Art Library, and the renowned Bowdoin College Museum of Art.
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The Visual Arts Department offers courses in a variety of media that explore not only the ways in which art can be taught but what it is that art can teach, whether a student is preparing for a life in the visual arts or simply hoping to gain a more creative, informed, and visually engaged outlook in any field or walk of life.
From mastering the fundamentals of visual expression to developing an independent body of work, creative engagement is a unique process of first-hand investigation, artistic and intellectual challenge, and personal discovery. Through this process, tempered by rigorous critical dialogue, larger questions are invariably brought to light—the complex interactions of seeing and knowing; the interplay of personal, cultural, and social values; the nature of—and responsibility for—symbols and their meaning; and the more profound and often paradoxical implications of coordinating eye, hand, head, and heart.
Contact Information
Department Coordinator: Elizabeth Hernandez Palmer
Email: epalmer @ bowdoin.edu
Telephone: (207) 725-3697
Art Librarian/Library Liaison: Anne Haas x3690
Curator of Visual Resources: Jennifer Edwards x3699
Visual Arts Technician: Kyle Downs x3075
[ Visual Arts Technician site » ]
Location: Visual Arts Center [ campus map » ]
Phone: (207) 725-3697
Fax: (207) 725-3996
Mailing Address:
Department of Art
Bowdoin College
9300 College Station,
Brunswick, Maine 04011
Image Credits (left to right):
Sculpture class project with John Bisbee
Painting Class - photo by Bob Handelman.
Campus-wide project . Construction of a dome system invented by Leonardo da Vinci with Christopher Glass.