Department Handbook

Requirements for the major and minor, starting with the class of 2010

The Visual Arts major is designed to engage the student's ability to see and critique, as well as create, artistic expressions.

Requirements for the Major in Visual Arts

Eleven courses are required in the department, to include Visual Arts 150, either 180, 190, or 195; five other courses in the visual arts, no more than one of which may be an Independent Study; Senior Seminar and Senior Studio and two courses in art history.

Requirements for the Minor in Visual Arts

The minor consists of six courses: Visual Arts 150, either 180, 190, or 195, plus three other courses in the visual arts, no more than one of which may be an Independent Study; and one course in art history.

Students must earn a grade of C- or better in order to have a course count toward the above majors and minor. No Credit/D/Fail courses will count toward the major and minor.

Visual arts courses without prerequisites are frequently oversubscribed; preference in enrollment is then given to first- and second-year students, as well as to juniors and seniors fulfilling requirements of the visual arts major or minor.

Visual arts courses without prerequisites are frequently oversubscribed; preference in enrollment is then given to first and second-year students as well as to juniors and seniors fulfilling requirements of the visual arts major or minor.

Visual Arts Major/Minor Checksheet

Visual Arts Major/Minor ChecksheetThis PDF checksheet is intended to be informational only. Students must consult with an academic advisor prior to registration

Interdisciplinary Majors

The department participates in interdisciplinary programs in art history and archaeology and in art history and visual arts. Courses; one 300-level course; and one additional course numbered above 101.

Visual Arts Study Away Policy:

A student who takes a non-Bowdoin visual arts course away, to fulfill a requirement in visual arts, MUST have a visual arts professor APPROVE the away course IN WRITING PRIOR to going away. The course(s) must be successfully completed with a grade of C- or better.

The Visual Arts Department Study Away Approval Form is IN ADDITION to the Study Away Application and the Student Records Transfer of Credit Forms.

When you return to Bowdoin and after the department receives your away transcript, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to see the Visual arts professor who approved the away course to verify that you will receive visual arts requirement credit.

If you do not follow up with the professor on your return, the course(s) away will not be given visual arts requirement credit. In some cases this will mean that you will not meet your major/minor requirement.

The Richard P. Martel Jr. Memorial Fund

Provides scholarship support, and an annual prize, to Bowdoin undergraduates who intend to pursue study in the Studio Arts and who show promise in that field.

2008
Joanna Sese, '08
Jonathan Ragins, '08

2007
Ivy Blackmore, '07
Daniel Duarte, '07
Samantha Smith, '06

2006
Andrew Fulton, '06
John-Mark Ikeda, '06
Emily Johnson, '06
Carl Klimt, '06
Kerry O'Conner, '06

2005
Jonathan Crowell, '05
Brooke Winter-DiGirolamo, '05

2003
Ellen Kenney, '03
Eric Legris, '03
Arnd Seibert, '04

2002
Susanna Drake, '02
Michael Zachary, '02

2001
Kyle Durrie, '01
Pedro Guerrero, '01
Wade Kavanaugh, '01
Nicholas Riggie, '01
Peter Sheridan, '01

Department Description from the Bowdoin Course Catalogue

The Department of Art comprises two programs: art history and criticism, and visual arts. Majors in the department are expected to elect one of these programs. The major in art history and criticism is devoted primarily to the historical and critical study of the visual arts as an embodiment of some of humanity's cultural values and a record of the historical interplay of sensibility, thought, and society. The major in visual arts is intended to encourage a sensitive development of perceptual, creative, and critical abilities in visual expression.