The Department of Art houses a multitude of dynamic paths to engage in art making. The faculty is committed to providing students the tools with which they can create work at the highest levels of aesthetic, intellectual, and social/political inquiry. The department's flexible curriculum facilitates serious engagement with painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, digital filmmaking, installation, performance, electronic art and design, art writing, critical theory, and curatorial studies within the context of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of contemporary art.

The Art faculty is comprised of a group of nationally and internationally recognized artists and scholars who are engaged in their fields and dedicated to sharing their expertise in helping students develop informed approaches to media, materials, and techniques while fostering individual approaches in the students’ overall art practice. They believe that a vital part of artistic development comes from an accessible faculty and regular contact with active practitioners. To that end, alongside a broad and diverse curriculum, the department also invites visiting artists, curators, and critics to our campus to discuss their work and to get to know students.

The Art department attracts gifted and motivated students who thrive in an environment that encourages autonomy and rigor. Art students are drawn not only to the outstanding creative faculty, the university's resources, and its location in one of the world's leading art centers, but also to a program that encourages their long-term development as artists. The result is a distinguished list of graduates who have made and continue to make significant contributions across the field of art, and who participate in a lasting community of artists from the Art program and beyond.