The Department of Art and Visual Culture balances creation and critique, providing foundations in studio practice and in contemporary and historical analysis.
The major offers two tracks: one in history and criticism and the other in studio art. The history and criticism courses focus on images, objects, and architecture made by people from different periods and places, which students situate in historical and social contexts, while the studio art courses concentrate on making, including animation, ceramics, drawing, film, painting, photography, and print.
Olin Arts Center
75 Russell St
Phone: 1-207-786-8212
mwickersham@bates.edu
The visual arts field is broad, and we prepare our students to find their place in it. Graduates have pursued careers in a variety of fields, including museum and curatorial studies, architecture, art therapy, education, film, and art conservation. Many alumni have pursued MFA and Ph.D. degrees, building on the foundations that they gained at Bates to become museum directors, arts policy leaders, professional fine artists, corporate consultants, and more.
of 2020-2024 arts graduates are employed and/or attending graduate school
I really loved the breadth and depth of the Art and Visual culture department and how it taught me the ability to think across time and geography. In particular, a Museum Studies class I took is really what sparked my entire career in the museum world.
—Rachel Ferrante ‘10
Associate Professor of Art and Visual Culture Carolina González Valencia, adviser in the winter semester to senior studio art majors, install their work in the Bates Museum of Art for the Annual Senior Exhibition on April 9, 2025. On the lower level is Avery Lehman ’25 of Portsmouth, NH, and also exhibition installer….. Upstaris, González Valencia works with Visiting Lecturer in Art and Visual Culture Michel Droge to help Elizabeth (Lizi) Barrow ’25 of Winchester, Mass., to hang her painting on the upper level.
The art, you’ll see, is beautiful and striking. Frieda Kickliter ’23, a studio art major from Mobile, Ala., is making large abstract paintings inspired by architecture and landscape. She shares a studio with her roommate Jordan Wilson ’23 of Medfield, Mass., a double major in art history and studio art, who’s painting portraits of people she knows. And Tricia Ballard ’23, a studio art major from Larchmont, N.Y., is a ceramicist who loves simplicity. You’ll find the three of them in their Olin Arts Center studios with ) days to prepare for the installation of the Annual Senior Art Exhibition that opens on April 14 in the Bates College Museum of Art. The museum partners with the Department of Art and Visual culture to support the work of Bates students through an exhibition that highlights work selected from the thesis projects of graduating seniors majoring in studio art. Thesis projects vary from student to student, each pursuing an individual interest. The emphasis of the program is on creating a cohesive body of related works through sustained studio practice and critical inquiry. The year-long process is overseen by Art and Visual Culture faculty, and culminates in this exhibition. Stay tuned for more coverage of the installation and opening. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College) #batescollege #fineart #art #painting #ceramics #exhibition
Olivia Rabin ’24 of Montclair, N.J., works in her Olin Arts Center studio on March 21, 2024. From a young age, I was fascinated by nature and the fantastical. This and the works by people similarly inspired by the natural world inspire my current work. While I am interested in many different things, I am always working to visualize them to help me understand how I connect them internally. In my work, I am trying to synthesize my own process into something tangible and observable. I am exploring the connections between my headspace, the act of expression, and the physical world. I want to explore the emotions and sensations of the world around me, being captivated by nature and the fantastical. I love the mysterious blues and otherworldly qualities of water, especially found in oceans and waterfalls. I am thoroughly enchanted by them. This was only heightened by my favorite creative works like The Blue Planet by David Attenborough. This film not only allowed me to see the ocean’s depths in ways I had never seen before but also showed me ways in which form can create fantastical emotions out of the real. Works like Hayao Miyazaki’s Laputa: Castle in the Sky expand on this in artistic and sensory ways that become their own mythology. Works by artists like Heikala and Gabriel Picolo expand upon mundane elements of reality, abstracting them into the fantastical. Heikala’s illustrations often explore the magic in mundane moments by abstracting an element like size, time, or location to convey an emotion fantastically. In Picolo’s Icarus and the Sun, the already metaphorical wax of Icarus’ wings becomes more emotional as Icarus’s body is made of wax and the sun becomes his lover. Wax is quite captivating for me as its qualities are intrinsically related to water. Wax flows like water but as it cools and solidifies it almost freezes a moment in time and space allowing for the magic to be captured. In these works, I was able to find connections between my int
Taking place in the spring of each year, this exhibition highlights work selected from the thesis projects of graduating seniors in Studio Art. This year, seven emerging artists will present work in various media: Alex Provasnik ’25 in her Olin Studio with her paintings Elizabeth R. Barrow Miryam Keller Avery Lehman Erin McCarthy Alex Provasnik Lila Schaefer Danny J. Zuniga Zarat Thesis projects vary from student to student, each pursuing an individual interest. The emphasis of the program is on creating a cohesive body of related works through sustained studio practice and critical inquiry. The year-long process is overseen by Art & Visual Culture (AVC) faculty, and culminates in this exhibition. The Bates College Museum of Art maintains a close relationship with the college’s AVC department, and is committed to supporting the work of Bates students through this Annual Senior Thesis Exhibition. To see more about the artists’ work, visit the website: https://www.bates.edu/museum/exhibitions/senior-thesis-exhibition-2025/
Taking place in the spring of each year, this exhibition highlights work selected from the thesis projects of graduating seniors in Studio Art. This year, seven emerging artists will present work in various media: Miryam Keller ’25 with her work in her Olin Studio Elizabeth R. Barrow Miryam Keller Avery Lehman Erin McCarthy Alex Provasnik Lila Schaefer Danny J. Zuniga Zarat Thesis projects vary from student to student, each pursuing an individual interest. The emphasis of the program is on creating a cohesive body of related works through sustained studio practice and critical inquiry. The year-long process is overseen by Art & Visual Culture (AVC) faculty, and culminates in this exhibition. The Bates College Museum of Art maintains a close relationship with the college’s AVC department, and is committed to supporting the work of Bates students through this Annual Senior Thesis Exhibition. To see more about the artists’ work, visit the website: https://www.bates.edu/museum/exhibitions/senior-thesis-exhibition-2025/
Our program asks students to slow down and think about how art and visual media is made, as well as what it represents, what it obscures, and how it shapes our thinking. Studio art majors undertake a yearlong thesis, concluding in an exhibition of their work at the nationally-recognized Bates Museum of Art. History and criticism-focused majors conduct independent research projects that may include hands-on experience in museums and archives.
The art and visual culture faculty write books, make films, produce scholarship, and make and exhibit art in diverse media across the globe. Faculty members have exhibited their art in galleries from New York City to Miami, present regularly at international art forums, and publish scholarly articles in renowned academic journals. Areas of expertise include multimedia art, media history and visual culture throughout the Mediterranean and Atlantic worlds, and ceramics.
In the Student Center for Belonging and Community, first-generation Bates students mentor their younger peers, providing guidance on everything from academics to internships to social life.
Bates is embarking on a $45 million project to update two key athletic facilities and construct a new fitness and well-being center. A gift of $10 million from Jon W. Brayshaw ’90, P’25 and Jocelyn Stoddard Brayshaw ’88, P’25 has brought the college a vital step closer to construction. The new facility will be named the Stoddard Fitness and Well-Being Center.
February on campus saw sports successes, several large snowfalls, and our annual Winter Carnival — a week of events celebrating the joys of the chilly season.
