Art and Visual Culture at Bates

Visit the full Art and Visual Culture site

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.

Contact Us

Marisa C. Wickersham, Academic Administrative Assistant
75 Russell St
Olin Arts Center
Phone: 1-207-786-8212 mwickersham@bates.edu

What You Will Learn

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To develop an independent voice, either through critical analysis or creative production

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To think alongside a broad range of authors and artists

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A diverse set of approaches to studying media and representation that will ground the creative practice

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To explore the sociohistorical context of works of art and visual culture

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How to examine art and visual culture through the lens of power and privilege

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To develop an experimental attitude and a tolerance for risk as it pertains to art and visual culture

Life After Bates

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.

94%

of 2020-2024 Bates graduates are employed and/or attending graduate school — settled into their next opportunity within 6 months of graduation.

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

Selected Places of Employment/Service

Sotheby’s
Gladstone Gallery
Department of Justice
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Minted
McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Gerson Lehrman Group
AmeriCorps
Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick PLLC
Connelly Partners

Selected Graduate Schools

University of Oxford
Harvard Divinity School
Yale University
Tufts University School of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Harvard University
University of Pennsylvania
Columbia University
Johns Hopkins University

A student organizes her abstract paintings on a table in Olin Arts Center

A student works on a wax-inspired piece with hot glue in their Olin Arts Center studio

A student works on pieces using both pottery and yarn as their mediums in Olin Arts Studio

A student flips through their sketchbook in Olin Arts Studio

Why Study Art and Visual Culture at Bates?

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.

Featured Courses

Meet the Faculty

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.