Academics

Art & Design, B.A.

As a Whitworth art & design major, you will have opportunities to understand the power of your creative voice, express your worldview and hone your craft. Faculty-guided classroom explorations based on content and form will ensure that your works provoke thought from your audience. Faculty scholarship and mentoring will allow you to experience art in action on Whitworth's campus and beyond. Critiques, exhibitions and internships will prepare you for a vocation in the competitive fields of art.

Why major in art & design at Whitworth?

Receive the individual instruction that comes with small studio class sizes. Faculty are available outside of class time as well.
Draw inspiration from the vibrant Lied Center for the Visual Arts. This beautiful, contemporary center houses six studios, two gallery spaces and a state-of-the-art computer lab with Apple iMacs. Our studios are open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Connect your faith or worldview to your learning. Professors encourage you to immerse yourself intellectually and spiritually in the creative process and to investigate the relationship between your worldview and your work.
Learn from the pros. Our faculty members are professionally active artists whose works win awards at exhibits and juried competitions throughout the nation.
Travel the world through amazing off-campus programs led by your professors.
Partner with faculty as a teaching assistant.
Easily double major in the art education or graphic design tracks, which require the same core courses.
Join a tight-knit community of students and alumni that provides networking and support as you move into a career.
Focus on vocation in the senior seminar course, which connects what you're learning to your life beyond Whitworth.
Become who you're meant to be.

Ask our faculty

Ask Meredith

mshimizu@whitworth.edu

Professor of Art Meredith Shimizu specializes in art history.

Ask Katie

kcreyts@whitworth.edu

Professor Katie Creyts' areas of expertise are glass, sculpture, arts administration and community arts.

Ask Ben

bnecochea@whitworth.edu

Assistant Professor Ben Necochea specializes in graphic design.

Ask Benny

bfountain@whitworth.edu

Associate Professor Benny Fountain’s areas of expertise are drawing and painting.

Our art & design grads make a difference (and get jobs)

Whitworth art & design graduates become studio artists, teachers, art curators, professional photographers and graphic designers. Popular graduate school routes include programs in the fine arts, art history, architecture and education.

Recent job placements for Whitworth Art & Design Department graduates include:

Ruth Campbell, elementary art specialist, Spokane Public Schools, Spokane, Wash.
Hannah Hirano, museum services & conservation coordinator, Seattle Art Museum
Olivia Newman, graphic designer, Yakima Valley Hops, Yakima, Wash.
Kellen Pacheco, architectural designer, ZGF Architects, Seattle
Meghan Eremeyeff, owner, Westerly Creative Studio, Boulder, Colo.

Our recent art & design department grads further their studies in top graduate programs at institutions including:

University of Iowa
Clemson University
Portland State University
Iowa State University
Syracuse University

Opportunities outside the classroom

Visit rotating professional art exhibits at Whitworth's Bryan Oliver Gallery, and interact with visiting artists through receptions, one-on-one critiques and workshops.
Display your work in the junior and senior exhibitions. For the senior exhibition, students are responsible for organizing, hanging and publicizing the exhibit.
Join the Artists' Cooperative, the art department's club. Activities include First Friday art walks and a visual arts tour.
Take part in an annual trip to Seattle to visit galleries and museums with your peers and professors.
Apply to be the assistant for Whitworth's permanent collection or Bryan Oliver Gallery, and learn how to manage a collection, organize and install exhibitions, handle artworks, and maintain records.

Pack your bags!

Whitworth faculty members lead off-campus study programs around the country and the world that provide life-changing experiences with art, including exposure to significant museum collections. Programs that visit major destinations in Europe include British Culture through the Arts, Power & Politics of Art, History & Art in Rome, and Early Christian Sites in Greece. Or experience world-class art closer to home through the Art & Architecture in Chicago program.

Tracks

The Whitworth art & design major offers four tracks: two-dimensional art, three-dimensional art, art education and graphic design.

What related majors can I explore?

Next steps

Academic Information

What Is It Like?

"I really couldn't describe Whitworth any better than the school's own motto, 'an education of mind and heart.' Almost every class I have taken has that message somehow structured into the curriculum, and I've come to value that more and more as I've attended school here. It has given me the chance to integrate and challenge my worldview in all areas of my education, which I think is pretty unique."
Abby Sanders '25

Explore what it's like to major in the areas that interest you through the experiences of Whitworth students.