The Major
The art and the history of art major is organized into two distinct programs: The History of Art and The Practice of Art.
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Tools
We offer introductory to advanced courses in art history and studio practice that enable our students to develop artistic awareness, historical understanding, critical faculties and practice in the visual arts.
Department Highlights
Eli Marsh Gallery
Our gallery displays a variety of student and visiting artist exhibitions throughout the academic year.
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Artist Studios
Our students share large, light-filled studio spaces for painting, printmaking, sculpting, photography, video and design.
After Amherst
Amherst art majors have gone on to careers as artists, scholars, architects, educators, conservators, preservationists, curators and more.
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Arts at Amherst
Together, Amherst’s dynamic arts programs foster a lively environment for the multidisciplinary study, creation and presentation of the arts.
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Current Courses
ARHA 138
Visual Arts and Orature in Africa
Description
Explore new perspectives in the critical analysis of African verbal and visual arts, and examine the epistemological process of understanding cultural symbols, visualizing narratives, and verbalizing sculptures or designs.
ARHA 261
Buddhist Art of Asia
Description
Address the nature of the Buddha image, the political uses of Buddhist art, the development of illustrated hagiographies, and the importance of pilgrimage, both in the past and the present.
ARHA 385
Witches, Vampires and Other Monsters
Description
Explore the construction of the monstrous over cultures, centuries and disciplines. Investigate various monstrous creatures and the qualities they share, through the art of Goya, Munch, Picasso, Dalí, Cindy Sherman and others.
On view in the Eli Marsh Gallery
Transcendental Concord: Photographs by Lisa McCarty
Sept. 10–Oct. 12, 2018
This exhibition documents the spirit of Transcendentalism, the 19th century philosophical movement that embraced idealism, communal living, and reverence for the natural world.
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