Our Seniors build upon years of studio classes to create a solo exhibit.

All Art & Design majors create, design, and exhibit a cohesive body of work in their capstone course. Each student chooses a solo exhibition in the McCarthy Art Gallery, Sloane Gallery, or to give a public presentation to the campus community. The body of work and exhibition is student-driven—each show is truly unique and a work of expression of the individual artists.

Senior Exhibition is a unique opportunity for Art & Design Majors. 

We ask students on the first day of Senior Studio, “What do you want to do for your Senior Show?” In response, they to give a brief, clear answer—a 30second pitch of sorts —and receive feedback from faculty and peers.  They then spend the next week, in consultation with faculty, developing that idea into a formal exhibition pitch, similar to what professional artists would do for a curator. The rest of the semester is spent making, critiquing, and refining the work, curating how it will be exhibited, connecting the work to cultural and art historical contexts, and developing professional skills.

Our ability to offer these solo exhibitions to all our majors in our premiere gallery space is one of the biggest (and most exciting) advantages of our program. Having a solo exhibition is an important milestone in any artist’s career and providing our students with one gives them a leg up, since most colleges and universities are not able to do this. Not only is the exhibition itself a bid deal, the opportunity to have portfolio images of a solo show is invaluable to an young artist trying to garner shows, grants, residencies, internships, or applications to graduate school. 

Seniors create a body of work in Senior Studio. 

Our capstone course, Senior Studio, drives our students to work on a self-directed, cohesive body of work and exhibit or present it in a professional venue. For most, this will be a solo exhibition in our McCarthy Art Gallery. Some students choose to do alternate public presentations like: screenings of animations or videos, fashion shows, or site-specific installations.  

Student artists fully participate in all aspects of their exhibitions: planning, designing publicity materials, installing, and hosting a reception; they gain valuable hands-on professional experience as the lead on all aspects of their project(s). Faculty guide, facilitate, and evaluate each student’s goals and achievements to help them progress in their work.  

 Senior Studio is an exciting and challenging course for our students, one where they are given a lot of freedom and a lot of responsibility. To prepare them for this, we developed the Junior Studio course. Students in this course experiment with independent studio practice, where they are pushed to make their own choices about media, process, and presentation through loosely themed assignments, like appropriation or time. Junior Studio culminates in in a self-directed final project, giving students a taste of what’s to come.