Art Major

Requirements for the Major in Art

The Art Major is intended to prepare highly motivated students for further work on a graduate or professional level. Students with a strong interest in the visual arts are encouraged to establish a solid foundation by taking art and art history courses early in their college career. In keeping with the goals of a liberal arts education, art majors are urged to explore a broad range of courses at Pomona. Courses in art taken at the other Claremont Colleges or at any other location, including study abroad courses must be approved by the department to count towards the major.

Aspiring art majors should declare the major and establish a working relationship with an art advisor.

All courses for the Art Major must be taken for a letter grade.

1. Lower-division work: Art History (ARHI 051C PO ) and four lower-division art courses.
2. Upper-division work: Four courses in art and one upper-division art history elective.
3. Junior-Senior Joint Seminar (190). Required in the fall of the junior and senior years. Covers topics of significance to the practice of contemporary artists and provides a forum to critique and give feedback to student majors of their own art production.
4. Junior Exhibition. In the junior year, art majors are required to present an exhibition of a body of work. Students work toward the exhibition in consultation with their advisors.
5. Advanced Projects in Art (192). An advanced seminar centered on the production of a body of work in preparation for the senior exhibition. Investigation will include readings, visiting artists and critique of ongoing projects. Mandatory for senior art majors.
6. Final Exhibition. All senior majors must present an exhibition of their work as a final requirement of the degree. The progress of the senior project is guided and evaluated by the art advisor and members of the art faculty.

The artists who teach at Pomona College work closely with students to expand their creative and conceptual awareness and develop their own visual and technical abilities. Majors in art participate in a seminar during the fall semesters of their junior and senior years in which they (1) create a body of work of their own choosing; (2) read widely and discuss the theoretical concerns within contemporary art practice, (3) talk with visiting artists who show their work and the context in which their practice exists; (4) learn to write artists’ statements; and (5) document and publicize their work.