Studio Art Major

Requirements for the Major in Studio Art

The Studio 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 studio art and art history courses early in their college career. In keeping with the goals of a liberal arts education, art students at Pomona College are urged to explore related courses throughout The Claremont Colleges. Courses in studio art taken outside The Claremont Colleges for credit must be approved by the department.

Prospective art majors should consult a member of the studio art faculty to declare the major and establish a working relationship with a studio art advisor.

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

1. Lower-division work: Art History (ARHI 051C PO ) and four lower-division studio art courses
2. Upper-division work: Four courses in studio 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. Final Exhibition. All senior majors must present an exhibition of their work in the Pomona College Museum of Art as a final requirement of the degree. The progress of the senior project is guided and evaluated by the studio art advisor and members of the studio 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 studio 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.