We are a close community of Studio Art and Art History undergraduates, a dedicated faculty, and staff of Art professionals. We are proud to offer small class sizes, one-on-one instruction, mentoring, and interdisciplinary flexibility. Whether you major in art or enroll in only one art course during your time at Wake Forest, you will experience a program designed to enhance critical thinking, problem solving, visual literacy, and creative expression.

Art majors in both studio art and art history have gone on to graduate schools and careers in all facets of the visual arts including Architect, Art Advisor, Art Educator K-12, Art History Professor, Professional Artist, Studio Art Professor, Master of Fine Arts, Art Therapist, Art Writer/ Art Critic, Auction House Specialist, Conservator, Graphic Designer, Medical Illustrator, Museum Curator/ Registrar, Museum Educator, Museum Studies, Arts Management, Visual Resources Librarian and Curator. Students have also applied their art education toward careers in non-profits, business, medicine, law, and psychology among others.

Our program covers a wide range of instruction from the technical to the conceptual and includes interdisciplinary courses. For example, faculty from the Calloway School of Business and the Art Department teach, Management in the Visual Arts. This course provides both art and business students with the essential skills, pragmatic experiences and a conceptual framework for understanding the role the visual arts play within the national and international economies. Students receive preparation for involvement in art galleries, auction houses, museums, and publishing, as well as for contributions to various boards and organizations that commission or purchase works of art.

Other examples of interdisciplinary study include the Art Department’s collaboration:

with and the Department of Communications for courses in film, and visual theory for the Minor in Film Studies with the Office Entrepreneurship and Liberal Arts Program to teach the interactive seminar Creativity and Innovation with the Department of Computer Science for the major/minor in Art and Computer Science with the Department of Women and Gender Studies for the course, Women in Art- which is a historical examination of the changing image of women in art and the role of women artists.

START: WFU Student Art Gallery is a beautiful off-campus exhibition space for students to show, curate, and sell their work. The University purchases student work for its permanent collection from the Student Art Exhibition, held each spring in the Hanes Art Gallery. There are additional opportunities for solo and group exhibitions in nearby spaces, including downtown Winston-Salem.

Students gain professional experience working at the Hanes Art Gallery or START Gallery, or through internships at Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), and local architecture and design firms. In the senior year, Honors in Studio Art offers an intense studio and solo exhibition opportunity and Honors in Art History offers the opportunity to develop an original research project and thesis.

Study abroad is an important facet of the liberal art experience and semester residencies are encouraged at the Wake Forest Campuses in London at the Worrell House, in Vienna at the Flow Haus, and in Venice at Casa Artom adjacent to the Guggenheim Museum. The International Studies Office has a wide range of programs available and actively works to find the right opportunity for each student. Travel scholarships are available including The Lynne Johnson Travel Award. This award assists students majoring or minoring in art history to see works of art firsthand through independent travel. Other travel scholarships include The WFU Study Abroad Scholarships and Richter Scholarships.

There are many art scholarship (link) opportunities throughout your time at Wake Forest. When applying to Wake Forest, we encourage you to submit an “Arts Supplement” portfolio. The Presidential Scholarship (link) in Art is available to entering first-year students, application due December 1. The Art Department offers a variety of art scholarships at sophomore, junior, and senior levels. Departmental and University research fellowships are awarded for professional level community based arts projects.

John Pickel chair of the Wake Forest University Art Department

Pickel has been a member of the department faculty since 1997.