Art & Art History

The Art & Art History department offers courses in art history, graphic design, painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, pottery, ceramics, and mosaics. The department occupies three buildings that include lecture classrooms, painting and drawing, sculpture, and ceramics studios, a kiln house with electric, gas, and raku kilns, a darkroom for traditional photography, a shooting studio for all photography classes, and a digital lab outfitted with high-end computers, printers and state-of-the-art software for graphic design and digital photography.

With Saint Joseph’s University’s partnership with the Barnes Foundation, students will be able to see artworks and even show their own in the galleries in the new Frances M. Maguire Art Museum at the Barnes Arboretum. Students also pursue internships that help secure jobs after graduation.

Because of Saint Joseph’s proximity to Philadelphia, New York, and other major cultural centers, students are able to experience first-hand major works of art at many renowned galleries and museums. Students pursue internships at regional museums and cultural organizations, travel overseas, and have access to the University’s extensive permanent collection. As part of the Gallery Exhibition Research Assistant (GERA) program, students can gain valuable experience in researching and hanging exhibitions in the department’s two galleries for professional and student work.

The department’s award-winning faculty of artists or scholars are also dedicated teachers who challenge students to express themselves and respond to their immediate and global context.

Art and Art History students develop careers in a wide range of art-related areas, including publishing, advertising, gallery and museum curating, graphic design, pottery, interior design, fashion design, education, and architecture, in addition to the many jobs available to students with a strong liberal arts degree, such as law and also medicine.