Create and explore art at Cornell
Studying art One Course At A Time gives you extraordinary access to your medium and uninterrupted time to work with your muse. For your 3.5-week course your classroom and project space belongs to your class alone, meaning you can flow from one class period to the next with no need to put materials away. And as a senior art student, you’ll have a dedicated studio space for your senior thesis capstone project.
Art students can apply for extra financial support in the form of an art scholarship for up to $5,000 per year over four years.
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The Peter Paul Luce Gallery hosts major exhibitions and senior thesis shows within McWethy Hall. You’ll have the chance to engage with visiting exhibitions and artists throughout the year.
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The Luce Gallery is open to the public during the week.
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The Luce Gallery provides an inspirational and quiet space for studying and creating.
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McWethy Hall is home exclusively to the study of art and features large, up-to-date classrooms, a darkroom, wet room, carpentry shop, and ceramics studio.
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There are no prerequisite courses for you to be enrolled in any art class at Cornell College. We want you to tap into your creative side.
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Participating in art at Cornell College is as easy as enrolling for a class! There are no prerequisites for studio art or art history classes, even if you are a non-major or minor.
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As a studio art major (or minor) you can take courses in collage and assemblage, installation art, intermedia performance art, and casting and mold-making along with traditional coursework in ceramics, sculpture, painting, and photography.
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Cornell College is proud of its student-to-faculty ratio: 12:1. You are guaranteed individualized teaching and mentorship in our studio art and art history classes.
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Studio spaces are yours for the duration of your class, so you can leave your materials out. As a student, you will also have extended access to studio spaces if you work better at night.
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The One Course At A Time curriculum provides you unparalleled focus on your work, and the ability to get the experience of what it is like to work as an artist.
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The digital arts lab is equipped with Macs and tablets to translate your ideas into digital art.
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Students in digital art work on projects that incude animation, design, and layout for digital and print production.
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The Art Department houses six kilns including one outdoor kiln.
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In ceramics, you'll learn utilitarian design and casting, along with more standard slab construction and standard modeling. The sculpture lessons may include 3D digital design processes.
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Recent majors have completed internships locally, regionally, and internationally. Cornell art and art history students become tomorrow's leaders as artists, educators, architects, curators, production supervisors, and art administrators.
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Senior art majors have 24-hour access to their very own designated studio spaces.
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Dedicated senior studio space.
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Example of senior capstone project.
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McWethy Hall is home to two painting and drawing specific dedicated studios.
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As a photography student, you will have access to our designated darkroom.
Inside the Art Department
Take a pictoral tour through McWethy Hall.
Senior Art Show: Towers of Strength on the Old Farmstead
Madeleine Althoff created her show, “Tower of Strength on the Old Farmstead,” which consists of nine ceramic place settings that convey a self portrait based on heritage and immigration with the underlying weaving of generations.
Art courses and degree requirements
As a studio art major (or minor) you can take courses in collage and assemblage, digital art design, installation art, intermedia performance art, and casting and mold-making along with traditional coursework in ceramics, sculpture, painting, and photography.
You'll work in a space that is devoted to your class, meaning you can leave out your paints or other supplies during the entire block. McWethy Hall is home exclusively to the study of art and features large, up-to-date classrooms, a digital arts lab, a darkroom, wet room, carpentry shop, and ceramics studio. An annex provides space for electric and atmospheric kilns.
The Peter Paul Luce Gallery, which hosts major exhibitions and senior thesis shows, is housed within McWethy Hall.
Studio art capstone project
In your senior year, you'll complete your senior capstone, which will consist of sustained creative work. You'll receive your own studio space with 24-hour access, where you can develop your senior thesis exhibition consisting of an entirely fresh body of work in the mediums of your choice.
You'll design and execute the creative work, mount your exhibition in a public gallery space on campus, advertise, and archive the show. You'll defend your thesis (your show) in front of the art faculty.
Study in off-campus environments
You'll have rich opportunities for off-campus experiences, with study-abroad programs regularly in Italy. These courses are supplemented by those that also address topics like African American, Latin American, and American Indian art. This breadth is an advantage as graduate schools and employers increasingly demonstrate a preference for broad undergraduate coursework that addresses cross-cultural experiences.
The One Course At A Time curriculum provides you unparalleled focus on your work, and the ability to get the experience of what it is like to work as an artist. Classes frequently take daylong field trips to the Chicago Art Institute and the Des Moines Art Center. If a relevant exhibition is on display, it would not be unusual for classes to visit the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis or the Milwaukee Museum of Art. One Course makes these types of field trips possible when a semester plan would not.
Internships in art disciplines
Recent majors have completed internships at the National Museum of American History, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the Ceramics Center in Cedar Rapids, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Mexican Museum in San Francisco, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, Puerto Rican Museum of Art, Rochester Art Center, and Russian Icon Museum in Boston.
What are Cornell students doing in internships? Check out their blogs.
Career opportunities in Studio Art
Students from our program have gone on to careers in education, gallery curation, museum curators, art studios, 3D design, illustration, and marketing and graphic design roles.Students pursuing advanced degrees in art have gone on to study
- M.A., University of Iowa, Iowa City
- M.S.W., University of Colorado, Denver
- M.Arch., California College of Arts, San Francisco
- M.A. French., University of Wisconsin, Madison
- M. Arch., Washington University, St. Louis
- M.F.A., Maryland Institute of the College of Art
The Berry Career Institute can help you identify what you’ll pursue with your passion for art.