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Art

The visual arts provide an important way to perceive the world around us. Through the centuries, artistic expression has been a significant mode of representing human emotion. Art can be analyzed for its aesthetics or for its historical influences, and also for the way it impacts and comments on the social, political and economic world. As a Bethel College art major, you will engage in both the analysis and the creation of art with the help of one-on-one attention from experienced faculty.

Through exposure to art history, painting, printmaking, ceramics, drawing, sculpture, photography and crafts, you’ll develop your insights and skills in a number of modes of artistic expression. Bethel’s art major encourages a high level of individual initiative. In your senior year, you will present an exhibit of your own work in the Fine Arts Center Gallery. There is also studio space in Franz Art Center where student work is frequently featured.

A liberal arts education provides Bethel art majors with both depth and breadth of education. Art majors are required to pursue their chosen studio area – ceramics or painting, for example – through at least three courses (beginning, intermediate and advanced levels) and must present evidence of their facility in this medium in their senior art exhibit. At the same time, the Common Ground requirements of the college ensure that Bethel art graduates have acquired other knowledge and skills fundamental to a well-rounded college education. One art graduate wrote and thanked several of her Bethel teachers because when she got to graduate school in art therapy at Emporia State University, she was well-prepared to communicate visually, verbally and in writing.