Whether you’re interested in drawing, painting, photography, film, or design, Hiram’s new Art & Design major will help you explore your passion while challenging you to become a well-rounded creative thinker and visual problem solver. Through a flexible curriculum, intimate class sizes, and close collaboration with their peers and faculty members, students are able to combine creativity with practical skills.
All majors begin with taking a core set of design and history courses that develop technical, formal, and conceptual skills. Students then have the opportunity to specialize in one of three pathways: studio art, photography/film, or digital design studies.
Throughout their time at Hiram College, students will compose a portfolio of diverse pieces that express their growth that includes many of the projects they develop. Toward the end of their exploration in these pathways, students immerse themselves in upper level courses that culminate in a capstone experience: the presentation of a technically proficient and conceptually cohesive visual portfolio. Art & Design majors will produce a body of visual work that expresses an original statement on a single idea or concept. This work will demonstrate an understanding of the creative process and an awareness of contemporary issues, art history, ideas from other disciplines, and/or aspects of personal experience. Often, this capstone experience is showcased in the Gelbke Fine Arts Gallery in a Senior Class Exhibition.