Senior Thesis
Our art senior thesis program has a reputation for being demanding and for producing undergraduate art of very high quality. Unlike many other undergraduate art thesis programs, ours is a year long experience where students create and exhibit a substantial coherent body of work to show in their year-end group exhibition.
Senior Thesis is an honors opportunity for art majors to completely immerse themselves in their art. To be accepted into the program, students must have a 3.25 GPA in art and present a portfolio of work in their medium and a proposal to the the art faculty in the spring of their junior year. If admitted to thesis, each individual student has the freedom to craft his or her own curriculum for the year and decide the direction for their body of work. Hildebrandt House is a separate building where senior thesis students have studios to use for the year. They receive feedback from all art faculty, both individually and in group critiques. This process ensures that each student has frequent access to help and guidance.
Senior thesis students are required to take a Professional Practices course taught by the director of the Art Gallery, which teaches the skills you need to present and document your thesis work, write an art resume, prepare packets of images and materials to apply for exhibits and graduate school, and learn information about ways to support yourself as an artist. Essentially, the senior thesis program is intended to prepare serious artists for an art career after graduation.