Senior Capstone Experience

Students majoring in Art participate in a two-semester capstone experience consisting of a fall Senior Studio Seminar and spring Thesis in Art Studio, geared toward developing work for their thesis exhibition. Senior Art majors receive their own semiprivate studio space in community with their peers. They create self-directed work supported by regular meetings with faculty mentors, mid-term and end-of-semester reviews, critiques, and studio visits with visiting artists and curators. The seminar courses help students enter into conversation with the broader contemporary art world (including a field trip to numerous museums and galleries in New York City) as well as develop professional practice skills like writing artist statements, giving artist presentations and mounting an exhibition. The achievements of Art majors are assessed through the work produced for their undergraduate thesis exhibition and through oral examinations conducted by faculty in the department.

Senior Thesis Exhibition

Each April in the Sheehan Gallery, senior Art majors present a thesis exhibition as a culmination of their research and scholarship.

2023 Senior Thesis: Through it All

Senior Capstone Courses

480: Senior Studio Seminar

490: Thesis in Art Studio

498: Honors Thesis

New York City Field Trip

The senior capstone experience includes a faculty-led field trip to New York City. By visiting galleries and museums in a globally-significant center for art, students are able to position their endeavors within a cultural and historic framework.

Past trips have included visits to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Guggenheim, The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA PS1, The Neue Galerie, Dia: Beacon, Pace Prints, Postmasters Gallery, the Drawing Center, and The Center for Book Arts.