Department of Art & Art History

Program Highlights

A Year of Accomplishments:

• Hired Visiting Assistant Professor (2017-18)
• Student Learning Fee proposals funded: $93,393!
  • New Drawing Tables for Foundations
  • University Art Gallery student assistantships (ongoing)
  • Visual Resource Center computers
  • Printmaking screen printing tables and drying racks
• New building studios up and running, with lots of problems sorted out after many discussions with FMS, EHS, etc.
• New website design launched
• New Online Art Ed area of concentration approved for Liberal Studies
• Proposal for Interior Design Minor and Digital Illustration Minor approved
• Locker mural project approved
• Sidewalk chalking project approved
• Advancement brought in $225,000 gift for Ceramics
• Hired grant-supported Co-Director for The Northern California Arts Project (NCAP)
• Chico Schoolhouse Art summer printmaking camp (22 kids, June 2017)
• Kids@theTurner celebrates 4^th year of Teaching Internships & free art classes for community youths at the Turner Print Museum, CSU Chico

Narrative of Success: BA Art Option Art Education

Lisa came to CSU Chico as a transfer student from Community College in 2011. She was a BA Studio (Photography) major. Lisa was a shy Chico local, and a single mother. After 2 years at CSUC she decided that she wanted to be a teacher and changed her major to BA Art Education. She served 2 years as an officer of the Art Education student club. She completed three semesters of Museum Art Teaching Internships. She traveled to Irvine, Sacramento and Santa Cruz as a Student Volunteer and Attendee of the annual California Art Education Association conferences. She completed her BA in 2015 and completed her Single Subject Credential in December 2016. In August 2017 she began her new career as a high school art teacher in Fort Bragg, CA teaching photo and yearbook. Her son will graduate high school in spring 2018.

Narrative of Success: BA Art Option Art History

After graduating with a BA from the Department of Art and Art History in 2013, Kayla maintained a connection with the arts through work with local arts non-profits. In 2015, she re-entered the academic world to pursue an MA degree in art history from Indiana University, Bloomington. She held two year-long assistantships and curated an exhibition of leaves from manuscripts and early printed books held by the Eskenazi Museum of Art. She completed her MA in 2017 and has just begun the PhD Art History program at IU, Bloomington. She is currently working with medieval manuscript leaves held by Bloomington's Lilly Library. Kayla writes, "My time in the Department of Art and Art History at CSU, Chico indelibly marked how I approach both my continued academic work and my engagement with the world at large. The faculty in this department taught me the foundations of our field, guided the development of strong critical thinking skills, and pointed me down a path that I have followed far beyond anything I thought possible as a first-generation college student."

Narrative of Success: BA Art Option Studio

Christopher graduated from CSU Chico in 2009 and continued his studies at the very prestigious Haystack School of Crafts in Maine and the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, as well as the Lorenzo De Medici School in Italy and, through an apprenticeship program, studied with Igor Muller in the Czech Republic and with Dale Chihuly in Seattle, Washington. Today, Christopher makes a living as a glass sculptor.

Narrative of Success: BFA Art Studio

Dillon came to CSU Chico as an Art Education major after completing his AA degree in community college. He is a skateboard enthusiast and a fine art printmaker, and his art medium of choice is sewn fabric. Dillon was accepted to the BFA Art Studio program at CSUC. He won a scholarship to travel to Japan to teach an art project of his design. He chose a, "Painted Tote Bag" project. He wrote of this experience, "If there is one thing the people of [this island] are proud of, it's culture." Today, Dillon has a full scholarship to and is beginning his second year in the MFA Art Studio at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He just returned from a grant-sponsored trip to Japan as research for his MFA Thesis project. He writes, "I am an explorer. My skateboard functions as the vehicle for my expeditions and the sidewalk is the conduit I flow through to become immersed in a myriad of urban settings. Experiencing urbanism through this lens is essential to understanding how both my body and the world around me operate and exist together."

Narrative of Success: BFA Interior Architecture

Bryan graduated from the BFA in Interior Architecture in 2012. After, he attended the very prestigious Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and earned a Masters of Architecture degree. He currently lives and works in Southern California. Other notable alumni from the BFA Interior Architecture program have landed jobs at world renown Architectural firms, such as Goldmantis in Shanghai, China, and some hang their shingle here in Chico, and are doing very good business.

Narrative of Success: MA Art History

Rebecca came to CSU Chico as an undergrad graphic art student in the Fall of 2004, but quickly discovered her love for art history. She finished her undergrad degree in art history in the Spring of 2009 then got on a plane 4 days later to teach English in Thailand. After a year out of college, Rebecca applied for the MA art history program at CSU, Chico and was accepted in 2010. While in the MA program Rebecca worked in the Ira Latour Visual Resource Collection as an assistant and also as a TA for many of the art history professors. In her third year of the program, she taught ARTH 110 Caves to Cathedrals. She graduated in 2013. Her thesis paper was about Keith Haring and much of her analysis came from original interviews that she conducted with people across the country who were in NY at the time when Haring was doing the bulk of his public art. In January 2016, she began new, full-time position as the Visual Resource Curator for the Ira Latour VCR within the Department of Art and Art History at CSU Chico.

Narrative of Success: MFA Studio

Megan received an MFA with distinction in 2011. While attending CSU Chico she actively exhibited both locally and nationally, and received several awards and scholarships. She was an instructor of record for printmaking courses. She also worked with the Turner Print Museum, fundraised for the printmaking area, and assisted with visiting artists and specialized workshops on campus. After graduating, Megan was immediately hired to teach and oversee the printmaking area at CSU Humboldt. In Fall 2012, she accepted a full-time position at the University of Southern Alabama to run the printmaking area and coordinate the foundations program. In summer 2014 she relocated to New York City with her new husband. Megan continues to teach online art classes for 3 universities, maintains her studio practice, and has an active national exhibition record. In Summer 2017, her artwork was featured on the cover of Graphic Impressions, the newsletter for the Southern Graphics Council International.

Additional Photos

We are a small but dynamic and prolific department...