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Department Office: 5306 Boylan Hall
Phone: 718.951.5181

Full-Time Faculty

Distinguished Professor(s): Cronin
Professor(s): Ball, Carlile, Hadler, Kiel, Kousser, McCoy, Rand
Associate Professor(s): Adams, Otitigbe, Richards
Assistant Professor(s): Schwab
Lecturer(s): Simon

The Brooklyn College Art Department, located in one of the world's most important art centers, draws on a vast community of distinguished and diverse artists and art historians for its faculty and for the many visiting artists, art historians, critics, and curators who supplement our programs. Some of the most famous artists of the last eighty years have taught or lectured in the department. Our students also benefit from class visits to New York City's great museums and noted art galleries.

The department offers a bachelor of arts degree in studio art and in art history, a bachelor of fine arts in studio art, minors in art history and studio art, and a concentration for education majors in the following programs: early childhood education teacher (birth-grade 2); childhood education teacher (grades 1-6).

Art and art history teach visual literacy - how to use form expressively, understand the meanings of images, and articulate ideas in both visual and verbal language - preparing students not only for professional careers in art and art history but for a world where communication is increasingly conducted by visual means.

B.A. and B.F.A. students concentrate in their chosen area but take other courses in both studio art and art history. Art history classes cover periods from ancient to contemporary in both western and non-western art. Studio art classes include basic design, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, digital art, and combined media. The studio program has a fine arts rather than a commercial orientation and seeks a balance between the traditional and the new in faculty appointments and course content.

The studios, workrooms, shops, and state-of-the-art digital laboratories are usually available to students when not in use for class. The department features the Meier Bernstein Art Library, which offers print and digital materials. There is an attractive skylit project space for displaying student work.

Many of our graduates teach art history or art in schools and universities. Studio art students have become successful fine artists, commercial artists, illustrators, computer graphics designers, architects, art directors, cartoonists, fashion designers, art restorers, and art therapists. Art history students have pursued careers as professional art historians, art critics, museums curators, art writers, art editors and publishers, gallery managers, and art librarians and archivists, or have worked with other art-related organizations.

Many of our graduates have gone on to earn master's and doctoral degrees from leading universities. The department offers information on graduate school admissions and career, job, and internship opportunities in the area's myriad art institutions. Students who wish to pursue graduate studies may apply to the master's and doctoral degree programs offered by or in conjunction with this department.

Recommendation for prospective graduate students

Prospective graduate students interested in art history should consult the deputy chairperson for graduate art history and prospective graduate students interested in studio art should consult the deputy chairperson for graduate studio art.

Graduate Studies

The Art Department offers the following graduate programs: M.F.A. in art and M.A. in education: art teacher (all grades). For information about graduate study in art history within CUNY, including M.A., and doctoral programs, students should consult the art history adviser. For information about the studio art and teacher education programs, students should consult the deputy chairperson for graduate studio art. A Graduate Bulletin is available on the college's website.

Departmental Policies

  • The department chairperson or designee may allow substitutions consistent with the educational goals of the program for one or more requirements in any concentration.

    • Art BA

    • Art BFA

    • Art History BA

    • Graphic Design Minor

    • Museums and Cultural Organizations Minor

Courses

Independent work means not less than three additional hours each week of conference, research, independent reading, and writing as assigned by the instructor. The student’s grade is determined in part by the successful completion of this independent work.

The following inactive course(s) will only be offered if there is sufficient demand:

  • ARTD. 1050 Masterpieces of Western Art

  • ARTD. 1150 Masterpieces of Non-Western Art

  • ARTD. 2801 Visual Communication I

  • ARTD. 3157 American Art from the Colonial Period through the Civil War