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Occidental (ºù«Ӱҵ) students using a large format film camera

Art & Art History

At Occidental, the Art & Art History undergraduate program helps you understand how visual culture shapes the way people see themselves and the world. It blends artistic practice, critical thinking, and hands-on work with Los Angeles arts institutions on the Occidental campus and beyond.

Earn Your Art & Art History Degree from ºù«Ӱҵ

As an Art & Art History major at Occidental, you’ll explore how images, objects, and spaces communicate across cultures and histories. Study painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, and visual media while developing core skills in close looking, creative problem solving, and visual analysis. ºù«Ӱҵ’s faculty are practicing artists, curators, and scholars who will help you connect what you learn in class to galleries, museums, and arts organizations throughout Los Angeles.

The ºù«Ӱҵ Art & Art History department offers two paths of study: Studio Art and Art History. You will build a strong foundation in visual literacy, research, and writing, and have opportunities to exhibit your work, pursue internships, and apply for grants that support ambitious projects. By the time you graduate, you will be prepared for creative and cultural careers in fields such as the arts, design, architecture, museums, media, and graduate study.

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15
studio art classes capped at 15 students
25
art history median class size

What You’ll Learn as an Art & Art History Major at Occidental

Occidental (ºù«Ӱҵ) students gesturing and admiring a painting

Seeing, making, and interpreting visual culture

The Occidental Art & Art History undergraduate program integrates studio practice with critical study of global visual culture. You’ll learn to analyze artworks in context, experiment with materials and techniques, and communicate your ideas clearly in writing and through your creative work.

Explore Courses & Requirements

You can focus your Art & Art History major at Occidental in Studio Art or Art History. Studio Art emphasizes creating work in media such as painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, installation, and interdisciplinary practices. Art History focuses on research, writing, and visual analysis across time and place, considering Asian, European, American, Latinx, and Pacific Rim art and visual culture and architecture. The Studio Art and Art History curricula are entwined, with art-making workshops in art history classes, and critical writing and curatorial opportunities across the studio curriculum. 

Art & art history majors at Occidental regularly work with faculty on research and creative projects. You can exhibit in ºù«Ӱҵ’s galleries, collaborate with a , design art-making and research projects for the Summer Research Program, pursue internships at institutions like LACMA, MOCA, or the Getty, and apply for grants to support independent work, international research, or community-based projects.

At ºù«Ӱҵ, we want to make things possible, and the facilities adapt to the students’ needs and interests. Our studio classrooms include a state-of-the-art darkroom; a digital lab; a printmaking studio with etching, relief, and screenprint facilities; a painting and drawing studio; and a sculpture studio with ceramic, textiles, metal casting, welding, and woodworking equipment.

Art History students regularly engage with LA arts organizations and art collections such as MOCA, LACMA, The Huntington, ICA-LA, the Norton Simon Museum, and the Getty in their coursework and through internships. Studio Art students exhibit their senior comps projects at the , giving the students the opportunity to exhibit their work in a world-class space. 

For students interested in pursuing art and architectural history, the R. Winter Art History & Architecture Fund provides $6,000 study awards for students to conduct 10 weeks of faculty-mentored research.

The Art & Art History faculty and staff work collaboratively with each other and with our students. The relationship between the faculty and students is one of mentorship, with a deep commitment to student success and excellence. We regularly meet for trips to art fairs and art galleries as a department, which fosters an atmosphere of community. Additionally, Art History students regularly visit the art studios for workshops to try their hand at making the type of objects they are studying.

Art & Art History connects naturally with other ºù«Ӱҵ majors such as Media Arts & Culture (MAC), computer science, Critical Theory & Social Justice, history, psychology, English, and American Studies. Pairing your Art & Art History major with another field allows you to explore visual culture in relation to politics, identity, technology, and social change.

When I arrived at ºù«Ӱҵ, I felt really engaged by the variety of ways that each professor in the department shaped my knowledge about the subject. And I felt compelled by discussions surrounding contemporary art that redefined what I had initially considered art and art history.

Mckenzie Locke
Art History major; Los Angeles, CA
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Courses You Might Take

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A group walking towards the Broad Museum in downtown Los Angeles

Learning Art & Art History in LA

As an Art & Art History Major at Occidental, you’ll study in the heart of Los Angeles, one of the world’s most active and diverse art scenes. You will learn in the classroom and on-site at museums, galleries, archives, art fairs, and studios, building relationships and experience that support your creative work and career goals.

What Our Graduates Are Doing

Master’s, Curatorial Practices, USC

Alex Kawawaki
2023

Artist; Associate Teacher, The Packer Collegiate Institute

Madeline Giles
2022

Book Binder, Grossenbacher Inc

Emma Rose Shaffer
2021

Workplace Planning Consultant, Fidelity Investments

Brenden William Ocasio
2021

MFA, Painting, Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art

Ellery Thompson
2021

Digital Marketing Associate, Dwell magazine

Ian Matthew Zunt
2020

Specialist & Head of Sale, Post-War & Contemporary Art, Bonhams

Isabel Norsten
2020

JD candidate, Tulane University Law School

Caroline Ann Silverstein
2019

M. Arch, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture

Khloe Swanson
2018

Meet Our Faculty

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FAQs

The program combines close mentorship, rigorous studio and research training, and direct engagement with Los Angeles museums, galleries, and arts institutions.

Yes. Students exhibit their work, curate shows, complete independent studies, and present research at conferences, often with support from departmental and college grants.

Yes. Many Art & Art History majors at Occidental study abroad in cities such as Paris, Tokyo, Rome, Athens, Accra, Bedulu, and others, deepening their understanding of global art and architecture. Art History faculty teach faculty-led study abroad courses that couple on-campus coursework with class trips abroad.

Absolutely. Students often pair Art & Art History with fields like Media Arts & Culture, Critical Theory & Social Justice, history, religious studies, biology, or languages to broaden their academic and career paths.

Graduates work as artists, designers, curators, museum professionals, educators, arts administrators, and creative leaders in sectors such as tech, architecture, landscape architecture, media, and nonprofits, often continuing to top graduate programs.

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Contact Art & Art History
Weingart 113
Phone: (323) 259-2749