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Department of Art
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Art at MSU Denver
"The goal of my work is knowledge. I do not see life and art as separate.”
Howardena Pindell
The Department of Art at Metropolitan State University of Denver is a vibrant, diverse environment full of options for students interested in pursuing a degree in a creative field. Whether you are interested in being a professional artist, designer, educator or researcher, you will learn traditional methods of art production and research as well as innovative approaches to art and design.
Art students are analytical, critical thinkers who use their creativity daily. They work independently and collaboratively to develop thoughtful responses to the world around them, and emerge as artists, designers, educators and scholars.
The Auraria Campus is a stone’s throw from the heart of downtown Denver’s art museums and Performing Arts Center, the Santa Fe Art District and MSU Denver’s Center for Visual Art, so students are tapped into Denver’s creative economy. Our graduates have become curators, archivists, art installers and entrepreneurs, and have gone on to graduate schools at Virginia Commonwealth University, Columbia University, Goldsmith’s University, London and more.
No matter what your ultimate career goals are, the degrees in the Department of Art at MSU Denver offer you the flexibility of diverse options so you train to become an innovative creative professional. And MSU Denver is the most affordable four-year university in Colorado, so you won’t be burdened under a mound of debt.
VISITING ARTIST SCHOLAR AND DESIGNER PROGRAM
VIRTUAL ARTIST LECTURE SERIES | MIKE CALWAY-FAGEN
Mike Calway-Fagen - Wednesday October 21, 2020 at 5PM Mike Calway-Fagen is a multi-media artist, writer, and the curator/director of Stove Works, a contemporary gallery and artist residency in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Calway-Fagen aims to traverse the traditional barrier between artwork and viewer in order to explore nebulous networks of subjectivity. Through collage, installation, and video, he invites the viewer to experience with him the act of questioning the relationship between the known and the unknown, the imagined and the remembered. Calway-Fagen received an MFA from the University of California, San Diego, and in addition to exhibiting work across North America has curated exhibitions that explore the nuances of perception and experience including Land and Sea, a joint project between Stove Works and the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, and Blue in the Face at Gallery Protocol in Gainesville, Florida. Join Live Event
ALUMNI FOCUS
MATTHEW MATSUSHITA | BFA, COMMUNICATION DESIGN | CLASS OF '20
Congratulations to Michael Matsushita (BFA Communication Design, Spring 2020) for gaining acceptance into Logo Lounge Book 12. Over 40,000 logos were submitted globally with 3,000 gaining acceptance. Logo Lounge is one of the most prestigious identity design competitions in the industry and Logo Lounge Book 12 being the largest design volume yet to date.
STUDENT FOCUS
ALYSSA MORA WINS INVOLVEMENT & LEADERSHIP AWARD
Congratulations to Alyssa Mora, one of two MSU Denver students awarded "Outstanding Student Organization Member," given to individuals who demonstrate special commitment and leadership to an organization. These annual awards celebrate people who contributed to the campus community through Student Organizations, Fraternity & Sorority Life, Intercollegiate Athletics, Student Employment, and Overall Leadership. Her work as student club president with Future Leaders of Design (FLoD), the MSU Denver chapter of American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), "aided the [FLoD] to construct a very solid level of professionalism and growth under her leadership." Read more about Alyssa and the other 2020 Involvement and Leadership Award recipients here...
BA SYMPOSIUM
ART GRADUATES SHOWCASE THEIR WORK IN ONLINE SYMPOSIUM
Typically, Metropolitan State University of Denver Department of Art students cap their senior experience course with a dynamic, art-filled symposium at the Center for Visual Art. Graduating seniors present their work and research, engage with attendees and celebrate their growth and achievement. As with many things, however, the COVID-19 pandemic upended that tradition.
Instead, the Bachelor of Arts graduates — together with Matthew Jenkins, associate professor, Art — developed an online symposium to showcase their work. The site features the work of 19 students; 12 are graduates of the Art program, and five are graduates in Art History, Theory and Criticism. This year, their research spans the globe, exploring the art of ancient Egypt, Rome and Peru, and modern societal issues — including the pandemic and mental health — inspired original works.
Check out the list of participating seniors' names, project titles, and concepts here in the Early Bird, and then view the Spring 2020 Online Symposium here.
BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS THESIS EXHIBITION ONLINE
MAY 1 - OCTOBER 31, 2020
Students preparing to graduate from Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Art program are adapting their Spring 2020 Bachelor of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition for online delivery. The events are typically hosted by the Center for Visual Art but will now be displayed virtually due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19.
The 35 artists graduating from the Studio Art and Communication Design programs will present their work in a shared online exhibition running May 1-Oct. 31. While social distancing and safety measures have forced the closure of the CVA and other art venues, graduates are staying positive and excited to share their work with the community. This dynamic shared exhibition of eclectic artworks offers a chance to see some of MSU Denver’s brightest emerging artists and designers.
Their work focuses on topics such as identity, cultural conflicts, the intangibility of trauma, recovery and the immersion of the sublime. Works include ceramics, communication design, digital media, painting, photography and sculpture. Go to Early Bird article...
FACULTY FOCUS
YUNJIN LA-MEI WOO | STUDIO ART
MSU Denver Department of Art welcomes our newest full-time faculty member! Assistant Professor Yunjin La-mei Woo is a socially-engaged artist and a cultural-studies researcher. Born as the granddaughter of a Korean shaman, her artistic practice is informed by her research on various notions of humanness and how such notions intersect with issues of power, gender, class, and ethnicity. Her creative work ranges widely from installation to video, performance, sculpture, writing, and participatory projects. Woo has exhibited, published, and presented her creative work and research in various venues both internationally and nationally. She earned her BFA and MFA from Seoul National University, South Korea, and is currently working on her PhD dissertation in Communication and Culture at Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. You can find more about the material structures that Yunjin has built here.
DEPARTMENT COLLABORATION
WORKING TOGETHER IN CREATIVE WAYS
MSU Denver Communication Design students gave the Department of Nursing a dose of artistic inspiration, in the form of a mural designed to capture Nursing’s importance and contributions of superior education for students. Read more about the recent collaboration and design contest in the Early Bird.
Career Prospects
HERE'S WHERE AN ART DEGREE FROM MSU DENVER MIGHT TAKE YOU
Here's where an Art Degree from MSU Denver might take you:
- Commercial Design and Graphics
- Environmental Design and Architecture
- Education
- Business
- Crafts
Fine arts all offer an array of possibilities for art graduates. Graphic designer, museum curator, art teacher, jewelry designer, photographer, illustrator, and many, many more.
According to the most recent Scientific & Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) Economic Activity Study, which collects data from the nonprofit organizations that receive funds from the SCFD in the seven-county Metro Denver area, “Employment in the arts reached an all-time high in 2017, with 11,820 jobs, an increase of 10% over 2015.”
DATA AND INSIGHTS
ARTS GRADUATES ACROSS DISCIPLINES
The idea of working across artistic disciplines is far from new, but evidence suggests that such crossover is becoming an increasingly important part of artistic careers. This DataBrief detailing the under-acknowledged prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of multi-disciplinary arts practice, from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), provides arts educators and arts policymakers with highlights of SNAAP data and insights into the value of arts-school education: Arts Graduates 'Oscillate Wildly' Across Disciplines (SNAAP DataBrief)
OUR PROGRAM OPTIONS
Email:
Phone:
303-615-0300
Office Location:
Arts Building, Suite 187
Auraria Campus
Accreditation
The Department of Art at MSU Denver is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art & Design.