Visual Arts

Art History: Major, Minor
Museum Studies: Minor
Architectural Studies: Self-Designed Major, Self-Designed Minor
Studio Art: Major, Minor

The study of the visual arts provides a powerful lens through which you can better see, evaluate and understand the world that surrounds you. 

Encompassing multimedia studio explorations, art historical research, and specialized opportunities in architectural and museum studies, the Department of Visual Arts empowers the broader examination of the liberal arts at the College. You will hone your sensitivity to visual culture and the built environment, refine your skills of visual expression and critical analysis, and engage the surrounding community as points for visual inspiration, reflection, and advocacy.

In the classroom, you will study the rich heritage of global artistic and cultural traditions through specialized lecture and seminar courses. In the studio, you will engage traditional and new methods of art-making, becoming absorbed in the process of creating original work. Outside the College, you will immerse yourself in the architecture, galleries, and museums of Worcester and nearby Boston. The New England region’s rich cultural resources form an integral part of the visual arts curriculum, and will provide you with abundant learning, community engagement, and internship opportunities.

The department — comprised of the divisions of art history and studio art — is composed of a group of highly respected scholars and artists who regularly lecture, publish, exhibit, and curate nationally and internationally. The faculty place great emphasis on student mentoring in the classroom and in the field, facilitating student research projects and exhibitions, and leading excursions to area sites, galleries and museums.

Program Highlights

Art history areas of study include:

  • Introductory
  • Pre-1800
  • Cross-cultural
  • Modern and contemporary
  • Architectural studies
  • Museum studies

Studio art areas of study include:

  • Drawing
  • Painting
  • Photography
  • Printmaking
  • Sculpture
  • Digital media and new media
students in cantor art gallery
Studio Concentration Seminar

Senior studio art majors participate in a yearlong course centered on the development of an individual body of work.

Sun rising over a city
Study Abroad

Study abroad in programs that support both art history and studio art.

group in the worcester art museum looking at art on a wall
Visiting Artists and Excursions

There are frequent visiting artists and lecturers and regular field trips to museums and galleries throughout the region.

Visual Arts News

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Holy Cross Produces Fourteen Fulbright Scholars
Thirteen members of the Class of 2017 and one member of the Class of 2016 have been awarded Fulbright grants to teach and conduct research around the world during the 2017-18 academic year. Since 2005, Holy Cross students have received …
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Seminar Explores Development of Cities in Relation to Nature
Syllabus, a feature in each issue of Holy Cross Magazine, takes readers in to the classroom to see what students are learning about on Mount St. James. Explore one of the College’s Spring 2017 courses below. Course “Making the Modern …
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Holy Cross Academic Conference 2017 to Showcase Student Work
As the academic year nears its end, more than 350 students will present the results of their independent work in the performing and visual arts, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences at the 2017 Academic Conference, taking place across campus …