Visual Arts

Architectural Studies: Major, Minor
Art History: Major, Minor
Museum Studies: 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 — consisting of art history, studio art, and architectural studies — features 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.

Engaged Learning Beyond the Classroom
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 architectural studies, 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

Assistant professor Amy Finstein
How will COVID-19 reshape New York City’s streets? A Holy Cross professor examines the history
The coronavirus pandemic is likely to have long-lasting effects on aspects of society far beyond what we typically think of as public health, are New York City’s streets and sidewalks one of them? In a piece for The Conversation, Amy …
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Holy Cross’ Montserrat Program Teaches Lessons That Resonate During Coronavirus

As students across the country transitioned to remote learning in March in the wake of coronavirus, communities of learning had to start thinking about creative approaches to education outside of the classroom. For Holy Cross' Montserrat program, however, learning that transcends the typical classroom had been part of the experience from day one...

"Eddie" by Emma Waligory, acrylic paint, glass mosaic tiles, plastic buttons on canvas, 36 x 40 inches, 2020
Holy Cross’ 2020 Senior Art Exhibition ‘Énouement’ Moves to Online Format Due to COVID-19
The College of the Holy Cross is presenting “Énouement,” an exhibition of the work of nine graduating senior art majors from the Concentration Seminar offered by the Department of Visual Arts, Studio Division. In conjunction with the Iris and B. …