Why Art at E&H?

Nationally recognized art faculty + guest artists + great facilities + community = opportunities, experiences and connections for you to navigate the multi-billion dollar creative economy. We welcome you into our relevant project-based program designed to immerse you in an meaningful and personalized visual arts & design program. 

Students attending the study abroad class in Italy. Art & Design combined with the Liberal Arts is an education for your lifetime.

We extend out into the world with the longest-running study abroad program in the college, ART 322 Italian Art. E&H students study in Rome, Florence, Pompeii and Siena,  Italy.

Our partnership with the William King Museum of Art (AAM accredited) provides internships in education, curation, graphic design/marketing and exhibition design. Our museum studies course and professional gallery experiences at the McGlothlin Center for the Arts gives you real-world work while you are at Emory & Henry - MCA Art Gallery.

By the time you reach your final year, you will make a distinctive professional, one-person gallery exhibition of your work. 

View the most current student exhibition work here.

World of Work

  • <h4 class="lw_blurbs_title"></h4><div class="lw_blurbs_body"><ul><li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our <strong>Art:Teacher Preparation</strong> Program, offered in concert with the Neff Center for Education places students in art teaching careers not only throughout Southwest Virginia but also states as far ranging as Florida and Hawaii!  Placement rate - 100% for the past 15 years. </span></li><li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">We strongly encourage <strong>internships</strong> that provide real professional development in all areas of art including exhibition design, museum curation, museum installation, graphic design, and commercial printing.</span></li><li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The <strong>Art: Graphic Design</strong> degree with a minor in Visual Communications is a dynamic interdisciplinary underpinning for that prepares students for long-lasting careers in a variety of corporations and non-profits. </span></li><li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emory & Henry Art Students connect with professional visual artists and the regional creative economy through our unique <strong>Partnership with the William King Museum of Art. </strong></span></li><li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Professional Interaction and on-site preparation in <strong>Gallery Management</strong> at the McGlothlin Center for the Arts Gallery. Under the direction of seasoned curators, students work directly with nationally acclaimed visiting artists. Students engage in practical skills that prepare them for future work in museums. </span></li><li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><strong>Put it Together - </strong>and be <strong>interdisciplinary</strong>….Examples: a graduate who majored in Art and minored in Environmental Studies = a career in the National Park Service illustrating and designing interpretive signage and delivering programing to visitors, a studio art major in drawing/painting/printmaking who also minored in psychology = an art therapist in a major city, a studio art major + English = an MFA in illustration and a career with two books published. </li></ul></div>

Handcraft this Major

  • <h4 class="lw_blurbs_title"></h4><div class="lw_blurbs_body"><p>  </p><ul><li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Combine museum studies, MCA Gallery experience and an internship at the nationally accredited William King Museum to prepare for careers in the museum world.</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tailor your senior capstone exhibition to your unique interests</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Customize your major to pursue digital illustration, graphic design, art history, drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, sculpture, and art education.</span></li></ul></div>