Welcome to the School of Art and Visual Studies

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At SA/VS, we believe that a creative life is an extraordinary life. We’re a home for inspired creatives, educators, and visual scholars who make creativity central to their experience.  Every day, SA/VS is alive with activity: Sculpture students critique large metal installations in the atrium while students in a Fiber class quilt outside in the sun. A Performance Art class explores ideas for costuming and public interaction while a Graphic Design class displays typographic posters. Students install an exhibition in the Bolivar Art Gallery, in the seminar room, students interpret cultures past and present through their visual arts, and upstairs, students in Printmedia create zines by layering ink with a Risograph. From guerilla art, digital illustration, and 3D-printing to painting, animation, and still-life drawing, whatever creative opportunity you’re looking for, it’s happening here!

Explore Our Programs
Being an art educator is wonderful combination of personal creative practice and contributions to future generations. If you are excited about making art, then you can excite and encourage others to experiment and experience the joy of being an artist. 
Art History & Visual Studies (AVHS) majors are trained to develop astute observational tools that help them better analyze our image-rich world.
Where will creativity take you?
Why Limit Yourself?  When you pursue a Digital Media Design degree at U.K., you can shape your curriculum to suit your career goals!
The Master of Arts (MA) in Art Education cultivates a community of artist-researcher-teachers who ask critical questions and propose innovative solutions to issues within the field of art education.
The Master of Arts in Art History & Visual Studies prepares students with the course work, language skills, and research experience needed for further graduate study or work in a museum or educational setting.
A studio art degree prepares you for the creative life you plan to live and opens the door to an inventive career full of exploration, critical thinking, and a practice based in hands-on making.
The MFA in Curatorial Studies prepares students for careers in the expanded field of creative curation. As the first three-year hybrid MFA in Curatorial Studies in the United States, this practice-based terminal degree uniquely equips graduates for positions in a wide variety of arts and cultural organizations, as well as teaching positions at the college level.
Upcoming Events
  • Aug 15 - Oct 23 2024
    From buttons and t-shirts to leather and lace, clothing acts as a way for the LGBTQ+ community to express themselves and their queerness. One’s fashion choices can affirm identity and critique the…
    Gatton Student Center
  • Oct 3 - 31 2024
    Curatorial Studies MFA 2nd Year ProjectsOctober 3 - 31Featured in the front gallery of the Bolivar Art Gallery Reception: Oct. 3, 5-7pmPanel discussion: Oct. 25, noon…
    Bolivar Art Gallery
  • Oct 3 - 31 2024
    THIS EXHIBIT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO FLOODING IN THE ARTISTS' COMMUNITIES.Curatorial Studies MFA 2nd Year ProjectsOctober 3 - 31Featured in the back gallery of the Bolivar Art Gallery …
    Bolivar Art Gallery
  • Oct 15 2024 | 6:30pm
    Presented at the historic Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center, Decade (2024) by Paul Rodgers and Meander (2024) by Lexi Bass are two films by University of Kentucky Animation professors that…
    Lyric Theatre
  • Nov 8 - 19 2024
    BA and BFA showsNovember 8 - 19Showcasing work from our BA and BFA students.
    Bolivar Art Gallery
  • Dec 6 - 11 2024
    Carey Ellis and DMDE Senior shows

    Carey Ellis Juror: Travis Townsend

    Travis Townsend draws, builds, rebuilds, paints, and tinkers upon wood and mixed media sculptures in his Lexington studio…

    Bolivar Art Gallery
  • Dec 6 2024 | 5 - 8pm

    Annual Carey Ellis Exhibition opening reception. This year's juror is Travis Townsend.

    Travis Townsend draws, builds, rebuilds, paints, and tinkers upon wood and mixed media sculptures in…

    Bolivar Art Gallery
Created 08/10/2021
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Last Updated 07/17/2024