Welcome to the School of Art and Visual Studies

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 School of Art and Visual Studies offers a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Art Education. We provide in-service training, professional development, and consultation services to the schools of Fayette County and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.   
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.
What is creative curation? The M.F.A. in Curatorial Studies prepares students for careers in that expanded field. As the first three-year hybrid M.F.A. 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
  • Sep 29 - Oct 28 2023

    Still
    Sept. 29 - Oct. 28

    Opening Reception: Friday, Sept. 29, 5-7pm
    Artists Panel with Tharsing & Larusso: Friday, Oct. 13, noon-1pm

    During the last three years,…

    Bolivar Art Gallery
  • Sep 29 - Oct 28 2023

    Disordered Creatures
    Sept 29 – Oct 28 

    Opening Reception: Friday, Sept. 29, 5 – 7pm 
    Artist Panel with Crimson Duvall, Laurie Hogin, and Kelli Scott Kelley: Friday,…

    Bolivar Art Gallery
  • Sep 29 2023 | 5 - 7pm

    Disordered Creatures
    Sept 29 – Oct 28 

    From Surrealist artists utilizing "exquisite corpses" to address the unconscious effects of post-war trauma to present-day artists who use…

    Bolivar Art Gallery
  • Oct 5 2023 | 2 - 3pm

    Humanity in Deep Space

    An Anthropologist in Outer Space

    Human space exploration and colonization continues to present unique challenges with each new venture. Some of these…

    Bolivar Art Gallery
  • Oct 6 2023 | 12 - 1pm

    Visiting Artist and Scholar Series

    Time McClendon is an international Artist and Jewelry Designer. His studio and gallery is located in Canoga Park, California. Time is a graduate of the…

    Art & Visual Studies Building
    Art and Visual Studies Building Room 136
  • Oct 13 2023 | 12 - 1pm

    Still
    Artists Panel moderated by Josh Porter with Lina Tharsing & Lori Larusso

    During the last three years, our homes have represented our refuge and fortress. They have…

    Bolivar Art Gallery
  • Oct 19 2023 | 12:30 - 1:30pm

    Visiting Artist and Scholar Series

    Pete Lee grew up in Taiwan during the golden era of Asian cinema. But, due to his strict religious upbringing, secular culture was banished from his…

    Art & Visual Studies Building
    Art and Visual Studies Building Room 222
  • Nov 1 2023 | 10:30 - 11:30am

    Visiting Artist and Scholar Series

    Through the breakdown and rebuilding of the in between, my work mimics the everyday navigation of these realms. Temporary moments of clarity come…

    Art & Visual Studies Building
    Art and Visual Studies Building Room 222
  • Nov 2 - 11 2023

    Join us to celebrate the work of our BFA students. More details to come.

    Bolivar Art Gallery
  • Nov 13 2023 | 5 - 6pm

    Visiting Artist and Scholar Series

    Paulina’s research investigates the dynamics of collectivity as a conduit through which we can better understand the generative possibilities and…

    Bolivar Art Gallery
Created 08/10/2021
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Last Updated 08/15/2023