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At Birmingham-Southern, we help you find your artistic voice by creating and studying art. The Department of Art and Art History offers multiple paths of study to prepare each student for a career in visual art. Our studio classes allow students to explore different periods of art, create and write about their own work, develop an in-depth portfolio, and display their work.
Studio art students will choose a concentration in drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, or sculpture. Our faculty, working artists with deep roots in the community, have had their work featured in exhibitions around the world. As they teach important concepts, they are also prepared to offer perspective on life as an artist.
Interested? Fill out the form to the right and an admissions representative will follow up with you to start your Hilltop journey.
Chart your course with BSC Art!
Why study Art at BSC?
- Gallery space. Housed in the Kennedy Art Center, the Durbin Gallery provides BSC students, faculty, and the Birmingham community with an outstanding space for visiting, faculty, and student exhibitions. Various traveling exhibitions throughout the year highlight works of regionally and nationally recognized artists working in a wide variety of media.
- Local art scene. In addition to the Birmingham Museum of Art, which has one of the finest collections in the Southeast, Birmingham is also home to excellent local artists and galleries. Faculty have strong relationships with these galleries, giving students access to permanent collections, special exhibits, and presentations by artists, critics, and scholars.
- Student-led projects. Art majors have opportunities throughout the year to display their work and work collaboratively. The Art Student League, a student organization open to all student artists, is active on campus through different student-directed exhibitions and projects, including the Ginkgo mural near the Residential Quad.
- Adventurous learning. During Exploration Term, students can take the month of January to deepen their skills, whether they spend the term working on a creative project, traveling internationally, pursuing an internship, or taking a course that looks at art in a whole new way. Some past studio art E-Term topics include cell phone photography, crafting toys, and artist books.
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Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the studio art major, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and conceptual understanding of the visual arts
- Apply knowledge of the visual arts creatively
- Communicate visually
- Develop an analytical and interpretative approach to the visual arts
- Solve problems and make decisions relevant to the visual arts
Upon completion of the art history major, students will be able to:
- Utilize art historical terminology and techniques
- Analyze artworks within a social-historical context
- Explain theoretical models and practical research methodologies in the discipline
- Demonstrate written and oral communication skills
Junior art majors participate in the junior studio course, in which they explore themes in contemporary art, develop in-depth ideas, and refine their artist statements. During their senior year, majors work on their portfolio, culminating in a senior thesis and exhibition in the Durbin Gallery.
Our students have gone on to success in many different fields, becoming working artists as well as graphic designers, commercial illustrators, interior designers, museum/gallery curators, college professors, staff experts at art auction houses, art conservationists, gallery owners, art buyers, attorneys practicing image copyright law, physicians, art therapists, teachers, and seminarians.
Many students have also attended prestigious graduate programs at universities around the country, including the Maryland Institute College of Art, Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture, Auburn University’s School of Architecture, Cranbrook Academy of Art, and New York Academy of Art.
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Degrees Offered
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
The BFA degree involves a course of study emphasizing extensive professional preparation in studio art. Coursework will provide the foundation necessary for students interested in the serious pursuit of studio art production and art-related fields of employment. The BFA is also the degree for students interested in pursuing post-graduate study leading to the terminal degree (MFA) in studio art.Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Studio Art
This degree involves a strong concentration in studio art and art history but allows for a broader spread of coursework in disciplines outside the field of art. Studio art majors who wish to teach at the elementary or secondary school level can easily pair their coursework with degree programs in education.Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Art History
This degree involves a course of study emphasizing extensive professional preparation in the field of art history. Coursework will provide the foundation for students interested in the serious pursuit of art history and art historical fields of employment such as art conservation and curatorial positions within museums and galleries. This BA is also the degree for students interested in post-graduate study leading to the terminal degree (Ph.D.) in art history.Find more specific course details in the course catalog.
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The Durbin Gallery and Calendar
Housed in the Kennedy Art Center, the Durbin Gallery displays visiting, faculty, and student exhibitions throughout the year. All shows are free and open to the public. Regular exhibitions include the work of art faculty, the Biennial Southeastern High School Art Competition, the BFA senior exhibition, and a Juried Student Exhibition open to all students.
Find more information about BSC’s Visual and Performing Arts season schedule as well as the BSC Art Alliance here.
Gallery Hours:
8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Friday
2022-2023 Exhibits
Sarah Ellis – Salad Days
Friday, September 2nd – Thursday, September 29th
Opening Reception: Friday, September 2nd | 6:00-8:00 PM
Artist’s Talk: Thursday, September 22nd | 11:00 AM-12:00 PM | Art Lecture room 12
Julie St. John – Christian Strevy – Art Exhibition
Friday, October 14th – Thursday, October 27th
Opening Reception: Friday, October 14th | 6:00-8:00 PM
Will Fenn – Art Exhibition
Friday, November 4th – Tuesday, November 29nd
Opening Reception: Friday, November 4th | 5:00-8:00 PM
Artist’s Talk: Tuesday, November 15th | 11:00 AM-12:00 PM | Art Lecture room 12
The exhibition coincides with the Sloss Furnace Iron Pour, sponsored by the Art Student League
Pam Venz – Art Exhibition
Friday, February 3rd – Thursday, March 16th
Opening Reception: Friday, February 3rd | 6:00-8:00
Provost Forum: Tuesday, February 21st | 11:00 AM-12:00 PM | Norton Theatre
2022 Bachelor of Fine Art Exhibition
Friday, March 31st – Thursday, April 14th
Opening Reception: Friday, March 31st | 6:00-8:00 PM
The 2023 Bachelor of Fine Arts degree candidates of Birmingham-Southern College exhibit their current senior work.
Juried Student Exhibition
Monday, May 1st – Monday, May 8th
Sponsored by the Art Student League
Awards Presentation on Honors Day: Thursday, May 4th | 9:00 AM
All exhibits are in the Durbin Gallery of the Doris Wainwright Kennedy Art Center & Azar Studios. Exhibition hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM until 4:45 PM.
Opening receptions and artist lectures are free and open to the public.
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Scholarships
Every year, the Art and Art History Department participates in BSC’s Visual and Performing Arts Scholarship Day, at which prospective students compete for the various departmental financial awards.
Studio art scholarships are awarded on the basis of a portfolio and an interview with each candidate. Portfolios should be brought to the Doris Wainwright Kennedy Art Center on the day of the competition. The portfolio should contain only two-dimensional work and should be no large than 30 inches on either side. Three-dimensional work and large work should be presented as digital or printed photographs.
The portfolio should include:
- Short-written artist statement
- Still life drawing in line
- Still life drawing in value
- Still life in color
- Perspective from life, not from a photograph
- Portrait or self-portrait in graphite from life, not from a photograph
- Hand or foot from life, not from a photograph
In addition to the required basic drawings, please include sketchbooks and/or examples of work done in disciplines other than drawing (such as painting, prints, photographs, sculpture, etc.)
Art history scholarships are awarded on the basis of a writing sample and an interview with each candidate. The writing sample should be a one- to two-page visual analysis of artwork of the student's choosing and should include a scanned or photocopied reproduction of the artwork analyzed. Writing samples should be brought to the Doris Wainwright Kennedy Art Center on the day of the competition.
Find more information about the Visual and Performing Arts Scholarship Day here.
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Faculty and Staff
Steve Cole, Professor of Art
Email: [email protected]Steve Cole teaches drawing, painting, and senior studio courses at BSC. His artist statement includes: “A work of art completes itself when the viewer is an active participant. My hope is that the audience of my work will interact on several levels. My intention is to connect ideally with our primal need for play.”
Elena Masrour Visiting Assistant Lecturer of Art
Email: [email protected]Jim Neel ’71, Professor of Art
Email: [email protected]Jim Neel's sculptures, drawings, and photography have appeared in regional and national exhibitions at galleries and universities across the country. His work as a freelance photojournalist covering the wars in Central America and life and death among the Serpent Handling Holiness of Appalachia has appeared nationally and internationally in over thirty newspapers, magazines, and hardcover publications.
Johnny Goodwin, Adjunct Professor of Art
Email: [email protected]Judy E. Pandelis, BSC Arts Alliance Coordinator/Manager of the College Theatre Box Office/Administrative Assistant for the Departments of Art & Art History, Music, & Theatre and the Dance Program
Email:[email protected]Linda Pierini, Adjunct Professor of Art History
Email: [email protected]
Linda Pierini is a specialist in Asian Art History with an interest in Nineteenth-Century European Art. Her research has focused on objects of worship based on the "Lotus Sutra". She currently teaches art surveys and Asian Art.Kevin Shook, Professor of Art
Department of Art and Art History Chair
Email: [email protected]
Website: kevinshook.comAs the printmaking area coordinator for BSC, Kevin Shook teaches foundation art courses and all levels of printmaking. His artwork investigates the perception of a reality that is filtered through media. Images are assembled through a range of print media and installations inviting the audience to investigate the connections of the subjects. The viewer’s participation in this visual dialog completes the work.
Dr. Kathleen Spies, Professor of Art History
Email: [email protected]Kathleen Spies is a specialist in American art from 1850-1950 and teaches upper-level courses in 19th and 20th-century European and American art, as well as art surveys. She is particularly interested in issues of gender, race, class, and nationality, and how “high” art interacts with popular culture. She has published Thomas Eakins's portraits and nervous illness in the 19th century as well as the burlesque paintings and prints of urban realist Reginald Marsh.
Jürgen Tarrasch, Assistant Lecturer of Art
Email: [email protected]
Website: jurgentarrasch.comJürgen Tarrasch teaches painting at BSC. His artist statement includes: “I often think about what I visualize in my mind and what I reflect back in the form of my artwork. For me, nature – universally present – is the archetype and the vehicle through which I interpret my ideas… It is the pattern of repetitive images, placed at different angles next to each other, and in different sizes and colors, that gives a sense of movement in my work.”