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

Elizabeth Landis, Matthew Gamber, Selina Gallo-Cruz, Alvaro Jarrin, Geoffrey Findlay, Daniel DiCenso, Shannon Stock, Ji Hao, and Denis Kennedy stand together in front of a fountain
Ten Faculty Members Receive Tenure in 2019
From researching fruit flies to reimagining the first commercially successful color film, College of the Holy Cross faculty members are making massive contributions to their fields — and to their classrooms. Hear a bit more from the 10 newly tenured …
Mary Beth Sheridan '83, Arthur Weyman '62, Barbara Tylenda '79, Richard Leon '71 and Gus Caffrey '73 stand at the entrance of St. Joseph Memorial Chapel.
Five Outstanding Alumni Receive Sanctae Crucis Awards
They graduated years apart, yet each embraces the Jesuit magis, a calling to “be more” that has fueled Holy Cross men and women throughout the decades and around the world. Determined to live lives of purpose and impact, these alumni …
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‘Summa’ Exhibition Showcases Work of Visual Arts Faculty
Scattered across a table built using the golden ratio were a series of small-scale hybrid sculptures created by Associate Professor Michael Beatty. His work, a mix of handmade and digitally printed forms, was among the artwork featured in “Summa,” an …