Chair’s Welcome

Art has a transformative power—it shapes how we feel and engage with the world, making us more attuned to our own humanity and to others. The Department of Art creates a space of rigorous inquiry where students develop this potential through a research-driven curriculum designed to foster creativity and critical thinking. Our students engage in an immersive studio environment that encourages experimentation while examining the evolving role of art in contemporary society.

Through collaborative approaches and interdisciplinary exploration, students work across a range of artistic disciplines in state-of-the-art facilities. We emphasize both individual growth and collective discovery, encouraging students to build meaningful connections across the university and broader communities. The Studio VU Lecture Series, now in its 20th year, brings an annual roster of international visiting artists to engage with our students and faculty. Space 204 Gallery rotates contemporary art exhibitions throughout the year, while our programming welcomes the Nashville community and partners with leading cultural institutions including the Frist Art Museum.

Our students are engaged, thoughtful creators who approach complex issues with curiosity, integrity, and responsibility. They develop the skills to navigate contemporary challenges and contribute meaningfully to the visual arts and beyond. Our instruction emphasizes visual literacy, creative problem-solving, technical proficiency, conceptual thinking, experimental practice, and community engagement. Graduates pursue careers in the creative sector or graduate programs.

During their senior year, art majors have access to private studios that culminates in thesis exhibitions in our galleries. Each October, they travel to New York to visit museums, galleries, and artists’ studios—an experience that expands their perspectives and informs their artistic practice. Additionally, art majors compete annually for the Margaret Stonewall Wooldridge Hamblet Award, which supports travel and research alongside a solo exhibition in 204 Space gallery following graduation.

Department of Art faculty are internationally recognized artists whose research is supported by prestigious grants from the Andrew Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Fulbright, Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and MacArthur Foundation. Their work is exhibited globally in major exhibitions including the Venice Biennale, Istanbul Biennial, Documenta, Havana Biennial, and the Sharjah Biennial, and is collected in leading museums such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, Tate, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the National Gallery of Art. Faculty members’ creative practice directly informs their teaching, fostering critical inquiry and experimentation within a collaborative learning environment.

Department of Art is a home for the Engine for Art, Democracy, and Justice, founded by Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair Professor of Fine Arts, Prof. María Magdalena Campos-Pons. The Engine for Art, Democracy, and Justice is a trans-institutional research initiative, and it is an ongoing collaboration between Fisk University, the Frist Art Museum, Millions of Conversations, and Vanderbilt University that explores creative approaches to living together in the South(s).

Institutional expansion of the arts—including our New York campus in Chelsea and the newly announced Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang College of Art, Architecture and Design in San Francisco—creates exciting opportunities for faculty and student engagement.

Vesna Pavlović
Paul E. Shwab Chair in Fine Arts | Professor of Art