Academics

Art & Design - Art Education, B.A.

Art teachers promote creative thinking that improves students' academic performance and abilities to express themselves. They also help students develop motor skills, confidence and decision-making skills. As a Whitworth art major on the art education track, you can become a teacher who makes a lasting difference in students' lives.

This major can lead to a teaching endorsement for kindergarten-12th grade. Both art and education courses are designed to give you the practical experience you will need to be prepared to lead in the classroom.

Why major in art education at Whitworth?

Take a variety of studio and art history courses that will prepare you to be a versatile teacher.
Receive the individual instruction that comes with small studio class sizes. Professors are available outside of class time as well.
Develop an area of specialty, if desired, such as painting, glass, ceramics or printmaking. A specialty can be an emphasis in your teaching and provide inspiration to students. It can also prepare you to be not only a teacher but an artist who is involved in community and art gallery events.
Connect your faith or worldview to your learning by exploring the fundamental connections between art and faith.
Draw inspiration from the vibrant Lied Center for the Visual Arts. This beautiful, contemporary center houses six studios, two gallery spaces and a state-of-the-art computer lab with Apple iMacs. Our studios are open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Join a tight-knit community of students and alumni that provides networking and support as you move into a career.
Travel the world through amazing off-campus programs led by your professors.
Partner with faculty as a teaching assistant.
Become who you're meant to be.

Ask our faculty

Ask Meredith

mshimizu@whitworth.edu

Professor of Art Meredith Shimizu specializes in art history.

Ask Katie

kcreyts@whitworth.edu

Professor Katie Creyts' areas of expertise are glass, sculpture, arts administration and community arts.

Ask Ben

bnecochea@whitworth.edu

Assistant Professor Ben Necochea specializes in graphic design.

Our art education grads make a difference (and get jobs)

Whitworth art graduates are employed as art teachers at the elementary and secondary level throughout Washington state.

Recent job placements for Whitworth art education graduates include:

Ruth Campbell, elementary art specialist, Spokane Public Schools, Spokane
Sarah Carver, art teacher and yearbook supervisor, Mt. Spokane High School, Mead, Wash.

Options for earning a teaching degree at Whitworth

To earn your teaching certification, you will need to complete additional requirements outside of the major, including student teaching. You may choose to take these courses as an undergraduate through the Whitworth School of Education or as a graduate student in the master in teaching (MIT) program.

Opportunities outside the classroom

Visit rotating professional art exhibits at Whitworth's Bryan Oliver Gallery, and interact with visiting artists through receptions, one-on-one critiques and workshops.
Display your work in the junior and senior exhibitions. For the senior exhibition, students are responsible for organizing, hanging and publicizing the exhibit.
Join the Artists' Cooperative, the art department's club. Activities include First Friday art walks and a visual arts tour.
Take part in an annual trip to Seattle to visit galleries and museums with your peers and professors.
Apply to be the assistant for Whitworth's permanent collection or Bryan Oliver Gallery, and learn how to manage a collection, organize and install exhibitions, handle artworks, and maintain records.

Pack your bags!

Whitworth faculty members lead off-campus study programs around the country and the world that provide life-changing experiences with art, including exposure to significant museum collections. Programs that visit major destinations in Europe include British Culture through the Arts, Power & Politics of Art, History & Art in Rome, and Early Christian Sites in Greece. Or experience world-class art closer to home through the Art & Architecture in Chicago program.

Tracks

In addition to the art education track, the Whitworth art & design major offers tracks in two-dimensional art, three-dimensional art and graphic design.

What related majors can I explore?

Next steps

Academic Information

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