Art History

Join UTA Art History Program: Explore Art's Historical Impact

Discover How Art, History, and Society Shape Our Worldview

Accredited by the National Association of the School of Arts (NASAD), the Department of Art and Art History features an outstanding Art History Program with dedicated professors who are actively engaged in their research and publication but equally committed to their teaching. The student-teacher ratio in our program is remarkably low for an institution of our size, and the faculty is fully invested in the mentoring and success of our students, many of whom are first-generation. We engage our students to learn about the arts, architecture, and cultures from across the globe and throughout time and offer courses on a wide range of topics including:

18th and 19th century European and American Art and Architecture
Art and Indigenous Traditions of Africa
Art and Islam
Central and East Asian Art and Architecture
Contemporary Arts of America and Europe
Early Modern European Art and Architecture and the Global Renaissance
Historiography of Art and Conservation Science
Indigenous Mesoamerican art and architecture
Medieval European Art and Architecture

As an Art History major, you will gain

A broad knowledge of the monuments, principal artists, and cultural traditions of major historical periods and geographic regions
A deeper understanding of advanced areas of study (e.g., Art and the Human Condition)
A solid introduction to art historical theory, analysis, and criticism
An insight into the creative process through participation in studio art courses
A working knowledge of at least one foreign language for primary source research
A familiarity with image archives, bibliographic databases, and cutting-edge approaches drawn from the field of Digital Humanities

Our rigorous program provides strong academic preparation for further study at the graduate level and for work in museums or other professional organizations in the visual arts. But a major in Art History develops critical and creative thinking skills that are valuable in any professional field. We provide a strong foundation that encourages our students to understand diverse cultures and thrive in a multicultural society.

BA in Art History: Key Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate scholarly and ethical competence in the formulation of clearly articulated arguments with accurately cited sources
Recognize that works of art embody a diversity of human experiences including ethnicity, race, gender, and disability, as well as political, economic, and cultural factors over time and across the globe
Display a commitment to the continuous improvement of their work and their engagement with related activities and fellow student majors while at UT-Arlington

Undergraduate majors in Art are required to take Art History courses to help them situate their own creative practice in a broader, meaningful context. Upper-level Art History seminars are likewise an integral component of the MFA program and serve other graduate programs across campus.

Museum Studies Minor

The 18 credit minor in Museum Studies provides students the opportunity to study and explore topics related to museums, including:

Administration and leadership
Art Handling and Preparator Techniques
Collections Management, Ethics, and Sustainability
Community Outreach and Service Learning
Curatorial Design and Thematic Interpretation
Donor Relations, Grant Writing, and Fundraising
Exhibition Design and Virtual Exhibition Programming
History of Collections and the Historiography of Museums

The Museum Studies minor complements major degrees in a wide variety of disciplines, notably Art History, Anthropology, Archaeology, Architecture, Art, Art Education, History, and Library Sciences. It prepares students for higher-level certification, graduate studies, and entry-level museum positions. Students gain experience in the UTA Fine Arts Collections and through partnerships with local, regional, and international art industry and museum professionals.

UTA Fine Art Collections (UTAFACs) & local museums

Housed on campus, UTAFACs comprises distinct collections with hundreds of objects in media ranging from ethnographic artifacts to contemporary works on paper. Selections from the collections are exhibited across campus as part of the Our Campus - Our Museum public art initiative and in semester-long exhibitions in the Visual Resource Commons (VRC) Gallery. UTAFACs feature prominently in the curriculum: our students have the opportunity for hands-on examination and analysis of the artworks in many Art History and Museum Studies courses. Furthermore, UTA is strategically located between Dallas and Fort Worth with many world-famous museums. The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Crow Museum of Asian Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Kimbell Art Museum, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and Nasher Sculpture Center are all within 30 minutes of our campus. These museums each house important permanent collections and welcome many traveling exhibitions that provide our students with additional opportunities for encounters with global art.

Maverick Art Collection (includes Faculty, BFA, & MFA Collections)
UTA Contemporary Glass Collection (includes Mac Stiles Glass Collection and the Contemporary Art Glass Association Collection)
The Alan Saxe Art Collection
UTA Global Culture Collections (includes donations of art and artifacts of Africa, Guatemala, Mexico, and Oceania by Jonathan A. Campbell & Tanya G. Dowdey, Dr. Edmund and Judith Brodie, and Dr. Karl Petruso)
The Nancy Palmeri & Ron Goodstein 2D Research Collections (includes major donations of Photography, Prints and Zines)
UTA Asian Art Collection (includes the Robert and Vicki Coleman Japanese Print Study Collection)

Internships in Art History & Museum Studies

Recurring internship opportunities are available on or near campus via the UTA Fine Art Collections, the UTA Archives, Special Collections, and the Arlington Museum of Art. In addition, UTA Art History majors have secured for-credit internships at prestigious regional and national museums. These experiences have included the Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth), Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), the Getty Museum (Los Angeles), and the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) Our majors are also actively involved in the UTA student organization, the Art History Student Union, which organizes professional and social activities.

Going to Graduate School

Quite a few of our Art History majors decide to pursue graduate studies at local, national, and international institutions, often with scholarship funding. During your time as an art history undergraduate, we encourage you to discuss graduate school options and expectations with the faculty.

To learn more about becoming an Art History major and/or the Museum studies Minor, contact the Area Coordinator Dr. Fletcher Coleman and review the UTA Catalog for more details.

UTA Art History Alumni

UTA Art History alumni have gone on to make important contributions in art historical scholarship and the museum world. Our Maverick success stories include:

Emily Berkes, Art History major, Anthropology minor, CoLA Scholar, Class of 2021 – Pursuing a MA in Art History at University of Colorado, Boulder.
Mya Lewis, Art History major, Anthropology minor, CoLA Scholar, Class of 2020 – Dallas Art Fair Assistant, also previously employed as a Curatorial Intern at both the National Museum of African American Culture and History at the Smithsonian and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Heritage
Alyssa Myers, Art History major, French minor, Class of 2019 – MA in Design History at the Royal College of Art/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Jennifer Yuhas, Art History major, History minor, McNair Scholar, Class of 2019 – MA in Art History at Texas Christian University
Amanda Adkins, Art History major, Classics minor, Class of 2019 – Pursuing a PhD in Classics at the University of Texas at Austin
Emily Smith Clark, Art History major, Business minor, Class of 2019 – Recently completed an MA in History and Archival Administration Certificate at UT-Arlington
Selest Vasquez, Art History major, Museum Studies minor, Class of 2019 – Employed as an Assistant Art Handler at Artemis Fine Art in Dallas
Andrea Vazquez, Art History major, Spanish minor, Class of 2018 – Employed as an Assistant Registrar at Artemis Fine Art in Dallas
Kristen Semento, Art History major, Classics minor, Class of 2014 – Completed a MA in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware/ Winterthur Program and is now pursuing a PhD in the History of American Civilization at the same institution
Leah McCurdy, Ph.D., Art History major, Anthropology minor, Class of 2009 – Completed a MA at the University of York (UK) and a Ph.D. from UT- San Antonio and is currently employed as a Faculty Member at UTA.
Cheryl Mitchell, Art History major, Classics minor, Class of 2007 – Completed a MLitt at Christie’s London and the University of Glasgow and is currently employed as a faculty member and is the collections specialist for UTAFACs
Corbett Costello, Art History major, Classics minor, Class of 1997– Fulbright Fellow, currently pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literature from the University of Washington

Resources:

Art History Minors Wait-List Policy

All officially declared Art History Minors may wait-list for Art History courses at any time. The wait-list form would need to be filled out in order to be cleared for Art History courses. All required prerequisites must be met in order to gain approval for the desired course and will be verified. Also, section 002 of ART 1309, 1310, and 1317 have open enrollment across all majors and do not require submission to the waitlist.

*The Art + Art History department reserves the right to make adjustments to this policy at any time.

Recommended Minors

Facilities

Classrooms, fully equipped with audiovisual resources
1 seminar room (FA 2102, with 20 seats)
2 classrooms (FA 2102A, with 55 seats; FA365 Collections Classroom, with 18 seats)
1 auditorium (FA 148, with 150 seats)
The Architecture & Fine Arts Library (ARCH 104) http://library.uta.edu/afa/
The Visual Resource Commons & Gallery, VRCG
The VRC holds a Gallery for the UTA Fine Art Collections as well as a wide variety of resources including computers, scanners, books, periodicals, videos, and DVDs available for on-site use
World-class museums in the DFW area, for example the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Crow Museum of Asian Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Kimbell Art Museum, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and Nasher Sculpture Center.