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Home › Prospective Students › Areas of Study › Art & Visual Culture Education

Art & Visual Culture Education

The Division of Art & Visual Culture Education (AVCE) offers undergraduate and advanced degrees: we offer a BFA degree with 2 track options (Community & Museums, and Teaching), as well as an MA degree in Art Education with 3 track options (Art & Visual Culture Education, Community & Museums, and Teaching), and a PhD degree in Art History and Education. These are integral parts of the comprehensive art programs offered by the School of Art.

The AVCE programs are intended to meet the needs of students who wish for professional understanding within the field of Art and Visual Culture Education. Students may pursue a BFA and an MA in AVCE, or pursue a concentration in community and museums, or earn their teaching certification. In the graduate programs, students develop their own focus in conjunction with an AVCE faculty member. MA students may choose to submit a theoretical Thesis or practice-based Report to complete their degree requirements.

The PhD degree is a highly tailored degree meant to build expertise to enter contemporary arenas of art and visual culture education as a researcher, teacher, and leader. PhD students must defend and submit a Dissertation to complete their degree requirements.

The mission and strength of the program and its faculty is to promote an understanding of social justice, multiculturalism and globalization issues in AVCE theory and practice.

AVCE FACULTY RECOGNIZED WITH SEVERAL AWARDS

Resources & Facilities

Students at the UA School of Art have exceptional resources available to them, besides mentorship by an international faculty with strong reputations in research and practice. The University houses several museums, including The University of Arizona Museum of Art, the Center for Creative Photography (one of the world’s leading photography archives and exhibition centers), the Arizona State Museum, and the Joseph Gross, Lionel Rombach, and Student Union art galleries. The University Library has an extensive collection of books, periodicals, and media and is ranked seventeenth among research libraries in the United States. In addition, the School and Division facilitate internships, work-study, and other learning opportunities with various organizations across the city, including the Center for Creative Photography, the University of Arizona Museum of Art, the School of Art galleries, Tucson Museum of Art, and many community organizations.

Excellent multimedia facilities are available to students, including OSCR labs located at various locations around campus. The School of Art’s Visual Resource Center (slides and digital images) contains over 200,000 slides and a large digital image bank. Take virtual tours of the campus, artworks on campus, and Tucson. The city is rich in arts and cultural resources and was recently named as 15th in the nation for its public arts.

If you would like to visit our campus and our faculty, please contact us.

Visit the Resources & Facilities page to learn more.

Clubs, Professional Opportunities & Outreach

The Art & Visual Culture Education Division engages in a number of professional activities and outreach programs:

WILDCAT ART

Wildcat Art is an eight week long Saturday art program offered every spring by the University of Arizona School of Art. Wildcat Art classes are structured to encourage students to explore ideas and issues through contemporary and traditional art media & practices. Experiences are designed specifically for students at each age/grade level from kindergarten through adolescence (K-12). Classes are taught by advanced and graduate art and visual culture education students, in collaboration with art and visual culture education faculty.

Our curriculum has included experiences in movement and contemporary dance, narrative and storytelling, calligraphic printing, cyanotype photography, post-modern architecture, clay, stop-frame animation, and other art-making processes. A recent theme explored was Identity: Your Interconnected Worlds, which included personal geographies, diversity, our desert environment and sustainability, community, collaboration, and identity. Another recent theme was Sustainable Art Practice. Each year we visit on-campus museums as part of the program and invite local artists to talk to participating children and youth.

Wildcat Art is a non-profit program that serves the Tucson community while providing hands-on teaching experience for advanced undergraduate and graduate art and visual culture education students.

Our annual exhibition is held at the University of Arizona Union Gallery for students and their families. While serving the larger Tucson community, this program also serves as a lab school for students in the program, an exciting opportunity for teachers-in-training.

Current information about the program can be found at http://wildcatart.class.arizona.edu/.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

The School of Art and its Division of Art and Visual Culture Education is very much a part of the heart of the greater Tucson community. Through internships, volunteer opportunities, work-study programs, learning-centered collaborations, and placement of our graduates, we have built strong relationships with community organizations and institutions within and outside of the University of Arizona. Some of the organizations with whom our students have had the opportunity to learn and work with in recent years include:

  • The University of Arizona Museum of Art
  • The Tucson Museum of Art
  • The Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art
  • The Mini Time Machine: Tucson Museum of Miniatures
  • The Center for Creative Photography
  • The University of Arizona Union Galleries
  • Conrad Wilde Gallery
  • Barbara Grygutis Sculpture LLC
  • The Gloo Factory
  • The Boys and Girls Club of Tucson
  • BICAS (Bicycle Inter-Community Action and Salvage)
  • ArtWorks
  • La Pilita Musuem
  • The Smithsonian Institution

PLACEMENTS

Graduates of Art and Visual Culture Education at the University of Arizona are well placed in the world of Art and Visual Culture Education. A few of the places our graduates are working include:

  • Many schools across Arizona, the southwest and the nation
  • University of Dayton OH
  • Antioch College, Seattle WA
  • Cochise College, Cochise Count, AZ
  • Pima Community College, Tucson AZ
  • Cloud State University, MN
  • Bowling Green State University, OH
  • The Pablove Foundation, Los Angeles CA
  • The Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco CA
  • Apple Computers
  • Perpich Center for Arts Education, Minneapolis MN
  • University of Advancing Technology, Phoenix AZ
  • Rosseter House, Phoenix AZ

ALUMNI

We want to keep in touch! If you are an AVCE alumnus, please be part of our network; we’d love to know where you are and what you are doing.

Please join us on Facebook
Email us at: avcealum@gmail.com
or drop us a postcard at:

The Division of Art and Visual Culture Education,
School of Art, University of Arizona
P.O. Box 210002
Tucson, AZ 85721-0007

All students, whether post-baccalaureate certification, masters or doctoral level, are invited to begin their professional lives while students at the University.

NAEA STUDENT CHAPTER

We boast a vibrant and active student chapter of the National Art Education Association. University of Arizona students have a strong record of presenting at national and regional conferences, as well as serving on the organization’s boards and issues groups. Student members not only build a strong collegiality, but also benefit from professional development, networking, and funding opportunities.

The University of Arizona NAEA Student Chapter also organizes the Emerging Conversations Symposium. The symposium offers a space for undergraduate and graduate students, scholars in related fields, and community members to participate in research presentations, conversations about them, and dialogues regarding learning and activism in Art and Visual Culture Education.

Please visit the UA Student Chapter facebook page.

The parent organization of the UA’s student chapter is the National Art Education Association, whose mission is to promote art education through professional development, service, advancement of knowledge, and leadership.

ARIZONA ART EDUCATION ASSOCIATION (AAEA)

AAEA is the state affiliate of the NAEA. AAEA holds an annual fall conference and invites your participation in the conference or in organizational meetings held throughout the year. The website provides information about the organization, news, conferences, advocacy, as well as art teaching resources: http://www.azaea.org

Arizona teachers academy

If selected, the scholarship will pay your tuition for the duration of your enrollment in participating teacher certification programs at the University of Arizona. In return, you agree to teach in any public or charter school in Arizona for as many years as you received the scholarship. You may apply for the scholarship before you are accepted into a participating program, but you will not receive the award until you are accepted into that program. https://new.coe.arizona.edu/arizona-teachers-academy

Degrees in Art & Visual Culture Education

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art & Visual Culture Education, Community & Museums or Teaching Emphasis
  • Master of Arts in Art & Visual Culture Education, Art & Visual Culture Studies; Community & Museums; or Teaching Certification Emphasis
  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Art History and Education, Art & Visual Culture Education Track
  • Minor in Art Education

Contact an academic advisor or set up an advising appointment to learn more about School of Art programs and admissions.

Apply Now!

Ready to join our community of dedicated artists, educators and scholars? Visit our Admissions page to start your application.

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Areas of Study

  • 2D Studies
  • 3D & Extended Media
  • Art History
  • Art & Visual Culture Education
  • First Year Experience
  • Illustration, Design and Animation
  • Photography | Video | Imaging
  • Interdisciplinary Practice (MFA Only)

Art and Visual Culture Education

Carissa Maria DiCindio Assistant Professor, Art
Assistant Professor, Applied Intercultural Arts Research - GIDP
cdicindio@arizona.edu Art Bldg, Room 110
520-621-7570
Profile
Amelia (Amy) Kraehe, Ph.D. Associate Vice President, Equity in the Arts
Associate Professor, Art
akraehe@arizona.edu Art Bldg, Room 136
520-621-7570
Profile
Ryan Shin, Ph.D. Professor, Art
Professor, Applied Intercultural Arts Research - GIDP
shin@arizona.edu Art Bldg, Room 136
520-621-1253
Profile
gloria j. wilson, Ph.D. Associate Professor
gjwilson@arizona.edu Art Bldg, Room 132
520-621-7570
Profile

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University of Arizona School of Art
12 hours ago
University of Arizona School of Art

The national APA Wayzgoose conference began yesterday! We're so happy that the Amalgamated Printers' Association selected Tucson and the School of Art for its annual workshops through Sunday. Go to apa-letterpress.com/2023wayzgoose/ for more details. Arizona Arts The University of Arizona Amalgamated Printers' Association ... See MoreSee Less

The national APA Wayzgoose conference began yesterday! Were so happy that the Amalgamated Printers Association selected Tucson and the School of Art for its annual workshops through Sunday. Go to https://apa-letterpress.com/2023wayzgoose/ for more details. Arizona Arts The University of Arizona Amalgamated Printers AssociationImage attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
3 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Students in galen dara's ART 404 class used their sketchbooks to explore and ponder the immersive space installations and video exhibits at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) — moca-tucson.org/ — including "Sonoran Quipu" by chilean poet cecilia vicuña, "Subrosa" by Na Mira and "While Hissing" by Ravon Chacon. Arizona Arts The University of Arizona MOCA Tucson ... See MoreSee Less

Students in galen daras ART 404 class used their sketchbooks to explore and ponder the immersive space installations and video exhibits at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) — https://moca-tucson.org/ — including Sonoran Quipu by chilean poet cecilia vicuña, Subrosa by Na Mira and While Hissing by Ravon Chacon. Arizona Arts The University of Arizona MOCA TucsonImage attachmentImage attachment+8Image attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
3 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Join us for the opening reception of "Scratching the Surface" on Friday, June 2, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Lionel Rombach Gallery. The exhibition is open now, with work from students in galen dara's ART 404 sketch class. The reception will include refreshments and drawing activities! (Artwork by Phoebe Dubisch) Arizona Arts The University of Arizona Galen Dara University of Arizona Museum of Art ... See MoreSee Less

Join us for the opening reception of Scratching the Surface on Friday, June 2, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Lionel Rombach Gallery. The exhibition is open now, with work from students in galen daras ART 404 sketch class. The reception will include refreshments and drawing activities! (Artwork by Phoebe Dubisch) Arizona Arts The University of Arizona Galen Dara University of Arizona Museum of Art
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University of Arizona School of Art
1 week ago
University of Arizona School of Art

A visit to the International Wildlife Museum yielded excellent sketching opportunities for galen dara's ART 404 class yesterday. The students' show, "Scratching the Surface," is now open at the Lionel Rombach Gallery. (thewildlifemuseum.org/permanent-exhibits/) Arizona Arts The University of Arizona University of Arizona Museum of Art ... See MoreSee Less

A visit to the International Wildlife Museum yielded excellent sketching opportunities for galen daras ART 404 class yesterday. The students show, Scratching the Surface, is now open at the Lionel Rombach Gallery. (https://thewildlifemuseum.org/permanent-exhibits/) Arizona Arts The University of Arizona University of Arizona Museum of ArtImage attachmentImage attachment+Image attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
1 week ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Artist Lisette Chavez (MFA '14) visited our Book Art and Letterpress Lab, where she chatted with Professor Karen Zimmermann about her career and next week's national APA Wayzgoose Conference hosted by the school (tinyurl.com/soawg2). Chavez works remotely from Tucson as a research assistant for the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation. She also hosts a cool Instagram site, “Show me your print shop” (tinyurl.com/3xpvc4w8) as a resource for printmakers. Book art and letterpress labs from all over the world send her photos, and she posts them with information or tips shared by the printmakers! Her website is at www.lisettechavez.com/.

Arizona Arts The University of Arizona University of Arizona Museum of Art
... See MoreSee Less

Artist Lisette Chavez (MFA 14) visited our Book Art and Letterpress Lab, where she chatted with Professor Karen Zimmermann about her career and next weeks national APA Wayzgoose Conference hosted by the school (https://tinyurl.com/soawg2). Chavez works remotely from Tucson as a research assistant for the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation. She also hosts a cool Instagram site, “Show me your print shop” (https://tinyurl.com/3xpvc4w8) as a resource for printmakers. Book art and letterpress labs from all over the world send her photos, and she posts them with information or tips shared by the printmakers! Her website is at https://www.lisettechavez.com/.

Arizona Arts The University of Arizona University of Arizona Museum of Art
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1 week ago
University of Arizona School of Art

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School Of Art

P.O. BOX 210002
1031 N. Olive Rd.
Room 247
Tucson, AZ 85721-0002

Email: artinfo@cfa.arizona.edu

Phone: 520.621.7570

Fax: 520.621.2955


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