Why Study Visual and Media Arts?
This Path places art, media, and design in the context of a liberal arts education. Deepen your creative practice by thinking, reading, and writing while discovering ideas and skills that support your imagination. By spanning studio arts, Indigenous arts, and filmmaking, this Path enables you to study across mediums and histories in a fluid and integrated way. You will learn critical awareness of the implications of creative work for representation, identity, community, society, and the earth.
During your time at Evergreen, you can take a combination of visual arts or media intensive classes, interdisciplinary classes that link arts with other disciplines, and classes where you learn about areas outside the arts. All of these will help you develop as a creator. By combining theory, problem solving, collaboration, and hands-on practice, you will explore, question, and engage vast worlds of ideas and prepare to enter the rapidly expanding creative economy. Whether you want to start a career that draws on your creativity or occupy a specific role in the arts and media world, what you learn on this Path will set you up to succeed.
Join the Visual and Media Arts Path
By joining this Path, you will receive advising opportunities specific to this Path.
Contact an Advisor to Get Started
Affiliate with the Visual and Media Arts Path
Follow this Path
The Visual and Media Arts Path offers programs each year at Exploratory, Entry, and Intermediate/Advanced levels. We recommend that you study broad and varied topics for at least a year before moving on to arts intensive programs. For transfer students, your route through the Visual and Media Arts Path curriculum will depend upon what you’ve studied previously.
A range of 4-credit courses in Visual and Media Arts are available each quarter, so students at any level can study part-time or in different combinations. We encourage you to be open to exploring all mediums and facets of the arts to expand your creative journey.
Getting Started
Get Involved with Visual and Media Arts
Whether you are a new student or just new to this Path, check out the New Student Handbook to learn how to get started at Evergreen and find your people on campus.
- Meet students and faculty in your Path by attending Path events
- Attend the Academic Fair to meet faculty and learn about upcoming programs
Support - Get guidance on your academic journey and career goals by meeting with an Academic Advisor or Faculty member
- Get involved with Student Groups related to your artistic interests
- Engage in campus culture by attending campus events like films, critique groups, open mics, workshops, performances, and the Art Lecture Series
Years 1 - 2
Dig deep and strengthen your connections
First-year students at Evergreen have the advantage of studying Visual and Media Arts in combination with other exciting disciplines and themes. Our Exploratory programs typically combine hands-on arts practice and one or more additional fields of learning.
We encourage students to seek out breadth in their studies, so you aren’t limited to the Path’s Exploratory offerings – any classes you take as a first-year or sophomore to learn reading, writing, and thinking would prepare you for further work in this Path.
Sophomores may choose to begin deeper study of Visual and Media Arts in Entry programs (at least one option is available each year).
Years 3 - 4
Finish strong and get ready for your next steps
Entry programs in Visual and Media Arts are a great option for juniors and seniors too – they offer challenging, focused study that give you a wide range of tools as a creator. Students often go from an introductory to an intermediate level of skills within multi-quarter programs tagged Entry.
Students who have completed an Entry program or comparable studies at another institution may be interested in Intermediate/Advanced programs (at least one option is available each year). These programs allow for dedicated, self-directed pursuit of your own creative voice with the support of a collaborative learning community. Advanced programs typically require an application that includes samples of your work.
You may also want to pursue learning experiences outside of your programs and courses, like Individual Study, and Internships, Study Abroad, or Summer study.
Prepare for your final year by connecting with your faculty and Academic Advisor to plan your final programs, Capstone, and what you may need for careers or graduate school.
Capstone
A Capstone is a final project or endeavor, usually done in your senior year, designed to show your knowledge and abilities in your chosen area of study. It's a meaningful way to sum up what you have learned at Evergreen. Like many things at Evergreen, your Capstone experience is yours to customize.
Capstone opportunities in Visual and Media Arts can take different forms. Some options are:
- Programs titled Advanced or Capstone that are built around supporting independent projects (these are usually junior-senior, winter and/or spring offerings)
- Individual Study: complete an ILC with a faculty member in the Path or an internship (INT) with a local organization
- Evergreen’s Multimedia Arts Internship
Through a Capstone project, you can realize your own creative vision in portfolio-ready work that typically culminates in spring quarter. Public exhibitions and screenings at the end of the year showcase your accomplishments. In addition to program exhibitions, a student-run gallery show and student-run film festival often occur in the spring.
Faculty Mentorship and Support
Faculty mentorship is a key piece of an Evergreen education. Your faculty are ready to support you not just through your coursework, but through any experience you want to explore. Faculty act as mentors and advisors in many capacities and will be valuable resources throughout your academic journey and beyond. Contact us to talk about our areas of expertise and get advice on your studies and future goals.
We have a wide variety of faculty covering a range of disciplines ready to support you during your time at Evergreen.
Labs and Studios
Media and art facilities at Evergreen are furnished with professional equipment and tools to help you work at an advanced level. You’ll get to use a range of resources to learn new techniques and explore your creative process with the support of faculty and staff.