Studio Art
In the studio art program at Rollins, you do more than master technique—you explore new creative strategies, practice focused and sustained engagement, and tackle important conceptual and social issues. Each day, you exercise not only your artistic passion, but also develop expertise in communication, problem solving, and strategic thinking.
A major in studio art will prepare you for a broad range of professional endeavors after graduation. With ample opportunities to engage in research and production of advanced studio artwork, you’ll learn transferable professional practices that are highly sought after by an array of employers—including critical and creative thinking, cultural fluency, and the skills to work effectively both individually and collaboratively.
Why Study Studio Art at Rollins
Individualized Instruction
You’ll refine skills and techniques under the guidance and mentorship of professional artists in small classroom settings.
Access to Important Collections
You’ll have an opportunity to exhibit at Rollins’ nationally recognized museum and engage with the growing Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art.
A Broad Educational Environment
As an artist at Rollins, you’ll draw from an interdisciplinary liberal arts educational experience to create critical and creative work.
Interested in Studying Studio Art at Rollins?
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“Arguably the most valuable thing the studio art major taught me is the ability to ‘think critically.’ I use quotations here because I don’t mean just ‘think critically’ in the way all higher education classes require, but I mean dig and push and stretch at a subject until you can literally turn a concept into an entirely original physical form. There are rules an artist must learn and at the same time learn to break.”
Rollins Studio Art Careers
Rollins studio art grads are prepared for success both in and outside the art world.
Andrew Cohen ’10
Architectural Designer, Stantec
Airam Dato-on '13
US Community Manager, Pexels
David Matteson '15 '18MBA
Associate Curator of Education & Outreach, Orlando Museum of Art
Leah Sandler '14
Contributing Art & Culture Writer,
Mary (Nicole) Weedo '14
Activity Director, Pacific Heights Transitional Care Center
Betsy Johnson '15
Office Assistant, Illinois Department of Human Services
Real World Experience
From community engagement courses to internships, studio art students hone their skills in the real world.
See for Yourself
Get a feel for Rollins’ unique brand of engaged learning and personalized attention through one of our virtual or in-person visit experiences.
Popular Courses
While developing critical and creative thinking, visual literacy, and innovative problem solving, our diverse portfolio of courses address varying thematic content through a variety of media and processes such as painting, drawing, printmaking, digital photography, video, sculpture, and performance.
ART 221 Drawing and Composition
Expand your drawing skills with an emphasis on form and concept, and examine universal and personal themes in contemporary drawing.
ART 223 Graphic Design I
Learn the concepts and techniques associated with digital-based design, with an emphasis on problem solving, research, and idea generation. Develop technical skills using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign commercial software applications.
ART 310 Introduction to Video Art
Examine the medium of digital video with a primary focus on locating video art in contemporary fine arts context while tracing its historical development coinciding with feminist, performance and conceptual art movements of the 1960s to present day emphases on gender and the body, as well as post-colonial considerations of identity and representation.
ART 251 Painting I
Practice and refine oil and acrylic painting techniques while developing compositional and conceptual language through intensive studio work, individual and group critiques, and solo research.
ART 391 Screen Printing
Create a portfolio of screen prints based on a concept of your choosing through a variety of digital, photographic, and hand-drawn imaging techniques.
ART 350 Contemporary Art and Theory: Research and Process
Study seminal critical-theory texts and how they relate to the practice of studio art, covering everything from Marxist critique to socially engaged art and media theory.
A Day in the Life of a Rollins Studio Art Major
“I love my major because of our department’s amazing professors. Dawn Roe is an irreplaceable mentor who showers me with endless intellect and support. I also love Rollins’ Cornell Fine Arts Museum, which is truly the best museum in Orlando and an incredible resource for both artists and art historians.”
Beyond the Classroom
Bonner Leaders Program At Rollins, we’re always nurturing our students’ calls to service, and service through art is no exception. Through this premier service-focused cohort program, Meredith Ewen ’19 created a framework to help guide her social-practice studio-art projects and performative works.
Study Abroad Well-traveled artists make better artists. Elizabeth Shugart ’19’s experience in Iceland led her to develop a series of mixed-media prints that informed both her environmental studies and studio art major capstone projects.
Community Interaction Rollins provides students with the opportunity to experience how what they’re learning can benefit the larger community. Professor Dawn Roe’s Conceptual Documentary Practice course, for example, allows majors and non-majors to produce ethically aware photography projects intended to contribute to current and future conversations within and about our neighboring Hannibal Square community as it faces rapid gentrification.
Virtual Tour: Rollins Museum of Art
As a studio art major at Rollins, you’ll have the opportunity to curate and create professional exhibitions at our on-campus fine arts museum.
Keep Exploring
Take a deeper dive into our studio art major by exploring our creative spaces and seeing our graduates in action.
January 19, 2024
Rollins Museum of Art Announces Winter 2024 Exhibitions
The Rollins Museum of Art unveils five exhibitions for its winter season, which runs from January 20 to May 12.
September 05, 2023
Rollins Museum of Art Announces Beyond the Medici Exhibition
The Rollins Museum of Art welcomes a touring exhibition of Florentine Baroque art for its fall season, which opens September 9.
January 23, 2023
The Corridor Project Spotlights Artwork by 3 Tars
Studio art professors Lisa Cody-Rapport and Rachel Simmons ’97 and alumna Kelly Berry ’13 each contributed a piece of original artwork to be displayed on billboards around the Orlando metropolitan area.
October 28, 2022
Hope Debuts Solo Exhibition at Lightner Museum
Visiting art professor Audrey Hope explores the connections between nature and travel, poverty, creativity, and the capacity of objects as representation.
June 21, 2022
Roe Presents at ISEA Conference in Barcelona
Studio art professor Dawn Roe recently presented her current work at the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA).
October 13, 2021
Making Films That Make a Difference
When Evan Mascagni ’08, Nick Capezzera ’08, and Shannon Post ’08 first met on the Rollins campus, the wheels of social change started turning. Now the trio is helping shape the world through documentary film.
Expert Faculty
At Rollins, you learn from academic, working artists who maintain active studio practices and regularly exhibit their work in national and international galleries, museums, and nonprofit venues. Their scholarship also includes presentations at academic conferences, public art projects and commissions, and frequent participation in artist residencies and workshops.
Department of Art & Art History
Telephone: 407.646.2498
Fax: 407.628.6395
Dana Hargrove, MFA
Professor of Art
Research interests: Painting and mixed media; ideas that frame perceptions of the land and our sense of place and space
Dawn Roe, MFA
Professor of Art
Research interests: Photography and time-based media; site-responsive projects engaging with temporality, memory, and perception in relation to the camera image
Rachel Simmons, MFA
Professor of Art
Research interests: Screen printing and relief printmaking, mixed media, drawing, and book arts; connecting curriculum and community through socially engaged practice