An hour away, the Memphis metro area is an important arts community in the nation.
In the Northern Delta
- Studio 230
- Stan Streets Hambone Art Gallery
- Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art
- McCarty Pottery
- Peter’s Pottery
North Mississippi/Tupelo
Current Undergraduate Students in Art & Art History
The Department of Art & Art History at the University of Mississippi offers three undergraduate degree programs.
Earn a Degree in an Innovative & Creative Field
Entrance to the BFA: Students can choose to enter the BFA Studio Art program during the regular UM admissions process. After completing the foundation core and having a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 and 2.5 GPA in all art and art history courses, BFA students participate in the BFA Foundations Review to stay in the BFA degree.
BFA candidates are required to present an exhibition during their senior year that demonstrates their achievement in developing a mature and cohesive body of creative work. The BFA degree is also the foundation for graduate study.
Prospective Students
To be a studio artist, you will need a strong foundation in techniques, processes, and critical thought, an environment that supports creativity and learning, mentors, role models, & friends, as well as well-equipped studios. To be an art historian, you will need to examine works of art in their historical, social, and political contexts, conduct research, discern the ideas conveyed by art, and learn the basic methods and techniques used to produce visual art.
This is exactly what the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Mississippi provides. Our faculty are all working artists and art historians who have achieved success and distinction in their careers. They invest in every student, guiding and instructing them in small classes with individualized attention. We believe that every student with a love of art should have the opportunity to develop their skills and explore their talents. We welcome anyone with this passion to learn more about our three undergraduate degrees in studio art and art history.
Welcome From The Recruitment Committee Chair
I often receive questions about the difference between the B.A. and B.F.A. in Art degrees. Both start with the same art skills foundation yet offer two different experiences.
The B.A. degree has a deeper and wider general education foundation than the B.F.A. degree and provides flexibility for combining with a required minor, such as Art History, Business, Marketing, Professional Writing, Southern Studies, and more. BA students use their art electives to focus on the studio area of their choice or sample across studios. As a broad, flexible degree within the context of the liberal arts, B.A. students are prepared for a wide range of careers.
The B.F.A. is a professional degree focusing more intensely in studio art. While a portfolio review is not required to enroll in the B.F.A. degree, it will be required after the art foundation courses. It has a narrower general education base and the minor is optional. The B.F.A. involves more intense conceptual development and culminates in a professional portfolio and body of work shown in a thesis exhibition. Students focus in one concentration area (Fine Arts or Expanded Media Art) and choose an emphasis from ceramics, graphic design, painting, printmaking & imaging arts, or sculpture. The B.F.A. degree prepares students for graduate study or working as a professional artist/designer.
Our department also offers the study of art history, whereby students learn a wide range of media, cultures, and time periods in art history and complete a minor such as Art, Museum Studies, Classics, Anthropology, Italian, and more. Students can pursue careers as educators or as responsible stewards of art and artifacts in museums, galleries, and other cultural institutions. Some have even combined art history with the unique Intelligence and Security Studies minor for a career countering art theft.
Let me answer questions you might have about our programs of study and how you might achieve your educational and career goals.
Stacey Rathert, Recruitment Committee Chair
Department of Art & Art History
662-915-7193 | slrather@olemiss.edu
Portfolio Prep Day
We are pleased to host this virtual event to allow you to meet our current studio and art history faculty and participate in a portfolio preparation session or in a review of your writing sample with art professionals in both fields. We hope you will register to gain insight into how to prepare your portfolio for future scholarship opportunities.
Experience meeting our faculty and students within the department and portfolio preparation with dedicated professionals in the field. Studio Art Applicants should prepare 10 –15 pieces of their best work. Art History Applicant should prepare a 3–5 page digital writing sample.
Visit Us
This fall the UM Office of Admissions has weekday visits to campus using health officials’ guidance on how many can gather together. You can sign up on the admissions webpage for the information session and campus tour.
The Department of Art & Art History can send out information about our programs, schedule limited in-person visits, and arrange phone calls or Zoom meetings. Please complete the following short form below to learn more about our department.
Please email art@olemiss.edu if you want more information about our department or would like to schedule a tour. To help us better serve you, please provide contact information, education status, area of interest, and one of the following:
- Please send me information about the department.
- I would like to speak with someone in the department.
- I would like to visit the department.
Expand Your Creative Potential
Explore a dynamic range of creative fields, from graphic design and printmaking to ceramics, painting, and sculpture, while honing your artistic skills and vision.
Art History
Learn about monuments, significant artists, and artistic periods in Western and non-Western cultures.
Ceramics
Our students learn to use clay as an artistic medium: throwing, building, molding, glazing and firing.
- Fine Art Concentration
Graphic Design
Graphic design is an artistic and commercial discipline that balances technical ability and skills in artful presentation.
- Expanded Media Arts Concentration
Painting
Students learn to work in diverse styles of representational, imaginative, and abstract painting.
- Fine Art Concentration
Printmaking & Imaging Arts
Printmaking is the process of ink transferring from a matrix to material. Imaging arts processes are both analog and digital.
- Expanded Media Arts Concentration
Sculpture
Sculpture encourages the creating, shaping, or combining of three-dimensional objects through a variety of media.
- Fine Art Concentration
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Academic Advising
Art and art history majors, unlike most on campus, are advised by faculty in their department from freshmen year until graduation. All students in the Department of Art and Art History are assigned an Academic Advisor among the faculty to assist them throughout their academic journey. They meet at least twice a year to pick a course schedule for the following semester. Students also meet with their advisor to discuss career goals and prepare for portfolio reviews. All students in the College of Liberal Arts are also supported by the CLA Office of Student Services.
CLA Student Services -
Featured Art & Art History Courses
See a few examples of courses offered in the Department of Art & Art History.
Featured Art & Art History Courses -
Resources & Scholarships
Find out about the generous scholarship opportunities for art and art history students and student success resources available at the department, college, and university levels.
Resources & Scholarships -
Careers & Alumni
Our graduate programs focus on advanced technical skills while fostering engagement with contemporary practices.
Careers & Alumni
Beyond the Classroom
Clubs
Learning art is more than what’s learned in the traditional studio courses. Students can join the activities of the these student organizations: Vasari Society, Mud Daubers, GRID (Getting Rebels into Design), Pixel Press: Printmaking + Photography Club, and The UM Sculpture Society.
Art Talks
In addition to the many artists who visit campus through our clubs, the department also has an established visiting artist program called Art Talks. This program creates access to artists in person and via webcam, and helps students and faculty to keep pace with critical thought, contemporary artistic practice, and emerging technology used in cultural production today.
Study Abroad
Art and art history majors have exciting opportunities to experience the art and architecture abroad. They can arrange their own study abroad experience through the Office of Study Abroad. Or, they can travel with UM faculty. One possibility is the formal course titled Art on Location, where UM faculty can take a course of students to different locations around the US and abroad.
Internships
"The internship with Ole Miss Liberal Arts set such a great foundation for life after graduation. Not only did this internship provide experience in a professional setting, I learned valuable skills that have carried over to my current position as a graphic, web, and UI/UX designer. Working with a team of leadership and fellow designers allowed for a foundation of collaboration, versatility, and continuous learning. I gained further expertise in the Adobe Creative Suite as well as a background in WordPress. This experience strengthened my resume and helped me feel comfortable and confident entering the work force. Providing professional experience, collaboration, new skills, and development, the internship with Ole Miss allowed me to land a job (Graphic and Web Designer at Buffalo Rehab Group Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy P.C.) I love right out of college."
Alexa Tamburlin
B.F.A. in Art (Graphic Design) '23
UM Museum
In the museum, you can study the David M. Robinson Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, one of the finest collections in the United States. Covering the 1000-year period from 800 B.C. to around A.D. 300, the collection contains Greek and Roman sculpture, Greek decorated pottery, inscriptions, architectural fragments, inscribed Sumerian clay tablets, small artifacts in terracotta and bronze, and Roman copies of Greek art works.
Double Decker Arts Festival
This annual festival in late April boasts a crowd of more than 60,000 people in a two-day format with nearly two hundred art and food vendors, while a generous mix of both local and touring musicians take to the stage. Inspired by the Double Decker bus imported from England in 1994, the festival showcases Oxford as a town that supports the arts.
Volunteer with M-Partner
A program of the Grisham-McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement, M Partner has completed nearly 120 projects and engaged over 50 faculty/staff and over 800 students with the partner MS communities of Charleston, Ecru, Lexington, New Albany, Pontotoc, and Oxford. These projects support small businesses, promote tourism, advance food security, offer educational enrichment, promote community health, elevate local history, and build capacity for nonprofit organizations.
Travel Courses
Students earn credit for general education, major, or minor requirements studying abroad for as few as two weeks or as long as an academic year. Even better, travel with a CLA professor during a 2-week term. Other opportunities for faculty-led travel courses are through Study USA. Generous donors help many CLA students participate.
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology offers a Study USA course on the Anthropology of the Blues that travels through the Mississippi Delta.
Art in Our Community
Oxford, Mississippi is an amazing place to live. Located 70 miles from Memphis and surrounded by the natural beauty of Northern Mississippi, Oxford boasts thriving music, art, and literary scenes along with great restaurants. University of Mississippi athletics provides many opportunities to watch and participate in sports—and one of the world’s best tailgating parties. Click links for many more Oxford attractions and things to do. With everything Oxford offers, it’s no wonder USA Today names Oxford as one of the Top Six College Towns in the Nation. Come see why.
YAC ensures a place for arts in the community and offers a diverse range of programs, professional development services, and support to serve both artists and residents in Lafayette County. Programs offer opportunities and resources for students and emerging artists while providing support to over 20 different arts organizations including live theatre, dance, concerts, creative arts classes, culinary experiences, film screenings, festivals, and more.
The Oxford Film Festival celebrates the art of independent cinema while raising the understanding of cinema through screenings, workshops and educational programs, culminating in the annual five-day festival. Founded in 2003 by the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, audiences can now see over 200 quality films from across the globe, including short and feature-length films in both showcase and competition settings. The festival also hosts panel discussions on issues in contemporary filmmaking, and invites the filmmakers to interact with the audience at a number of social events.
Featuring a rotating exhibit of 17-20 large-scale sculptures by locally, regionally, and nationally renowned exhibiting artists, this collaboration between the City of Oxford, The University of Mississippi, the UM Museum and the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council and is the first outdoor sculpture program of its kind in North Mississippi.
Meet Our Student Ambassadors
Haley Chiles
Why did you choose to attend UM?
See Haley’s Answer
Ann Grigsby
What has been one of your most memorable or enjoyable moments at UM?
See Ann’s Answer