Studio Art
Taught with an eye to developing an appreciation for the fine arts as well as to developing individual skills, studio courses include beginning and intermediate drawing, color and 2D design, portraiture, direct and indirect painting, and beginning and intermediate photography. Advanced students may set up special courses. Student publications, especially the yearbook, newspaper, and literary magazine, welcome creative energy. In addition, the College's Publications Office, which produces the alumni magazine, admissions recruiting materials, and publicity for campus events, actively encourages student talent and provides informal instruction in production and design, with particular emphasis on advertising. On-campus exhibitions feature both student and professional work.
Art History
Classes in art history buttress the Fine Arts, as well as Classics, Religon, and History programs. You may enroll in survey courses that cover prehistoric Europe to the present. These are followed by courses in ancient, medieval, and 19th and 20th century art and architecture. The upper-level, special topics course, American Domestic Architecture, uses the College campus, which is a National Register Historic District, as a laboratory so that you are encouraged to apply to the world around you what you learn from course research and classroom discussion.
The Architectural Society of Hampden-Sydney College is for students and community members who are interested in architecture, architectural history, land use, and building trades.