Photography at the University of Arkansas School of Art combines practice in traditional and contemporary photographic processes with conceptual development, inspiring students to become more innovative and critically engaged artists.
Program Overview
The photography area within the Studio Art program offers a robust and supportive community where artists define their practice, deepen their understanding of visual literacy, and create innovative imagery.
The area provides training in a variety of traditional and contemporary techniques, equipping students with a critical understanding of the medium and its applications in research and artmaking. Experimentation, interdisciplinary practice, and conceptual development are fostered, preparing students to become successful and engaged practitioners.
Housed within the Studio & Design Center at the vibrant School of Art, students have access to an array of state-of-the-art facilities, rigorous coursework, and renowned faculty.
Facilities
- 15 Station black and white lab with Beseler enlargers
- 8 Station advanced black and white lab with Omega LPL and Beseler 4x5 enlargers
- iMac desktop and laptop computers equipped with Adobe Creative Cloud access
- Epson Printers: 3 x Epson P800, 2 x Epson P700, Epson P7000 & 7890 (24" printers), Epson P8000 & Epson P9000 (44" printers), Epson 4800, & Epson 3880
- Epson Scanners: 4 flatbed scanners: Epson V750 & V800’s
- Hasselblad Flextight X1 Scanner (35mm, 120mm, & 4x5 compatible)
- Fully equipped cyc wall, double-sided lighting studio with Profoto & Alien Bees strobe heads as well as continuous light LED & hot light kits
- Flexible, ventilated space supporting a variety of chemical processes.
- 36" UV exposure unit, 24" UV exposure unit
- 4x5 monorail and field cameras (12)
- Variety of 35mm slr cameras
- Mamiya Medium Format Cameras (2)
- Hasselblad Medium Format Camera (1)
- Sony, Canon, & Nikon Digital Camera Kits (SLR and Mirrorless)
- 4x5 Pinhole Cameras (3)
- Alien Bees Lighting Kits
- LED Light Kits
- Tripods
Coursework
- Photography for Non-Majors
- Photo I: Darkroom
- Photo I: Digital
- Alternative Photographic Methods
- Advanced Digital: The Constructed Image
- Large Format Photography
- Documentary Photography
- Studio Lighting
- The Photobook
- Advanced Projects in Photography
- Graduate Photography Studio
CENTER FOR ART AS LIVED EXPERIENCE
The Center for Art as Lived Experience is a multidisciplinary visual arts research center that promotes innovative ideas on the integration of the arts in communities and pedagogy by emphasizing the intersections of art and lived experience.
Art as lived experience: All forms of artistic inquiry are influenced by lived experience. Indeed, the visual arts are critical to understanding the complexities of daily life, our lived relations to the social world, and the plurality of images and visual languages that come to define it.
The Center for Art as Lived Experience creates a space for cross-collaboration between all four academic areas of the School of Art — art education, art history, graphic design and studio art — with emphasis on how art relates to collective and individual lived experiences and the role of art within our society. The center promotes interdisciplinary approaches to art-making, locating where art and life intersect, and how to integrate art into communities. These three principles open an avenue for external collaboration on campus with other departments and the Northwest Arkansas community. By working directly with visual artists and scholars within the field of art, the core focus of the center’s research looks at how art can make meaningful contributions to collective societal issues related to technology, economics, healthcare, social justice, and sustainability, to name a few.