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Art

Welcome to the Art Department

The Art Department at Claremont Graduate University treats art as an enterprise that is intimately linked to the individuals who make it, often in ways that are not yet known to themselves or others. Its mission is to teach you, as an artist, to think clearly and deeply about what you are doing in the studio and what the results of your labors might be when exhibited out in the world.

Our two-year MFA program allows each candidate to create a customized course of study that includes one-on-one meetings with internationally recognized faculty whose own work is original and interdisciplinary, as well as seminars, tutorials, critiques, and workshops. Individual studios, solo graduate exhibitions, teaching assistantships, and student-governance make for an environment that stimulates independent thinking and rewards initiative.

We offer the space, facilities, and the critical faculties to practice and model the many behaviors required for a successful career as a culturally effective professional artist. Designed to facilitate a thriving and experiential art community, the Art Department building gives students 24-hour access to studios and facilities. Your studio neighbors will be both first- and second-year artists, so you will be able to talk with experienced students from day one. All discussions are held at the graduate level or beyond, up to the professional level.

Chair: David Pagel
251 E. 10th Street • Claremont, CA 91711 • 909-621-8071 • Fax 909-607-1276

David Pagel

Professor of Art Theory and History
Chair, Art Department

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Programs

Art

MFA in Art

Art Business & Fine Art

MA in Art Business & Fine Art

Art Department Faculty

Rachel Lachowicz

Associate Professor of Studio Art

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David Amico

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Farrah Karapetian

Visiting Artist

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Mimi Lauter

Visiting Artist

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Dave Muller

Visiting Artist

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Yi Kai

Visiting Artist

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Art Department Events

Facilities

Lincoln Ceramics Center at Scripps College

The Joan & David Lincoln Fellowship provides generous financial support and infrastructure for MFA candidates pursuing ceramics, including the 5,000-square-foot Joan & David Lincoln Ceramics Center and a visiting professorship in ceramics.
Personal Studios

Each student in the MFA program receives a personal studio space. Studios are approximately 12x22 feet with track lighting. Each second floor studio is equipped with a skylight.
Personal Studios

Your studio neighbors will be both first- and second-year artists, so you will be able to talk with experienced students from day one.
Gallery Spaces

Gallery and exhibition locations throughout the art building are host to a variety of student and visiting artist exhibitions.
Gallery spaces

Students present their MFA solo graduate exhibitions in either the the Peggy Phelps or East Gallery, two large galleries in the art building.
Fabrication Facilities

Our MFA students have 24-hour access to a fully equipped wood shop, welding facility, plastics/casting booth, and critical maker tools.
Wood Shop & Sculpture Yard

A fully equipped wood shop and the building’s rear sculpture yard accommodate the fabrication needs of our student body.
Sculpture Workshop

Students are given the critical space and tools to bring their sculptures to life in the Art Department's Sculpture Workshop.

Videos

Art Galleries

Visiting Artist Lecture Series

Our visiting Artist Lecture Series exposes you to professionals and practitioners with deep experience and insight. Visiting artists help mentor students, foster innovative projects, and promote intercollegiate collaboration. The lectures are free and open to the public.

Previous Lectures

Vito Acconci
Atlantic Lecture Series

Polly Apfelbaum
Atlantic Lecture Series

Edgar Arceneaux

Feng Feng
Pacific Lecture and Exhibition Series

Iva Gueorguieva

Ashley Hagan

Mary Heilmann
Atlantic Lecture Series

He Jiancheng
Pacific Lecture and Exhibition Series

Che Jian-Quan
Pacific Lecture and Exhibition Series

Liz Larner
Atlantic Lecture Series

Elana Mann

Rebecca Morris

Joe Scanlan
Atlantic Lecture Series

Barry Schwabsky
Atlantic Lecture Series

Jim Shaw

Art Alumni

The making of art has long been a major focus at CGU, and our alumni have taken the skills they honed here and forged new paths in the creative world. View a small sample of the many talented graduates of the CGU Art program.

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History of the Art Department

1929
1960
1967
1971
1973
1981
1982
1989
1996
2012

Art at Claremont Graduate University

The first art seminar is offered during the summer session.
Karl Benjamin receives his MA in Art

Benjamin receives his MA in Art, after studying under painter and sculptor Jean Ames. Photo courtesy of Karl Benjamin. © Karl Benjamin, courtesy of Louis Stern Fine Arts.
Bas Jan Ader

Bas Jan Ader receives his MFA from the CGU Art Department in 1967. Photo courtesy of Mary Sue Ader-Anderson and the Bas Jan Ader Estate.
Roland Reiss joins CGU Art

Reiss becomes the first full-time, dedicated graduate art faculty member. He acts as chair of the department until his retirement in 2001. Photo by January Parkos Arnall.
Michael Brewster joins the CGU Art Department

Michael Brewster, a Pomona and CGU alum who coined the term "acoustic sculpture," joins the CGU Art Department. Brewster would become the longest-serving member of the Art Department faculty, retiring in 2014.
The Art Building Opens

After existing in several locations throughout the Claremont Colleges, the CGU Art Department is consolidated in its own building, designed specifically to house the graduate art program.
Connie Zehr

Connie Zehr, the first full-time female professor of the CGU art department becomes department chair.
First Street Gallery

First Street Gallery is founded as a program of the Tierra del Sol Foundation by CGU Alum Michael Woodcock, working through a California Arts Council Artist in Residence grant, and teachers Jane Brucker and Rebecca Hamm (the current Director). The gallery is an exhibition resource and arts management center for adults with developmental disabilities in Claremont, California.
The Karl and Beverly Benjamin Fellowship in Art

Established during the 1996-1997 academic year, the Karl and Beverly Benjamin Fellowship in Art through the School of Arts & Humanities recognizes an outstanding student in the master of fine arts program whose major emphasis is the study of painting.
James Turrell’s “Burning Bridges”

As part of Pacific Standard Time, James Turrell '73 re-creates his flare performance "Burning Bridges" at Pomona's Bridges Auditorium. The piece was originally performed in 1971 during his first year of graduate study at CGU. Photograph by Peter Kirby. Courtesy of the artist and Pomona College Museum of Art