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ARTS AND LETTERS The Department of Arts and Letters is a hub for creative life. We aim to stimulate and support your growth as an artist as well as expand your mind and expression. Guided by distinguished faculty, we bring you venues for artistic expression and experiential learning opportunities to hone your technical skills and assist in the discovery of your creative voice.

“The art and education departments instilled in me the values of creativity, compassion and dedication, which became my guiding principles. After a 14-year career as an elementary art teacher, I was called to advocate and support other art rooms and educators. With this purpose in mind, I joined the fundraising company Art to Remember, where I make an impact and contribute to building art budgets for art classrooms nationwide. SMWC’s nurturing environment and exceptional education prepared me for my career as an art teacher and empowered me to be a leader in my field.”

Holly Uselman Brimberry ‘08, Program Coordinator, Art to Remember

Throughout the year, our students share their work in a variety of venues. They work and train with talented artists — musicians, designers, dancers, actors and entertainers — to produce art exhibits; paintings and drawings; plays and musicals; recitals and choir concerts; a literary magazine; poetry readings; cultural events and more!

Possible Career Paths:

A career field based in creativity doesn’t have to be fine arts. In a world of AI powered content, true creativity will always persevere. Combine design with psychology and delve into design thinking. Combine writing with almost any field to enhance your skill-set through blogging, content creation, or customer education.

• Art Director • Art Teacher • Illustrator

• Public Relations/Communications • Advertising • Video Journalist

“Our small class sizes profoundly affect our art and letters students because they get personal feedback on their work. We see a lot of students in our department double or triple major with majors both in our department and outside of it. We know that adding written or graphic communications skills to almost any major creates added value for future employers. The power of storytelling that comes from an Arts and Letters degree has become a valued soft skill in almost every career and field.”

Our students work together to create the Aurora magazine each year. It’s like a capstone-style project, but they get to start working on it yearly. They bring together art, graphic design and writing to create a beautiful magazine.

Rebecca Andrews, MFA Department Chair

and Professor of Graphic Design

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