What special facilities does the Western Art Department have?
Does your department offer any study abroad opportunities?
What type of internship opportunities do you have available?
Do students and faculty work together on research projects?

What special facilities does the Western Art Department have?
The Art Department contains painting, ceramic, photography, sculpture and printmaking studios, along with a foundry and a computer lab with the latest graphic design software. The department also has an art gallery and a small art library.

The MWSU animation and graphic design lab is equiped with 22 MacPro quad processor computers, the latest design software including Maya, Adobe Master Collection CS4 that includes Flash CS4, Photoshop Professionla CS4, Illustrator CS4, Premier CS4, After Effects CS4, Fireworks CS4, InDesign CS4 and Dreamweaver CS4. We also support Firefox and Safari web search applications. We also have the latest Epson injet printers including 3 Stylus Pro 4800, a large Stylus Pro 4800, and a large format Stylus Pro 8700.

Does your department offer any study abroad opportunities?
Yes. Every other year, the Art Department offers a travel and study abroad trip to Europe to study art and art history. The past two trips have been three-week trips, where students spent two weeks in Rome and one week in Florence.

What types of applied learning opportunities do you have available?
All seniors exhibit their works in a gallery show before they graduate.

Art Education majors complete student teaching requirements in area elementary, middle or high schools.

All Graphic Design majors complete internships at area businesses and organizations to gain practical experience in their field before they graduate. Western students have completed internships at the Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art, RJ Promotions, Graphic Stop, Dreamweavers and St. Joseph News-Press, to name a few. They also participate in a senior exhibition.

Do students and faculty work together on research projects?
Yes. Students and faculty often work together either one-on-one or in small groups on research projects. Recent projects include Flux Variation on Cone 10 Oxidation/Reduction Glazes, Research into the Development of Color in Cone 9/10 Oxidation Reduction Glazes, and Exploration and Replication of Salt-Firing Methodology by Early Midwest Potters.