Your Creative Launchpad

It’s always a good time to begin preparing for your professional journey, and the Department of Art & Art History is highly invested in your success. Throughout your coursework, you’ll engage in career preparation that’s built directly into the curriculum.

With an art, graphic design, or art history degree, you’ll build valuable career skills that can open doors to many professions. What can you achieve with a degree from the Department of Art & Art History? Anything you put your mind to!

The Creative Professional’s Toolkit

The Art, Graphic Design, and Art History curriculums are built to help you develop the most sought-after career skills in the professional world. Get ready to:

  • Communicate with Confidence: Refine your creative vision and scholarship, presenting your work to diverse audiences through classroom and conference presentations, studio critiques, and research writing.
  • Collaborate and Connect: Build valuable teamwork and leadership skills with your peers, through experiences such as team projects, community murals, BFA exhibitions, and curatorial projects.
  • Become a Critical Thinker: Master the ability to analyze the ideas and materials that create the visual world, learning to critique your own work, the work of others, and the historical foundations they spring from. These skills support research projects, studio and design critiques, and rigorous classroom inquiry.
  • Build Your Professional Brand: Create a strong research, art, or design portfolio, craft a resume and CV, and develop the entrepreneurial skills needed to thrive, attract clients, enter the K-12 classroom, or continue your academic studies.
  • Master Technology: Fuse traditional mediums with cutting-edge digital tools to become an innovative and adaptable creator.
  • Engage Across Perspectives: Learn to collaborate and communicate with different groups, preparing you to be an empathetic and culturally competent leader.

Take Your Education Beyond the Classroom 

The Department of Art & Art History provides abundant opportunities to gain hands-on real-world experience, build your network, and prepare for your professional life.

  • Experiential Learning: See real-world data on the hands-on opportunities students have, from internships to community projects.
  • Internships: Gain real-world experience through internships on campus and in Charlotte with corporate, community, and agency partners. 
  • Professional Practice: Exhibit your work in on- and off-campus shows, or even work as a professional artist assistant.
  • Global Learning: Immerse yourself in the art and design world with international study abroad programs or the popular CoAA NYC Spring Break trip. 
  • Industry Connections: Build your network through gallery and museum visits, meet with visiting artists and designers, and attend talks by professionals in your field.
  • Community Engagement: Connect with the community by working on projects like public murals, designing materials for local non-profits, or taking a class with a McColl Center Artist in Residence
  • Conferences: Participate in the annual presentation of student research with the Society of Art Historians or with the Undergraduate Research Conference
  • Student Leadership: Get involved with student clubs, peer-to-peer mentoring, and undergraduate research.
  • Skill-Building Workshops: Attend workshops at renowned art and craft schools like Penland and Arrowmont with the support of scholarships, or with local design organizations like AAF and AIGA.
  • Student Teaching: Gain hands-on classroom experience as you prepare for a career as a K-12 art educator.

Charting Your Course

Take advantage of the extensive resources available within the Department of Art & Art History and the Career Center at UNC Charlotte.