Art

Overview


One of the select art departments to earn accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the Art Department at SUNY Oswego seeks students ready for demanding programs that offer opportunity for diversity and focus. We seek fearless students wanting to be among the select few that can understand where the world has been, define the world as it is today, and speculate on the world of tomorrow.

Our majors and programs train students for careers in many professionsincluding studio art, graphic design, web design, multimedia, illustration, photography, ceramics, museum studies, expressive arts therapy and arts management. Many students, especially those inthe competitive Bachelor of Fine Arts program, go on to graduate studies, including in our Master of Arts Teaching program.

Facilities in Tyler Hall include two galleries and studios as diverse as ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, painting, photography and foundation design. The building also houses a woodshop and digital imaging lab. The graphic design program in Lanigan Hall is close to the Center for Communication and Information Technology, and provides ready access to digital media labs, audio/video projects studio and a portfolio preparation and framing studio.

Majors and Programs

Students can elect to major in Studio Art, Graphic Design or Art History within the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Fine Arts degree programs.

Students in the BA program pursue multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary study, and can major or minor in a second subject such as arts management, psychology, cognitive science, broadcasting, public relations, communications, advertising and marketing, technology education and information science, to name a few.

For talented students seeking a demanding program with a high degree of focus, the BFA offers in-depth study of either Studio Art or Graphic Design. The BFA is limited to select students chosen through a separate application process. Students seeking admission into our BFA programs need to demonstrate an aptitude for hard work evidenced by a strong well-presented portfolio, exemplary academic performance and solid writing skills.

Students also pursue advance study through our Master's in Art program which involves intensive creative work culminating in a master's thesis exhibition. We also collaborate with our School of Education for a Master of Arts in Teaching Art program for future teachers.

Student Opportunities

Students exhibit, collaborate and work closely with professors and younger students -- even those of elementary school age -- in a vibrant department abounding with opportunities for interaction.

Student groups like Arts Alive!, Break Thru Design and the Student Art Exhibition Committee encourage exhibitions and field trips. Showcase opportunities include our annual juried exhibition, BFA exhibits each semester for those graduating and another for master of arts in teaching students. Student work attracts the campus, community and media to the galleries in Tyler Hall and at Oswego State Downtown, an extension of the College Book Store.

One effort to reach the surrounding community had student artists teaming with Oswego City School District teachers and fourth-graders in Kingsford Elementary School for an adopt-a-school project. The program supported several of the the School of Communication, Media and the Arts’ goals, including finding meaningful ways to assist local schools and artists, teaching the importance of sharing talent and time in the community, and introducing the academic and artistic culture of a college campus to young students.

Faculty

Our talented and decorated professionals demonstrate the width, depth and vitality of possibilities available to students themselves. Examples include:

  • The department chair, Cythina Clabough, exhibits work on the regional and national level in juried, group and solo shows, and has worked as a freelance graphic designer/illustrator and computer prepress consultant.
  • Juan Perdiguero is an active mixed media artist whose work merging photography, drawing, painting and printmaking appears nationally and internationally in numerous exhibitions at commercial galleries, alternative art spaces and museums.
  • Art historian Lisa Seppi has an extensive background in museum curation, with research and teaching interests spanning modern and contemporary European and American art, race and gender, Native American art and culture, feminist art history and museum studies.
  • Other faculty work in ceramics, digital photography, installation art, printmaking, painting, art history and more.

Chair
Cynthia Clabough, cynthia.clabough@oswego.edu

Ceramics
Roxanne Jackson, roxanne.jackson@oswego.edu

Graphic Design
Cara Brewer Thompson, cara.thompson@oswego.edu
Cynthia Clabough, cynthia.clabough@oswego.edu
Sarah Haig, sarah.haig@oswego.edu
Kelly Roe, kelly.roe@oswego.edu
Devin Kerr, devin.kerr@oswego.edu

Art History
Erin Benay, erin.benay@oswego.edu
Lisa Langlois, lisa.langlois@oswego.edu
Lisa Seppi, lisa.seppi@oswego.edu

Design (2-D and 3-D)
Richard Metzgar, richard.metzgar@oswego.edu

Drawing
Juan Perdiguero, juan.perdiguero@oswego.edu

Painting
Christopher McEvoy, christopher.mcevoy@oswego.edu

Photography
Julieve Jubin, julieve.jubin@oswego.edu

Printmaking
Kelly Roe, kelly.roe@oswego.edu

MAT Program
Jacquelyn Kibbey, jacquelyn.kibbey@oswego.edu

Sculpture
Dorene Quinn, dorene.quinn@oswego.edu

Part-Time Faculty (Adjunct Faculty)
Sarah Barnard-Blitz, sarah.barnardblitz@oswego.edu
Amy Bartell, amy.bartell@oswego.edu
Judith Ann Benedict, judith.benedict@oswego.edu
Jason Cheney, jason.cheney@oswego.edu
William DeMott, william.demott@oswego.edu
Michael Flanagan, michael.flanagan@oswego.edu
Lindsey Guile, Lindsey.guile@oswego.edu
Kacie Haynes, Kacie.haynes@oswego.edu
Stacy Huntington, shunting@oswego.edu
Walter Langlois, wlangloi@oswego.edu
Lydia Larrabee, lydia.groskin@oswego.edu
Mindy Ostrow, Mindy.ostrow2@oswego.edu
Paul Pearce, paul.pearce@oswego.edu
Carla Senecal, senecal@oswego.edu
Barbara Stout, barbara.stout@oswego.edu

After Oswego

Our art and graphic design graduates work in wide variety of careers. Some go on to museums, galleries, advertising agencies, media companies, graphic design firms and more. Others pursue self-employed studio work. They find opportunities in photography, illustration, digital design, information science, education, motion graphics, integrated media design, book arts and many other fields.

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