About the Visual Arts Program
The visual arts program at Olivet College is studio-oriented with an emphasis on training students to work figuratively in the traditional two- and three-dimensional arts. The faculty has developed a curriculum that accommodates entering students at all skill levels and develops them into professionally competent graduates. Students entering the program may attain advanced placement relative to their artistic abilities.

Studio classes operate as ateliers (workshops) where students are treated as responsible learners in a general atmosphere of individual attention and informal contact. As a teaching strategy, the instructor often works on his/her art alongside the students. A system of competency validation is employed to assess and grade students. Students also have the opportunity to improve upon most of the grades they have earned in the program by taking advantage of the Credit Revalidation policy.

Within the program the faculty/student ratio is small and there is maximum access to studio facilities. In addition to the introductory courses, a full complement of studio classes in sculpture, painting, graphics and ceramics is offered. The program offers a visual arts major with concentrations in biological illustration, commercial design or studio art, a visual arts education teaching group major (K-12) and a visual arts minor.

Along with skill development, the program engages students in issues of character and responsibility through readings, writings, discussions, etc. As seniors, students are required to develop a senior project that articulates, in image and word, the synthesis of their experiences at Olivet and the relevance of the college's academic vision of Education for Individual and Social Responsibility to their lives now and in the future.

Department Chair                                    

Gary Wertheimer Chair, Visual and Performing Arts Department; Professor of Art; Visual Arts Program Director gwertheimer@olivetcollege.edu Art Building (269) 749-7627    (faculty bio)

Faculty Members  

Don Rowe Professor of Art; Director of Self and Community; Chair of Liberal Arts Core Program dcrowe@olivetcollege.edu (269) 749-7661 (faculty bio) http://www.donaldrowe.net/

Adjunct Faculty

Cynthia Eller
Adjunct Instructor of Art and Interdisciplinary Studies  
celler@olivetcollege.edu
(269) 749-7120

Susan C. Rowe
Adjunct Instructor of Art
srowe@olivetcollege.edu
(269) 749-7120

Richard Larson
Adjunct Instructor of Art History
rlarson@olivetcollege.edu
(269) 749-7120

Sid Paradine
Adjunct Instructor of Art
sparadine@olivetcollege.edu
(269) 749-7120