Studios & Facilities: Department of Art

Studios and Facilities

A community of creatives

Together, let’s bring your artistic vision to life.

The Department of Art focuses on learning in the classroom, but also places tremendous value on community-based learning through time spent in studios and shared galleries. Our main building — the recently renovated Bardwell Hall — creates opportunities for the arts to play a key role in university-wide conversation. Excellent studios, galleries and labs provide diverse resources for making art.

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An Innovative Home for the Arts

Bardwell Hall

Located right in the heart of our Southern California campus, Bardwell Hall is a renovated and reimagined space dedicated to the visual arts. This building, opened in fall 2021, is the visionary new home for the Department of Art. From individual studio spaces and outdoor exhibition areas to computer labs and galleries, there is no shortage of ways for our students to engage with 51��’s vibrant art community.

Quick Facts

1,100-square-foot student gallery
40 individual student studio spaces
Outdoor art yard
Outdoor exhibition space
Rooftop terrace
5 large studio spaces for painting, drawing, photo lighting/documentation, new media, and interdisciplinary art
8 faculty/studio offices
3 computer labs
Photo darkroom/lightroom
Critique spaces

A large student gallery functions as the signature space and the formal entrance for the building. It will continuously showcase current student work, as well as student-curated exhibitions –– creating numerous performance and exhibition opportunities for students in art, theatre, music and more.

One of the defining features of Bardwell Hall’s new exterior is a large portal that draws in natural light and provides views into the student gallery space. A rooftop terrace is available for informal gatherings.

The Painting Studio houses painting courses of all levels. Designed to maximize the available natural light, and to transition seamlessly to artificial light, the Painting Studio is an ideal teaching environment and an inspiring space for students.

The main corridor of the building leads into a large room with senior studio spaces and an open critique area. This area gives you a chance to work individually, with personalizable studio spaces, and also work collaboratively, with intentionally structured open work areas.

A roll-up door at the edge of the senior studio room opens up to an outdoor art yard –– where you can work in an open, fully ventilated area that allows freedom to explore different media and to work in materials not suited for indoor use.

Dedicated Studio Spaces

Bardwell Hall houses new studio spaces, 40 of which are individual spots dedicated to students. Upperclassmen in particular are assigned personal studios as a space to develop their artmaking practice. We pride ourselves on our strong student studio culture, and encourage collaboration and community.

The Earl and Virginia Green Art Gallery

Renovated and dedicated in 2013, the Earl and Virginia Green Art Gallery is a hub for rotating contemporary art exhibitions on 51��’s campus. Students in the Department of Art are able to use this space for key exhibition projects and can also visit the gallery to experience the wide array of work displayed within its walls.

Explore the Gallery

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