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Images: Nina McCue (Art, ‘19) making a woodblock print in the printmaking studio; Photo students reviewing each other's work at open studios; Student welding in the metal fabrication studio for sculpture.

Click here to make a donation to support the Art Department

Encouraging innovative expression that crosses boundaries and shapes critical conversations for cultural and societal change, the Art Department encompasses traditional studio arts - but is far from traditional.

The Art Department at UC Santa Cruz

We treat students as working artists from the moment they arrive, nurturing diverse voices. The Art Department offers the advantages of both incredible natural resources and cutting edge technology. Students use everything from the forest to the only bronze foundry in the UC system to modern print studio equipment. Students display their work, both in Open Studios and through our teaching gallery, and have the opportunity to sell their work to the public.

How You Can Help

Scholarships for graduates and undergraduates
Financial aid means students from all backgrounds can pursue the study and practice of studio arts without having multiple jobs to pay for living expenses. They can participate in intensive experiential learning opportunities such as visiting natural reserves

Update the multimedia lab
Our planned multimedia studio will integrate creative technology and interdisciplinary research with teaching and learning, featuring the latest equipment for art majors’ research and class projects. The lab will provide software, equipment, and support for video production, animation, graphics, and 3D fabrication.

EASP at the Westside Research Park
Our new Environmental Art and Social Practice (EASP) MFA promotes social justice, ecological thinking, and inventive explorations of the nature/culture interface. This unique degree supports artists in the studio and the field to collaborate with local and international experts on food, land, energy, and justice issues, with artmaking as a lens for understanding and a tool for change. Funding allows us to complete our major project: creating a flexible, multi-use maker’s space that brings UCSC off campus, further engaging these critical issues with the public.

Visiting Artist Program
Investing in the region, we explode the idea that important art only happens in big cities. Visiting artists take advantage of UCSC’s unique location and community while offering students the opportunity to expand their thinking and networks.

Learn more: 
Arts Development
artsdev@ucsc.edu