About

Appalachian State University offers the only undergraduate program focusing on art management within the University of North Carolina system. The Bachelor of Arts in Art and Visual Culture - Art Management degree incorporates the study of studio art, art history, and art management with a required minor in non-profit management.

As a student, you’ll acquire an understanding of art, cultural production and visual culture in a range of historical and contemporary contexts. You will be prepared for a range of careers in museums, galleries, arts organizations and cultural institutions as well as future studies in graduate and professional programs.

Practical experience is gained on campus at Smith Gallery, where students play a vital role in preparing exhibitions. Off campus, students have completed the required internship at nationally and internationally recognized art organizations, galleries and museums.

See students’ work

After Graduation

Employment: Most students start jobs right after graduation. A list of recent and past employers is located in the right column.

Graduate school: Some students have continued their education at Florida State University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, New York University, University of Virginia, Savannah College of Art and Design, Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London.

Career Exploration website

People

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  Alumna Profile: Dianna Cameron ’13

  Cameron is curator of exhibitions and collections director at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum. She recently was featured in Our State magazine alongside curators from the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro and North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.

  Listen to Dianna Cameron ’13 discuss her time at App State

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  Student Profile: Gabrielle Knight

  Senior Gabrielle Knight said opportunities to work in Appalachian’s Catherine J. Smith Gallery, Looking Glass Gallery and Turchin Center for the Visual Arts have helped her choose her major and build a strong resume for beginning her career.

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  Faculty Profile: Jody Servon

  Jody Servon is an artist, curator and educator engaged in art in cultural production. Her projects and social experiments have appeared in exhibitions, screenings and public spaces in the U.S., and beyond. She has received multiple awards including two fellowships from the North Carolina Arts Council. Articles and reviews have appeared in: The New York Times, Time.com, The Palm Beach Post, The Miami Herald, Arizona Daily Star and The Winston Salem Journal. Servon’s work has been featured in numerous art publications and literary journals.

  Creative connecting: Jody Servon at TEDxGreenville 2014

Minors

A minor is required in Non-Profit Organizations.

View all minors

Engagement Outside the Classroom

Art History Club – An environment in which to discuss issues related to art history, and to prepare for careers in art history and related fields.

Arts Management Organization (AMO) – Seeks to promote professionalism and networking within the arts fields by increasing the awareness of the arts on Appalachian’s campus and in the community.

Student Art League – An organization bridging the gap among the Department of Art’s many disciplines.

The Peel Literature and Arts Review – The university’s student-run literary arts publication that is produced three times a year.

Appalachian Popular Programming Society (APPS) – a student organization that selects, plans, promotes and presents a diverse variety of popular entertainment programs.

Learn more >>

Global Learning

Appalachian is committed to introducing students to different cultures and teaching them how to live and interact in a global society.  In the Department of Art, faculty regularly take students on regional and national trips, as well as study abroad programs,  to introduce them to the diverse world of art.

Internships

Internship sites in the past 10 years:

Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, Portland, OR Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, CO Baltimore Clayworks, MD Peace Center, Greenville, SC Penland School of Crafts, Bakersville, NC Reynolda House Museum of America Art, Winston Salem, NC Cornelius Art Center, Cornelius, NC Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC Dreams of Wilmington, Wilmington, NC South Eastern Center for Contemporary Art/SECCA, Winston Salem, NC Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA De Young/Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA Museum of Modern Art/MoMA, New York, NY South Eastern Center for Contemporary Art/SECCA, Winston Salem, NC High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA Greenhill Center for North Carolina Art, Greensboro, NC Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York, NY Elsewhere Living Museum and Residency, Greensboro, NY Sawtooth School for Visual Art, Winston Salem, NC Arts Council of Winston Salem and Forsyth County, Winston Salem, NC McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, NC Spruill Center for the Arts, Atlanta, GA Asheville Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts Department, Asheville, NC Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY Exit Art, New York, NY

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO Ackland Museum of Art, Chapel Hill, NC Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC Green Rice Gallery, Charlotte, NC Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University, Auburn, AL Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL National Endowment for the Arts, Washington DC Youth Art Connection, Atlanta, GA Rocky Mount Arts Center, Rocky Mount, NC Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC Cross-Cultural Solutions, Rabat, Morocco Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY Lee Hansley Gallery, Raleigh, NC Art Space, Raleigh, NC Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winston Salem, NC Baltimore Clayworks Inc, Baltimore, MD Leigh Yaukey Woodson Art Museum, Wausaw, WI Copley Society, Boston, MA CAM Raleigh, NC The Paley Center for Media, NYC Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter, UK Greenville Center for Creative Arts, Greenville, SC Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

Admission Requirements

There are no admission requirements beyond admission to Appalachian State University.