Art Department

Creative & critical expression

The studio art major is a dynamic program, placing strong emphasis on applied skills and experiential learning. Our program breaks down traditional silos, encouraging you to explore various artistic processes in relation to one another. This interdisciplinary approach fosters a well-rounded artistic skill set and adaptability in the rapidly evolving landscape of contemporary art.

You can learn to use advanced software, fabrication tools and interactive media, expanding your capacity for experimentation and expression.

The studio program focuses on critical inquiry and writing skills to ensure you not only create visually compelling work but also develop the ability to articulate the conceptual underpinnings of your art. This prepares you to engage in a meaningful dialogue about your work and the broader art world. You also receive guidance on professional practices including portfolio development, exhibition curation and digital self-promotion. This prepares you for a wide range of careers in the arts and related industries.

The art history program will enrich your understanding of the art of Western civilization by setting it within its broader social and cultural context, and by considering the variety of alternatives and responses to the Western tradition. You will explore artistic meaning through responsive as well as analytical discussion and writing, and learn to trust and strengthen your own voice as you acquire an understanding of the vocabulary and methods of analysis of the discipline of art history.

The Windgate Visual Arts Center, completed in 2019, offers students the finest in studio and gallery space. Learn more about our creative areas of study.

The Windgate Visual Arts Center is the creative heart and soul of the Millsaps College campus, and the place where dreams and ideas take shape and form. Whether pursuing a degree in studio art, digital arts or art history, students will find no better space to help them bring their innovations to artistic practice.
The Windgate Center boasts the finest in studio spaces for painting, drawing, printing and papermaking, woodworking, sculpting (with a foundry), and digital art. The 17,300-square-foot building sits on the west side of campus, adjacent to a new gate on West Street.

Support for Millsaps’ Windgate Center started with a $2.5 million challenge grant from the Windgate Foundation in Arkansas. The Windgate Foundation has supported contemporary craft and visual arts since 1993, including support of visual arts programming; materials, tools and equipment for visual arts; art-integrated instructional programming; and art-related scholarships in higher education.

The building gives students access to a variety of studios that encourage creativity, collaboration and interdisciplinary making. From our foundry and metal fabrication studio, to a dedicated woodshop space, a well-appointed hand papermaking studio, expansive printmaking studio, as well as drawing, painting, and Mac lab spaces, students have the opportunity to work with a variety of contemporary and traditional techniques and processes.

A major gift from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Foundation helped drive other gifts from individual alumni and donors.

Our dedicated student studios provide personal studio spaces for art majors in their junior and senior years. The student studios are a hotbed of ideas, community and collaboration.

The Hall Gallery, located inside the Windgate Center and supported by a generous gift from Millsaps alumnus and former trustee Maurice Hall and his wife, Cathy, provides a beautiful space for art exhibitions by students as well as professional artists from the Jackson area and beyond.

The Hall Gallery allows us to host spectacular installations from incredible artists. The gallery showcases group, solo, student and faculty exhibitions. Our majors present their work in the Hall Gallery for their capstone exhibitions and have the opportunity to show their work in a professional space.