Our nationally accredited program has a full selection of offerings in studio art, visual arts education and art history.

If living a creative life and learning about the visual culture of your world interests you, then the Department of Art and Art History has a full array of courses to pique your interest and help prepare you for a career in the arts.

Our majors experience a rigorous foundation in two- and three-dimensional studies, art history and advanced courses using materials and tools rooted in antiquity through the technologies of the 21st century.

In addition to our curricular offerings, we also have an extensive exhibition program in the De Pree Gallery. The program regularly crosses cultural and historical boundaries by hosting a range of exhibitions, from internationally recognized artists to showcasing our current student work. They continually expand the dialogue about the creative process through conversations with visiting artists, lectures, workshops and critiques that are located at points where art and culture intersect.

Hope College is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). Because of our superior curriculum, facilities and faculty, Hope is the only private liberal arts college in Michigan with this distinction. Our program has been accredited since 1974.

We also engage members of the art community in Holland and beyond through local exhibitions and programming, and the Borgeson Artist in Residence Program.

We invite you to learn more about the opportunities we have to offer, and we’ll be happy to assist you on your path to the richness that a life in the visual arts can provide.

Program Highlights

Recent Blog Posts

  1. #BLM at the KAM

    Posted by Charles Mason, the Margaret Feldmann Kruizenga Curator

    A new exhibit in the Kruizenga Art Museum, Black Lives Matter, Black Culture Matters, features fi...

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  2. Sharing the Story: Dr. Damani Phillips’ Hope College Residency

    Posted by Dr. Jordan VanHemert, Assistant Professor of Music

    I met Dr. Damani Phillips in the spring of 2018. He came to the University of Illinois at Urbana-...

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  3. Reacting to (re)collection

    Posted by Sylvia Rodriguez ‘21 and Maddie Zimmerman ‘20

    Sylvia Rodriguez (‘21) and Maddie Zimmerman (‘20) are art history majors and gallery assistan...

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  4. Kruizenga Art Museum Supports the Big Read with “Truth to Power” Exhibition

    Posted by Charles Mason, the Margaret Feldmann Kruizenga Curator

    Speaking truth to power is what a new Kruizenga Art Museum exhibition does through powerful art f...

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  5. A Conversation about Photography, Creative Process and Tugs

    Posted by Greg Lookerse

    Professor Steve Nelson’s exhibition Tug: A Great Lakes Odyssey is a photographic installation c...

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  6. Collaboration is Truly a Gift: Reflections on Faculty-Student Research

    Posted by Dr. Anne Heath, associate professor of art history

    Working together this summer, both Emily and I had the privilege of doing what we love to do. Our...

    Read More
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Hope by the Numbers

  • 98%Satisfaction

    98% of previous majors and minors in the Department of Art and Art History ranked their experience as “good” or better.

    Learn about our degree programs
  • 91%Employed

    91% of art majors who graduated in 2015 are currently employed.

    See what our alums are up to
  • 12:1Student-Faculty Ratio

    With a low student-faculty ratio, you can be sure of positive interaction with our world-class faculty.

    Meet our faculty
  • 100%Visual Arts Education

    In 2015, every single one of our visual arts education majors was placed directly into the field after they graduated.

    Pursue an visual arts education major