BA MAJOR & MINOR

Learning by Doing

Are you wanting to pursue a career as an artist, artisan, creative professional, or continue your studies in a graduate program? Our Art and Craft program is perfect for both the student interested in creating within a variety of mediums as well as the student who wants to focus on one.

Our program centers around studying art by experiencing and doing. Core courses give you a foundation in the process of making art and its impact on human life and culture throughout history. In studio courses, you’ll discover and develop your creative potential and direction while honing your ability to creatively problem solve and center making as a practice of building community.

Why Choose One?

You’ll explore visual art-making in all forms, and have the choice to dedicate your studio courses to improving skills and creativity in:

  • Ceramics
  • Sculpture
  • Painting and Drawing
  • Printmaking and Book Arts
  • Material Studies
    • Woodworking, Fiber Arts, & Blacksmithing
  • Media Arts
    • Photography, Animation, & Film

A Future as an Artist

You’ll learn to develop and respect your own creative process, equipping you not just to create but also to make a living with it. Many graduates work as professional artists or go on to further study in a graduate program or in art school. This major can also open career opportunities in art management, museums and galleries, art-related businesses, film making, art conservation, studio art, and other creative fields.

Work Crews

Art and Craft is integrated throughout the Warren Wilson experience. You can choose to enhance your coursework by working on one of the Art and Craft Crews. You could learn to cultivate a dye garden and use wool from the farm sheep to make yarn on the Fiber Arts Crew or partner with the Forestry Crew to gather sustainably created charcoal and create beautiful metalworks on the Blacksmith Crew. Other crews include 3D Studio, Ceramics, Communications, Fine Woodworking, and Holden Arts Gallery.

Join a Community of Artists

Our location near Asheville, a city with enormous creative and artistic energy, has led many of our students to develop their sense of entrepreneurship by selling their work on campus and in Asheville. From the downtown art galleries to the River Arts District to the legal graffiti walls, you will find your space to thrive in Asheville.

A student smiles from behind a table of their art work they are selling at a craft fair.

Undergraduate Research Project

Art students have the option to work with a faculty mentor to develop their skills as a researcher and creator on a year-long research project. You’ll propose a topic, develop a thesis, apply a research method, and present your results at the end of the year.

Past student projects

  • Exploration of photographic materials and surfaces
  • Feminine identity, photography, and the uncanny
  • Working with mica and micaceous clay

Explore Classes in This Program

ART 2370

Furniture Design

In this course, you will learn how to create functional furniture pieces using traditional materials such as steel and wood. You’ll also have the opportunity to explore building furniture with alternative materials that promote sustainable practices.

ART 1610

Watercolor

This studio course introduces you to the basic techniques of painting with the medium of watercolor. You’ll complete exercises that reveal the nature of watercolor and some of the more predictable “accidents” that occur. Throughout the course you’ll complete a series of paintings that explore a thematic idea.

ART 4130

Senior Project

Design and create your own cohesive body of work to culminate your art studies. When finished, your work will go on display in a public exhibition at campus’ Elizabeth Holden Gallery.

Still curious? See the Curriculum
Meet Our Faculty

Teaching at Warren Wilson College has given me the opportunity to see first hand what a unique educational atmosphere the campus, people and students involved have to offer. This community has an abundance of cross-disciplinary resources that support and enhance the educational experience.

James Darr, MFA
Meet James Darr See all Fine Arts Faculty
James Darr
James Darr, MFA

Our department is a community where, through art, we create moments of deep connection and genuine learning, and where, together, we are building a future we all want to be part of.

Charlotte Taylor, MFA
Meet Charlotte Taylor See all Fine Arts Faculty
Charlotte Taylor, MFA
James Darr

Hands-on, All-in

Warren Wilson integrates your academics with work and community engagement. Engaging all your passions and interests results in an education with meaning and real professional experience.
Holden Gallery
Holden Art Gallery 
Feature your art and view installations at the Elizabeth Holden Art Gallery
spring arts festival
Arts Fair
Sell your wares at our Annual Spring Arts Fair
Where Art and Education Intersect 
Willow Collins '15 makes models for the Smithsonian Institution
Empty Bowls
Empty Bowls 
Handmade bowls contribute to fundraiser for food security
Expanding Our Craft 
$948,750 to strengthen our craft programming
Holden Art Gallery
Campus Facilities

Holden Visual Arts Center and Studios

Our 10,000 square foot art center houses a printmaking studio, a media arts studio, photography darkrooms, faculty offices, an auditorium, and an art gallery for permanent collections and visiting exhibitions. The Ceramics studio next door hosts studios for ceramics and outdoor spaces for kilns. Next to the Ceramics Studio is a Metal Studio dedicated to metal fabrication along with a foundry. The Lucy Fletcher Studios houses instructional space for drawing, painting, 3D design, and sculpture.

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