Painting & Drawing Studio Discipline
Our curriculum provides an intensive opportunity to develop formal and technical skills, balanced with conceptual and material exploration. Students are encouraged to search for answers to questions about the relevance and position painting holds in contemporary art practice, its relation to global visual culture, and today’s information age and multicultural environments.
Students are welcome to fully concentrate on painting or drawing as unique and direct mediums in themselves, or to explore more personal integrations with other disciplines, such as printmaking, sculpture, fibers, digital technology, and time-based processes. All students in the program are encouraged and required to participate in student painting groups, organized and course-related exhibitions and events. These opportunities may include exhibiting in galleries, alternative and public spaces, community art centers, and museums.
Our students draw ideas and inspiration from the full range of experiences that a university can offer, including possible collaborations with other departments and campus organizations, such as the School of Architecture, The Multi-Cultural Student Center, The Great Lakes WATER Institute, Special Collections and the American GeographicalSociety at the UWM Golda Meir Library. Ultimately, our faculty are dedicated to challenging and developing each student’s own perception and definition of painting and drawing, allowing the students to discover for themselves the boundaries that define their own creative practice into new subjective territories.
First Year Program in Art & Design
We don’t expect our new students to figure out college life on their own. Our First Year Program is designed to help new art and design students. In addition to specific coursework carefully chosen to foster success, we connect students to the many resources and opportunities found within a research university. Plus, we surround students with individualized support as they dive deeper into their program and find their way.
Galleries & Exhibitions
Our art and design programs host many galleries and exhibitions both on campus and throughout the community. Our campus is home to four permanent art galleries, each with its own unique mission. All of them are free, open to the public and accessible for everyone to enjoy.
Milwaukee is also home to dozens of galleries and museums. All students in an art and design degree program receive a free annual membership to the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM). That means you can visit MAM and its events, including the popular MAM After Dark series, free of charge while you are a student.
Art & Design Programs
Art & Design studio disciplines are connected to a variety of academic programs, including majors, minors, certificates and graduate programs. This is a full list of all programs offered by the Department of Art & Design.
Faculty
Which faculty you have within this program is dependent upon your chosen courses or interests. For a list of all Art & Design faculty and staff please click the button below.
- Teaching Faculty IV, First Year Program
- Teaching Faculty IV, Painting & Drawing
- Director, First Year Program
- Co-Coordinator, Hubei University of Technology
- cshayes@uwm.edu
- Mitchell Hall 371
- Lecturer, Painting & Drawing
- Lecturer, First Year Program
- amoneill@uwm.edu
- 414-251-9234
- Mitchell Hall 329
- Associate Professor (on sabbatical fall 2025), Painting & Drawing
- Co-Chair, Department of Art & Design
- Area Head, Painting & Drawing
- piehl@uwm.edu
- Mitchell Hall 329
- Lecturer, Painting & Drawing
- Lecturer, First Year Program
- plunketj@uwm.edu
- Mitchell Hall 323B
Undergraduate Scholarship Priority Applications
Fall: December 15
Graduate Applications
Fall: January 25
Those eligible for the Advanced Opportunity Program Fellowship (AOP) should apply by December 10.
Undergraduate Programs
Katie Martin-Meurer, art-admission@uwm.edu
Graduate Programs
Jessica Meuninck Ganger, art-grad-admission@uwm.edu
General Info & Questions
Contact Form | 414-229-4763
