While common misconception depicts art majors as students who don’t work hard

with an easy cop-out major, reality strikes a different note.

Art is often stereotyped as being a “joke major.”

There is an assumption art students don’t study, but play, paint and party

all the time instead.

As with any major, there are dedicated students and slackers, but DU’s School of Art and Art History students are characterized as hardworking and passionate.

DU students work in a variety of media, like this mixed-media wire and glass sculpture.

Art isn’t confined to drawing, painting and sculpture. These students explore art through videography and digital design.

Students often spend hours outside of class working on projects.

“When I walk by the studios in the evening and early morning and weekends I always

see students in there working...I know students are there all weekend,” said Jeanie

Tischler, Budget and Operations Coordinator at DU’s School of Art and Art

History.

Ting Lin, a junior majoring in Studio Art, said she spends anywhere from 12 to 21 hours a

week outside of class.

After projects are completed, students typically spend one or two class periods critiquing one another’s work. An integral

aspect of class, critique allows students to learn from and challenge one another.

Art students at DU have formed a unique community,strengthened as they collaborate on projects and spend time together outside of the classroom as well.

This community is diverse because DU is a liberal arts institution, thus bringing students from many disciplines and backgrounds to the art school.

“You can’t ‘spot’ an art student,” said Jason Kellermeyer, Coordinator for the Academic Program at the School of Art and Art History.

Art students build community with the rest of the school with interactive pieces that spark curiosity and attract students, faculty and staff from other disciplines.

For most students, art is more than just a major.

It’s a lifestyle, it’s who they are,

it’s why they breathe.

“I would love to spend my life making art, teaching art, using art, anything to do with it,” said Andy Gatti, a junior majoring in Studio Art and Italian.

“I want to lead a happy life and if the majority of my waking hours

are spent at a job, I think I would like to enjoy it.”

Art is as difficult a major as any other, full of hardworking students who are passionate about what they do and wish to dedicate their lives to doing it.