Faculty-Mentored Research
There is no shortage of research topics for students interested in taking their study of art history and visual & media arts to the next level. Faculty members are enthusiastic mentors who are eager to deepen students’ understanding of subjects that may have only been peripherally covered in the classroom.
Recent research topics that students have pursued include:
- Curating the University Museum’s exhibition “Sacred and Sensuous: Hindu Art from the Collection”
- “Conflict as Fashion: the Cultural and Power Relationships Visible in the Art of Nouveau Kimono of Greater Taisho Era Japan”
- “Economics of Aesthetics: Neoclassical Charleston and Philadelphia Furniture, 1790-1815”
- “Art for a Decade: The Young British Artists of the 1990s
- The Age of Devotion: Stained Glass by Marc Chagall”
- “Engaging Experience: Reconciling Subject and Object in the Early Paintings of Gustave Caillebotte”
- “Performance, Intent, and Aspiration in the Self-Portraits of Francisco de Goya”
Student Research Funding
University grants for student research as well as summer research fellowships fund independent scholarly or creative projects. With the Richmond Guarantee, every undergraduate student is eligible to receive a fellowship of up to $5,000 for an unpaid or underpaid summer internship or faculty-mentored research project.
In addition, many students successfully apply for academic year research grants to fund costs in preparation for writing their senior theses including trips to archives, libraries, and museums. Funds are also available for students to travel to present work at conferences.
Every spring, over 300 A&S students present their research at the A&S Student Symposium. Student researchers share their scholarly work with the campus community and the public in the form of oral presentations, poster sessions, performances, and art exhibits.
Equipment, Resources & Studio Spaces
The Department of Art & Art History provides a range of resources, equipment, and studio spaces to support artistic exploration and academic growth. The department is equipped with state-of-the-art specialized facilities for printmaking, photography, sculpture, film, video, sound, drawing, and painting.
The Visual Resource Center offers guidance on image searching, copyright, and usage, alongside access to global image collections, art-related news, reference books, and a DVD collection. Students also have access to ARTstor, a vast image database with over a million images, including 15,000 locally digitized collections, accessible both on and off-campus for study and presentations.
University & Local Museums
University of Richmond Museums comprises the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, the Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, and the Lora Robins Gallery. The museums are home to diverse and fascinating collections and exhibitions of art, artifacts, and natural history specimens. Admission to all museums is free and open to the public. The museums regularly present exhibitions, lectures, openings, gallery talks, workshops, concerts, symposia, and other programs.
The Department of Classics’ Ancient World Gallery is a space for learning about and being inspired by the art and material culture of the ancient Mediterranean world. The gallery houses antiquities that had been collected for the museum of Richmond College at the end of the 19th century, including the mummified remains and coffin of an Egyptian woman named Ti Ameny Net.
Richmond boasts a range of museums and galleries showcasing art, architecture, and history. At the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), students can explore nearly 50,000 works of art spanning 6,000 years of world history. The VMFA is open 365 days a year, and general admission is always free.