The Art Department first came together in 1892 with classes in free hand drawing, work in plaster casts and bas relief, design, mechanical drawing and architectural drawing.
In 1903, the Department of Manual Training was created. Manual Training offered courses in industrial art which included bookbinding, basket weaving, and more.
The Department of Drawing (see department name changes below) came to an end at the conclusion of the 1919-1920 school year. In the same year the Manual Arts department was discontinued, and Manual Training was offered as a vocational elective.
Between the years of 1920-1934 the Art Department became spread across several departments. In 1920, the Department of Home Economics offered all art courses, and the Department of Education offered courses in teaching of school drawing, and primary methods. Classes and courses began to grow throughout the fourteen year period leading to the appointment of Gregory Ivy.
In 1935, the Art Department would become its own department again under the name The Art Department at Women’s College. Gregory Ivy was appointed by Chancellor Jackson to create a first rate art department, which he successfully came to do in the years as head of the Art Department.
Ivy grew the Art Department to include a four year program for a Bachelor of Arts. Following his first year he created the first industrial design class in the United States for college women. Then in 1937, the curriculum began to expand and include design, drawing and painting, art history, ceramics, and art education. Sculpture was later added to ceramics in 1968. In addition to the curriculum expansion, the university’s first art exhibit was held.
1944 included an Arts Forum (or Arts Festival) which brought notable professionals from music, art, creative writing, and dance to the university.
In 1946 Bachelor of Fine Arts degree was formally added, following three years later a master of fine arts was added. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro was the first to offer these degree paths in the state, with UNC-Chapel Hill following after in 1950. As of 1972, UNC-Greensboro offered a Bachelor of Art with concentration in art history and studio art, Bachelor of Fine Arts with concentrations in art education, design, sculpture and painting, Master of Art Education, and Master of Fine Arts.
1986 marked the 50th anniversary of the art department. The celebration occurred October 13-15, 1986 which included notable appearances from Perry T. Rathbone, Dr. Albert Hurwitz, Neil Welliner and Marianna Pineda; lectures, museum tours, and three exhibits.
As of today the Art Department is under the umbrella of the College of Visual and Performing Arts and offers the following BA degrees: studio art, art history, fine arts, painting, printmaking and drawing, ceramics and sculpture, new median and design, photography and art education, and a Master of Fine Arts – Visual Art.
Department Heads:
Melville Vincent Fort (1892 –
William C. A. Hammel (1903 – 1926)
Mollie Anne Peterson – Under the Home Economics art department (1927 – 1934)
Gregory Ivy (1935 – 1960)
Helen A. Thrush – Acting head (1961 – 1962)
Gilbert Carpenter (1963 – 1972)
Joan Gregory (1973 – 1984)
William C. Collins (1985 – 1988)
Dr. Carl Goldstein – Acting head (1989 -1989)
K. Porter Aichele (1990 – 2009)
Chris Cassidy (2010 – 2013)
Lawrence Jenkins (2013- 2018)
Chris Cassidy (2018 – 2023)
Barbara Campbell Thomas (2023 – )
Department Names:
Department of Art (1892)
Department of Manual Training – subsection of the art department (1892)
Department of Manual Art – sub section of the art department (1906)
Department of Drawing (1907)
Department of Art (1935)
College of Visual and Performing Arts – School of Art (2016)