With the help of professors who’ll be there for you
Whether you’re interested in ceramics or sculpture, drawing or painting, photography or video, printmaking or art history, there’s a place for you here in Florida.
Our Visual Arts program teaches you the fundamentals and then sets you free to pursue your own passion. We even offer seven semiprivate student studios for 24/7 work within our 33,000-square-foot Nielsen Center for Visual Arts.
Liberal arts courses will round out your education; accessible and passionate professors will support you every step of the way.
Only@Eckerd
Exhibit your work professionally
Every Visual Arts major puts on a full solo exhibition in one of our three campus art galleries during their senior year: Cobb Gallery, Elliott Gallery or the Main Gallery. Look for senior theses listed on our Visual Arts Events calendar!
Supercharge your creativity
Benefit from having work spaces for so many different media as well as students from different disciplines—notably art history, human development, music, film studies and theatre—in one arts center, our Nielsen Center for Visual Arts.
In Their Own Words
“Studying visual arts at Eckerd allowed me to learn how to express myself. I was shy my freshman year and raised to believe that all the good artists were of the past. But Eckerd was a place where my peers and professors encouraged me to learn more, try harder and reach new goals with different kinds of mediums and forms of self-expression. For any incoming high schoolers that want an art degree, Eckerd’s art program provided one on one meetings, meaningful critiques from peers, and the ability to have a studio space, which all gave me the chance to hone in on my new skills. Getting my MFA is next.”
—Sam DuBois ’24
Beyond the Classroom
Take your pick of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Salvador Dalí Museum and The Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg or the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota.
Every Visual Arts major puts on a full solo exhibition in one of our three galleries their senior year: Cobb Gallery, Elliott Gallery or the Main Gallery.
Our Visual Arts students have volunteered at Creative Clay downtown. All students are asked to take at least one designated Reflective Service Learning course, which includes at least 20 hours of service, before graduation, either on campus or internationally.
Service Pics on FlickrTake a Spring-Into-Summer courses to study image-making and symbolism in the creative culture of Japan. Or study Art History in London for an entire semester through our Office of Global Education.
Study Abroad Pics on FlickrEckerd College Visual Arts news
- Eckerd College internship at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg uses 3D technology to help conserve a centuries old exhibit - August 27, 2025
- An Eckerd College Autumn Term course about comics. Seriously. - August 26, 2025
- Eckerd College art professor retires after half a century of teaching - May 21, 2025
- Study abroad inspires Eckerd College student’s first senior art thesis exhibition - February 28, 2024
- A way out and a therapeutic outlet for new Eckerd College visual arts professor and his students - October 5, 2023
- Helping students find their passion and voice is central goal of new Eckerd College visual arts professor - October 5, 2023
Popular classes
Extended Media Art
Students learn about emerging creative technologies through interdisciplinary studio-based projects. While creating artworks students explore approaches to interactivity (UI/UX), installation art, site-specific design, and sound art.
Ceramic Sculpture
This advanced ceramic sculpture course challenges serious artists to push their technical mastery, creating ambitious, complex, and large-scale works. Structured guidelines and the freedom to develop pieces grounded in their ongoing artistic research encourage hands-on experimentation, bold exploration, and dedicated studio practice.
Facilities
The bold new Center for Visual Arts features:
- Printmaking, painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture & digital arts studios
- Semiprivate studio space for up to 28 students
- A ceramics and sculpture yard
- Digital lab
- Two galleries
- Plaza and patios
Quick contact
Outcomes
What can I do with a visual arts degree?
- Architect
- Art director
- Arts Management
- Community-based arts program director
- Fashion designer
- Gallery owner
- Graphic designer
- Painter
- Photographer
- Potter
- Sculptor
- Theatre set designer
- Urban planner
Where our visual arts majors go to graduate school
- American University
- Ball State University
- Burren College of Art (Ireland).
- Claremont Graduate School
- Claremont Graduate University
- Edinburgh College of Art (Scotland)
- Florida State University
- George Mason University
- Goddard College
- Hunter College
- Kent State University
- Lesley University
- Maryland Institute College of Art
- Mills College of Art
- Ohio University
- Pacific Northwest College of Art
- Pennsylvania State University
- Pratt Institute
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Savannah College of Art & Design
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago: SAIC
- Seattle University
- Southern Illinois University
- Texas A&M at Corpus Christi
- The San Francisco Art Institute
- The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- University of Delaware
- University of Florida
- University of Indiana at Bloomington
- University of Kentucky
- University of Missouri
- University of New Mexico
- University of South Florida
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Watkins College of Art
Where our visual arts majors go to work
Visual Arts grad Michael Specht ’11 helped develop Portrait Mode on the iPhone and is now the ultimate decider, or “Golden Eye,” for whether camera image/video quality meets Google’s high standards.
