Art Major

Purse Your Callings in Art

Acquire and hone artistic skills in an encouraging environment where ideas and the students themselves are respected and valued. Producing art that is purposeful, students explore the collaboration of art and faith through content that reflects their spiritual growth in relation to their study of art. This major develops students into skillful artists and prepares them for employment and leadership in the arts within a distinctly Christian environment.

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Gaining skills in drawing, design, color theory, and art history, you can choose from 2 areas of specialization to focus your art degree:

As an art major at Concordia, you will find a place where artists can hone their craft while also taking advantage of the time and opportunity to explore artistic interests and experiment with new techniques. The Art Department seeks to provide a well-rounded experience that molds students into confident artists and caring individuals while they work toward a successful career.

Developing Wise, Honorable, and Cultivated Citizens

What Students Are Saying

Student and Alumni Success

Graduates from Concordia University Irvine’s School of Arts are pursuing their passion and creating work in a variety of professional callings and postgraduate studies.

Cake-Maker Extraordinaire

Lindsey Sinatra '07
Founder, A Wish and a Whisk

From a bright and airy bakery in Orange County, CUI alum Lindsey Sinatra ’07 has become one of the premiere cake-makers in California thanks to a defining moment with CUI professor Niclas Krüger.

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Every Object Tells a Story

David Dargatz '14

Since he was a young boy, David Dargatz has been mesmerized by design and the thought that is put into creating a work of art.

Read Story

Humans of Concordia

Our students are many things - athletes, scientists, historians, and missionaries. These real students at CUI are expanding their skill set by complimenting their major with the arts. Discover how they're planning to leverage their creativity.

Meet Students

Where Our Alumni Are Working

A Wish and A Whisk
ABAN (A Ban Against Neglect)
Concordia University Irvine

Crean Lutheran High School
Eat Sleep Play
Orange County School of the Arts

Orange Lutheran High School
Moviemiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americano
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Opportunities For Art Majors

We view the CUI Art Department as an integral asset to Concordia’s distinctly Christian liberal arts education. We offer students a rich artistic environment where they grow intellectually and spiritually as visual artists.

Academic Opportunities

As an Art major, you will be exposed to a variety of artistic opportunities including visiting artist lectures; practicum opportunities; design internships; exhibition opportunities; and the chance for your work to appear in student publications. The John and Linda Friend permanent art collection occupies space in Grimm Hall and includes more than 40 art pieces worth $265,000, including a Rembrandt and a Salvador Dali. Art majors display their work in student exhibitions, held at the end of each semester.

Extracurricular Activities

The Art Major offers several opportunities to share your art with others at Concordia. Special projects can be created throughout the art curriculum that explore faith, diversity and multicultural themes.

President's Academic Showcase
Student Art Show

Internships

Our goal is to guide students toward their vocation by developing their performance abilities, creativity, leadership and collaboration skills, critical thinking, and contextualization of art forms. Below are just a few examples of where our students have interned.

Alpha Studio Inc.
Disney Interactive Studios

Honda R&D
Mercedes Benz USA

Moviemiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americano
Surfing Magazine

Graduate Schools Attended

Academy of Art University, San Francisco
Laguna College of Art and Design

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
University of Arizona

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
University of Utah

Scholarships

The Art Department at Concordia University Irvine offers scholarship opportunities to students who show strong promise in studio art and graphic design.

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Curriculum

At Concordia, makers and artists will be equipped to pursue a vocational path in the visual arts. Building on your core skills as an artist, you will practice drawing, design, and color theory while growing your knowledge of art history - forming a solid foundation for pursuing your individual passion. You can choose one of two emphases as your concentration.

Art Major Sample Courses

ART 321: Painting I
3

This studio art course will introduce students to the basic approaches of oil and acrylic painting, painting techniques, form, content, visual appreciation, and personal expression through lectures, demonstrations, slide presentations, studio painting, out-of-class painting, sketching, and critiques. A lab fee is required. Prerequisite: ART 201. This class is offered every fall semester.

ART 351: Printmaking I
3

This course will provide an introduction to printmaking media with an emphasis on experimentation through techniques such as the monoprint, relief, and silkscreen. Prerequisites: ART 200 and ART 201 or consent of the instructor. Lab fee is required. This class is offered alternate years in the fall semester.

ART 311: Art History I
3

This is a survey course of Western art from the Prehistoric Period through the Renaissance, employing illustrated lectures, independent research, museum visits, and discussion. This class is offered alternate years in the spring semester.

ART 331: Sculpture I
3

This course will introduce students to the concepts, materials, and methods of sculpture as creative ideas are developed in wood, clay, plaster, found objects, and cardboard. Principles and use of equipment, material sources, and safety factors will be addressed. A lab fee is required. This class is offered alternate years in the spring semester.

Meet Your Professors

Concordia’s Art instructors instill creativity and integrity into the courses they teach and encourage students to take ownership and pride in their personal work. Our faculty model and promote a lifestyle of aesthetic awareness and practice.

Rachel Soo

Professor Soo is Co-Chair of the Art Department at Concordia University Irvine. She teaches digital image manipulation, digital illustration, digital publishing, typography, and graphic design classes. Utilizing both traditional and digital media, she creates artwork which investigates issues of identity and culture. She explores self-discovery by examining memories, perceptions and personal relationships. Professor Soo earned her BFA in Commercial Art from Concordia University in Nebraska, and an MFA in Integrated Visual Art from Iowa State University, Ames. Soo lives in Irvine with her husband and two sons.

Visual Arts Department Chair

Professor Soo is Co-Chair of the Art Department at Concordia University Irvine. She teaches digital image manipulation, digital illustration, digital publishing, typography, and graphic design classes. Utilizing both traditional and digital media, she creates artwork which investigates issues of identity and culture. She explores self-discovery by examining memories, perceptions and personal relationships. Professor Soo earned her BFA in Commercial Art from Concordia University in Nebraska, and an MFA in Integrated Visual Art from Iowa State University, Ames. Soo lives in Irvine with her husband and two sons.
Sara Fletcher

Sara Fletcher is an artist who works toward finding connections between art and faith, and art and other disciplines, and she is pleased to join the Concordia community. She has been teaching art and art history in the Midwest, and is an exhibiting artist who had a 2019 one person show at Prince Street Gallery in New York, NY. She also illustrated the children’s book Blue Lake Days by Sarah Shey.

Her paintings, drawings, and prints depict people and things in the process of growth, exploring how observations of nature and imagination affect each other. She aims in both her art and teaching to offer a compelling experience of God's beauty to one's neighbors.

Associate Professor of Visual Arts

Sara Fletcher is an artist who works toward finding connections between art and faith, and art and other disciplines, and she is pleased to join the Concordia community. She has been teaching art and art history in the Midwest, and is an exhibiting artist who had a 2019 one person show at Prince Street Gallery in New York, NY. She also illustrated the children’s book Blue Lake Days by Sarah Shey.

More Faculty

One of our greatest assets at Concordia University Irvine is our dedicated faculty. In a small learning environment, our professors care about you—not just your performance—and they cultivate lifelong mentoring relationships with the students they teach.

Art Faculty Talk to a Professor

Get in Touch

For more information about the Art major at Concordia University Irvine, we invite you to contact us directly.

Rachel Soo
Visual Arts Department Chair
[email protected]
(949) 214-3289

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