CTSA Academic Departments - Art Department

As the Claire Trevor School of the Arts emerged from a “sea of mud” in the mid-1960s, then-Dean Clayton Garrison ensured it would stand upon a foundation of conservatory-based pedagogical principles, whereby the faculty’s lives as active professionals in their fields would provide an authoritative basis for their teaching.

The Department of Art immediately distinguished itself by attracting the most forward-looking artists, curators, and students of the period: John Coplans (a founding editor of Artforum, the leading international contemporary arts journal), James Turrell and Robert Irwin (founders of the Light and Space movement), Vija Celmins (renowned post-minimalist painter), Bruce Nauman (renowned post-minimalist sculptor), and Bas Jan Ader and Chris Burden (legendary conceptual artists). 

The Department of Art continues this legacy of innovation in contemporary art by emphasizing experimental work across disciplines in all of our programs. To make sure we maintain our edge for decades to come, our curriculum has just received a thorough revision, a tour of which will explain who we are and what we do.

Art Department:  art.arts.uci.edu