A home for bold artistic voices.
The Department of Art has long cultivated artists who shape and challenge contemporary art. Students work closely with renowned faculty and visiting practitioners, exploring diverse media and critical inquiry while developing distinctive practices rooted in rigorous artistic and intellectual engagement.
Message from the Chair of the Department of Art
Welcome to the Department of Art at UC Irvine.
At UCI Art making and thinking go hand in hand. Our students are encouraged to take risks, to experiment, and to push their work beyond what feels comfortable – all while grounding their practice in rigorous critical inquiry. Whether working in painting, photography, sculpture, digital media, performance or critical theory, students are challenged to produce work that is thoughtful, ambitious, and engaged with the world around them.
Our nationally recognized faculty are deeply invested in mentoring artists and thinkers, guiding students as they develop strong technical foundations and independent voices. Through regular engagement with visiting artists curators and writers, and through our close proximity to one of the most dynamic art ecosystems in the world, students encounter contemporary art as a living evolving conversation.
UCI Art is a place for curiosity, for serious making, and for ideas that provoke question and endure.
Upcoming Events
M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition (part 2) - spring 2026
Artists:
David Ditman, Teresa Ho and Yuzhe Zhang
Solo exhibitions by M.F.A. candidates from UC Irvine’s...
M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition (part 2) - spring 2026
Artists:
David Ditman, Teresa Ho and Yuzhe Zhang
Solo exhibitions by M.F.A. candidates from UC Irvine’s...
Undergraduate Honors Thesis Exhibition - spring 2026
The 2026 Undergraduate Honors Thesis Exhibition features work by students in the Art Honors cohort at UC...
Tenth Thursday Undergraduate Student Exhibition - spring 2026
Be with us for Tenth Thursday, an evening that celebrates the creativity of the Department of Art’s talented...
Meet the Minds Moving Art Forward
At UCI Arts, your professors are award-winning directors, groundbreaking visual artists, celebrated composers, and thought leaders in their fields. They don’t just teach art — they live it, push it, and redefine what’s possible.
Spotlight in the Department of Art
At Home in Sunlight, A State in Motion
Making a Subject of the Object
Two Artists from UC Irvine Join the Guggenheim Foundation's 101st Class of Fellows
How Real-World Learning at UC Prepares Students for Evolving Careers
UCI Arts Awards the 2025–26 Research & Innovation Grants
Current and Prospective Students
As UCI’s creative laboratory, the Claire Trevor School of the Arts (UCI Arts) explores and presents the arts as the essence of human experience and expression, through art forms ranging from the most traditional to the radically new. Our students come to UCI, and to UCI Arts, to experience new vistas of creativity, and to learn to become citizen-artists, to sharpen their skills and talents in order to become active molders and shapers of the creative enterprise, the leaders of tomorrow’s world culture.
Student Resources
Prospective Students
Undergraduate Students
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Programs
Bachelors and Minor
Our interdisciplinary undergraduate art program emphasizes experimentation, solid technical and conceptual foundations, and engagement with artists across diverse contemporary practices.
Graduate Program
Masters
A rigorous three-year M.F.A. program that blends interdisciplinary study, faculty mentorship, and peer critique to support advanced creative and critical growth in the visual arts.
60 Years of Art
In the News
Remembering Ulysses Jenkins (1946–2026), Contemporary Griot
At Home in Sunlight, A State in Motion
Making a Subject of the Object
Students are encouraged to submit a cohesive body of work in the media of their choosing rather than a selection of unrelated work. Works created independently of classroom assignments, or works created in a portfolio class reflecting a student’s creative direction are preferable to a selection of assignments. Students may submit work in more than one medium, though a thematic focus is recommended. Students are encouraged to work with any trusted art teacher or mentor who is available to provide feedback on work selection, though we understand that not every applicant will have access to this assistance.
All students interested in expressing their ideas through visual and time-based art are invited to apply. Students dedicated to a personal artistic practice without access to high school level arts coursework are also encouraged to apply. (Yes, this includes students doodling incessantly, TikTok video-makers, DIY inventors, etc.) AP portfolio is not a requirement for admission, and faculty are mindful that access to arts coursework varies greatly, especially in public schools.
The Artist Statement is an opportunity for applicants to discuss their artistic influences, cultural background and inspiration. The Department of Art seeks to recruit a diverse cohort of applicants in the spirit of UCI’s culture of inclusive excellence.
While our Art Department offers many courses in analog media – painting, drawing, analog photography, and sculpture – faculty are aware that students may enter having worked primarily with digital drawing and painting. This is not a disqualifier for admission, though applicants should understand that coursework in painting and drawing is taught with analog media, ie paint on canvas and drawing on paper, with digital technology being employed as a supplemental tool rather than a primary medium.
Our portfolio review criteria is not identical to the AP Portfolio review, though students may choose to submit work developed in an AP Portfolio course. AP Portfolio is not a requirement for admission into the major.
