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Department of Art
3229 Art Culture and Technology
(949) 824-4917
StuArt@uci.edu
About the Department of Art
The Department of Art houses a multitude of dynamic paths to engage in art making. We are committed to providing students the tools with which they can create work at the highest levels of aesthetic, intellectual, and social/political inquiry. Our flexible curriculum facilitates serious engagement with painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, video, installation, performance, electronic art and design, art writing, critical theory, and curatorial studies within the context of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of contemporary art.
The art faculty is comprised of a group of nationally and internationally recognized artists and scholars who are engaged in their fields and dedicated to sharing their expertise in helping students develop informed approaches to media, materials, and techniques while fostering individual approaches in the students’ overall art practice. We believe that a vital part of artistic development comes from an accessible faculty and regular contact with active practitioners. To that end, alongside a broad and diverse curriculum, the department also invites visiting artists, curators, and critics to our campus to discuss their work and to get to know our students.
Our department attracts gifted and motivated students who thrive in an environment that encourages autonomy and rigor. They are drawn not only to the outstanding creative faculty, the university's resources, and its location in one of the world's leading art centers, but also to a program that encourages their long-term development as artists. The result is a distinguished list of graduates who have made and continue to make significant contributions across the field of art, and who participate in a lasting community of artists from our program and beyond.
Facilities
The Department of Art hosts a wide variety of technical facilities for the creation of art and for art-related research. The facilities range from graduate labs to mixed-use workshops, and are designed to support both free experimentation and professional production.
The Contemporary Art Center (CAC) and the Art Culture and Technology (ACT) buildings together have greatly expanded the productive capacity of the Department of Art. The Department also undertook a major seismic retrofit of its two older buildings, the Art Building (ART) and the Production Building, enabling the creation of new teaching spaces, such as the digital photo lab.
Contemporary Art Center (CAC)
The CAC houses an art gallery, a mixed-media performance space, and more than two dozen new graduate studios for the MFA students on the top floor. A technologically advanced and LEED-certified green building, the CAC is also home to a new motion-capture studio, several sound recording facilities, a small auditorium, and faculty offices.
Art, Culture, Technology building (ACT)
The ACT building is the department's 'home base'. It houses the administrative offices, most of the faculty studios and offices, some graduate student studios, the Catherine Lord Undergraduate Honors Studio, the Room Gallery, the Catalyst Gallery, and a multipurpose studio. It was completed in the winter of 2003.
Art Building (ART)
The ART building houses the painting and drawing studios, the Digital Photo Lab, several classrooms and studios.
Production Building
The Production Studio houses the Sculpture Shop, the Ceramics area, the photography wet labs and darkrooms, and the Nixon Theater.
Multi-Purpose Rooms
ACT 2200 & ACT 2206
The Multi-Purpose Rooms are shared use spaces by graduate students and honors undergraduate students and others to use as an exhibition space, critique space, to conduct research, and/or to create work. The spaces may be reserved for up to 4 consecutive days, including weekends.
Catherine Lord Undergraduate Honors Studio
ACT 3200
Named after Professor Emeritus Catherine Lord, the Undergraduate Honors Studio is a shared studio that houses the students selected to be in the honors program to support their research and art production.
Experimental Video and Moving Image
ACT 1231
Experimental Video and Moving Image facilities include a Sound Stage, Equipment Office, and an Undergraduate Post-Production Lab comprised of video editing suites, sound recording suite, voice over room, and a production office.
Mechatronics Lab
CAC building, ground floor
The Mechatronics Lab, designed and run by Simon Penny, is a state-of-the-art 22 seat teaching lab for analog and digital electronics, digital electronics, microcontroller programming and electromechanics. Facilities include a stereomicroscope for SMD (surface mount) electronics assembly, a suite of small machine tools - mill, lathe, drill press, and a full stock of hand tools, fasteners and electronics components.
Photo Labs
ART, ground floor; and Production Studio, 2nd floor
The department hosts a full range of labs for black & white and color photography, including a group lab, individual darkrooms, a mural darkroom, and a digital photo lab with high-end flatbed and slide scanners and large-format sheet and roll-fed inkjet printers. The facility also houses a large array of photographic equipment for student check-out, including a variety of cameras, lenses and lighting kits. Of particular note is a photo-finishing lab built around a commercial-grade wide-format laminator, and a digital editing and wide-format printing station dedicated to graduate-only use.
Painting and Drawing Studios
ART 260 & ART 265
The department's large painting and drawing studios, each over 1000 sq. ft., are heavily used for undergraduate drawing and painting classes.
Sculpture Shop
SCS 170
The spacious indoor-outdoor sculpture workshop features a wide range of equipment for fabricating in wood, metal, and plastics. The facility encompasses a 2400 sq. ft. wood-working and lecture facility, a 900 sq. ft. state-of-the-art welding studio, and open yard space for the production of large-scale works. Students must pass a certification process in order to work in this shop outside of class time.
Ceramics Shop
SCS 175
The ceramics shop houses kilns, a working area, and storage for materials.
Motion Capture Studio
CAC
A schoolwide faculty/graduate facility for optical motion capture using an eight-camera Vicon 8 system. The studio has a high ceiling, sprung floors, and a sound system. Access is restricted to class participants and/or by reservation. Contact Artslab tech support for details.
Mac Lab
Arts Instructional Technology Resource Center, Room 190

A general-purpose and instructional Mac lab. When classes are not in session, the lab is open to all School of the Arts students.
Digital Arts Teaching Lab
Humanities Instructional Building, Room 335
A Mac/PC dual-boot computer lab for digital arts classes. When classes are not in session, the lab is open to all School of the Arts students.
Arts Media Center
Arts Instructional Technology Resource Center, 2nd floor
A music library and listening lab, MIDI lab, and general homework lab.
University Art Galleries (UAG)
The University Art Galleries have a robust history for hosting graduate and undergraduate exhibitions, professional solo projects, as well as for guest-curated shows and artist presentations. Its three main exhibition spaces are the Contemporary Arts Center Gallery, the Room Gallery, and the University Art Gallery.
Beall Center for Art & Technology
The Beall Center hosts exhibitions of UCI students, faculty, and outside artists working at the intersection of art and technology. It opened in 2000 with a faculty-curated show on game art ("SHIFT_CTRL"), and subsequent exhibitions have featured mixed-reality performance art, robotic instrument ensembles, sensor-driven installations, and data-mining projects.
Catalyst Gallery is an undergraduate art organization and gallery space devoted to curating exhibitions, community outreach and locating students within the larger art context.
The gallery is located on the second floor of the ACT building and is a student-run club organization.
Learn more about the Catalyst Gallery and how to get involved
