The Program in Visual Arts, part of the newly established Lewis Center for the Arts, allows interested undergraduates to explore the modes of thought and practice of visual media and to develop their creative skills in connection with a general program of humanistic education. Courses are offered in ceramics, digital and analog photography, drawing, film and video production, film history and criticism, painting, printmaking, sculpture, installation art, and a seminar in contemporary art.

All courses in the program are open to all students at Princeton. A few courses are by application only. The courses are letter graded (not P/D/F) and may be taken in fulfillment of the distribution requirement in LA (Literature and Arts). Summer courses and study abroad are accepted, but only with the prior approval of the program director. AP credit is not accepted.

For students interested in pursuing studio arts, there are three options. The first is Program 2, the major offered by the Department of Art and Archaeology in cooperation with the Program in Visual Arts that has as its focus the visual/studio arts with an art history component. The second option is a Visual Arts Certificate done in addition to a student’s academic major. The third is a Film Track Certificate for students wishing either to study film history/theory or do film/video production. It is offered in collaboration with departments that accept a creative or written thesis in film.

Visual Arts Concentration—Courses of Study:

a) Department of Art and Archeology: Program 2
A major in the visual arts, combining studio art and art history, for students who will do a creative thesis.

b) The Visual Arts Certificate
For students in an academic department who will do a creative thesis in addition to their home department's thesis.

c) The Film Track Certificate
Only for students in academic departments that accept written or creative theses in film/video; the thesis will be the same for both their home department and the Program in Visual Arts. Otherwise, a student concentrating in film would elect option a or b.

Prerequisites and Admission
Admission to all three courses of study is selective. By the first Tuesday following spring break, students submit an application and a portfolio of creative work (or an essay on cinema in the case of those applying for a Film Track Certificate) to the Lewis Center for the Arts administrative office. The admissions committee will notify students accepted into the Program by early April.