Lakeland College - Art Department

An art major at Lakeland College will have the opportunity to develop his/her creative potential and then focus on one of the four directional sequences that are designed to lead to a marketable and enriching career in art. All art majors are required to take a series of six core requirements. Beyond those core requirements, four distinct directions of coursework lead the art major toward his/her particular field of interest.

Students who graduate with a Lakeland College art major will be prepared to pursue all activities related to studio art, including a graduate degree or a career in one of the following areas: art administration, graphic design, or art therapy. Electives are flexible enough that if a student would like to pursue more than one emphasis, he/she may do so.

The continued study of art at the graduate level
The development of a portfolio for private galleries
The development of a portfolio for commercial art and advertising
The teaching of art on various levels
Experience in the various aspects of the operation of an art gallery
The lifelong fulfillment of a passion for creating art

Although anyone can enroll in a beginning level art course at Lakeland College, all classes from beginning to the most advanced levels are designed to benefit the serious art major. Each course maintains an atmosphere where there are specific objectives to be learned and explored in a creative environment. There is never an “anything goes” attitude, although the advanced student is given considerably more creative freedom and encouraged to explore his/her own personal objectives.

When a student takes a studio art course taught by Professor Bill Weidner or Professor Denise Presnell-Weidner, he/she is learning from an active professional artist and not just a teacher of art. Both are painters who exhibit their work in a number of private galleries as well as competitive exhibitions. Both are well represented in corporate and private art collections. Rest assured Professors Weidner and Presnell-Weidner are dedicated teachers with many years of teaching experience at Lakeland College and other colleges and universities.

The student interested in computer generated imagery and commercial art will want to enroll in the Communication Graphics course taught by Mark Weber. Mr. Weber is an ideal teacher for this course and knows his subject intimately not just because of his numerous years of teaching experience, but because he is also the manager of a local graphics business. Thus, Mr. Weber is perfectly equipped to expose students to both the creative and business aspects of this particular media.

The Bradley Gallery hosts four art exhibitions each academic year. The first three shows are usually solo exhibitions by professional artists. The last show is always the Lakeland College Student Art Exhibition. This is a competitive exhibition in which only the best works from the fall and spring semesters are put on display. The Bradley Gallery serves to benefit students through; exposure to a broad variety of artists, internship and work-study opportunities in assisting with the operation of the gallery, and exhibition and art award possibilities.

After graduation, many Lakeland College art students have gone on to pursue a variety of art or art related careers. To name a few, one graduate was hired at a major art museum in Japan as an art curator, another became a photographer for a metropolitan newspaper, and another holds a position as a computer graphics artist.