Exhibitions

Anderson Gallery

The Department of Art & Design holds exhibitions of work by students, faculty and invited artists during the school year, including the annual Drake Student Art Competition and Exhibition and B.F.A. Senior Exhibitions. Facilities in Harmon Fine Arts Center include the 3,500-square-foot Anderson Gallery, which includes 1,800 square feet of exhibition space, a lobby, and rooms for storing works of art. An exciting showcase for work by students, faculty and other artists, the Anderson Gallery also features symposia during the year.

Exhibitions in the Anderson Gallery are on view throughout the school year from 12:00-4:00 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

Weeks Gallery

The Department of Art & Design also supports the Weeks Gallery in Harmon Fine Arts Center which serves as an alternate space for student exhibitions throughout the year. This space is used for alternative exhibitions organized by students, faculty, or outside curators. The Weeks Gallery is also the site for the annual B.A. Degree Exhibition.

Student Exhibitions

The Department of Art and Design regularly hosts a variety of student exhibitions. Most of these exhibitions occur in the Anderson and Weeks Galleries, but there are other spaces across Drake’s campus available to students.

For over forty years, the Annual Juried Student Exhibition has been a long-standing Department tradition that is open to students at all levels. CARBON promotes cross-disciplinary experiences and is another regular opportunity available to all students. Additionally, the senior capstone experiences for B.F.A. students in Studio Art and Graphic Design and B.A. students in Studio Art are small group exhibitions in which each student can exhibit a body of work.

Many Art and Design courses regularly include exhibitions of student work or student curated exhibitions in the curriculum. Theory Made Visual is the final project for students enrolled in the Art and Theory course, and Painting students participate in the Professor Project, a visual response to the research of a faculty member in a non-art discipline. In addition, the Art and Design faculty frequently display students’ work informally throughout the semester.

The student art club, Visual Arts Association of Drake (VAAD), organizes student exhibitions on and off campus. Locally, the City of Des Moines has annual exhibitions in a variety of venues where students have the opportunity to exhibit their work. Students are also encouraged to participate in regional and national competitive exhibitions.