Contact the Art Department
Department Chair: Walter Meyer
- Email: meyer_walter@smc.edu
- Phone: 310-434-8266
Art Office: A114
- Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- Email: art@smc.edu
- Phone: 310-434-4230
Overview
The Art Department of Santa Monica College offers an extensive and very well-received program in Studio Art, Art History and Design. The primary mission of our program is to prepare students for upper division study at a four-year, two-year, university or art school and/or to earn an Associate in Arts degree. Secondary objectives include portfolio preparation for students seeking admission to the Arts and Entertainment Academy and other two-year vocational training programs.
We are well known as one of the best foundation art programs in the state, and our students are regularly recruited and given scholarships by the most prominent art schools in the country. These include Cal Arts, Art Center College of Art and Design, San Francisco Art Institute, the Chicago Art Institute, Rhode Island College of Art and Design and the California College of Arts and Crafts.
SMC Art in the News
'Collective Effervescence' at the Art Complex
written by Kayjel J Mairena
photo by Ana Sanchez Venegas
link to The Corsair, June 4, 2025
“Living Archive” Converge+Vertex: Traversing the Minor Gesture of Timeliness concludes exhibition at Barrett Art Gallery
written by Mollie Bishop
photo by Ana Sanchez Venegas
link to The Corsair, May 10, 2025
Converge+Vertex artists discuss creative interconnection
written by Mollie Bishop
photo by Akemi Rico
link to The Corsair, April 10, 2025
Degrees and Certificates
Associate in Arts: Art
Artists express their thoughts and feelings by creating fine artworks that are primarily intended for aesthetic enjoyment.
Associate in Arts for Transfer: Studio Arts
Artists express their thoughts and feelings by creating fine artworks that are primarily intended for aesthetic enjoyment.
Associate in Arts for Transfer: Art History
Upon completion of the AA-T in Art History, students will have a strong academic foundation in the field and be prepared for upper division baccalaureate study.