Studio Art

Our supportive community offers tools and ecosystems helping students engage historical and contemporary criteria for making art. Innovative faculty help students refine approaches to being collaborators, thought-leaders, educators—and artists. Students have access to the DC area's internationally renowned museums and galleries, in addition to Katzen Arts Center and campus facilities. Flexible degree programs offer courses in sculpture, painting, video, photography, drawing, printmaking, expanded media, and special topics:
BA Studio Art  MFA Studio Art  BA Photography


Katzen Arts Center at nighttime

DC Museums & Galleries

Museum plaza in DC.

Beyond AU's Katzen Arts Center and other campus Arts Facilities, Washington, DC, offers an unsurpassed level of world class museums, most of which offer free admission and are within a 20 minute metrorail ride from our studio facilities. From the Phillips Collection (which was America's first museum of Modern Art and the place where American University's Art programs emerged more than a century ago) to the East and West buildings of National Gallery of Art; From the Hirshhorn and the National Museum of African Art to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, these amazing institutions act as a vital component of our students' experience in Washington, DC.  The American University Museum at the Katzen Center has become one of the leading museums of contemporary art in the region. Additionally there are many thriving spaces and fellowship opportunities for emerging artists.

News & Events

Visiting Artists Series

The Studio Art MFA program at American University presents visiting artists throughout the academic year. Check out our Spring 2026 series.

Tania Alvarez, After the Rain, 2024. Acrylic and oil on canvas 20 x 16 x 1.75 in.Tania Alvarez, After the Rain, 2024. Acrylic and oil on canvas 20 x 16 x 1.75 in.

Photo: Mads Ernst (CAS/SOC ‘27), American Gaze, 2025. A man in casual clothes sitting on tufted bench under painted portraits in gold frames on damask wallpaper wall.

Seeing America in Scale

Submit your work to an exhibition of humongous photography!
Deadline: April 30.

Submit by April 30

Isabelle Ritz, Sophie Carter, and Gray Walsh at the AU Design Show

Technology ·

Meet Mozaik: AU Students Create Social App for Life after College

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