Resources and Opportunities
Bowdoin College Museum of Art
The Bowdoin College Museum of Art is one of the oldest, largest (over 17,000 objects), and most prestigious college art collections in North America. The gallery spaces are spectacular, and the well-conceived storage and classroom spaces facilitate student use of the collection for classes and individual research projects.
Often, an art history class will schedule a visit to the Zuckert Seminar Room, and works of art relating to the topic of the course will be brought out of storage for close examination by students. Other times, students make use of works on display in the galleries. Each year the Museum hosts a number of significant exhibitions, bringing major works of art to campus. Some of the exhibitions are actually curated by students.
The major exhibitions and the wealth of the Museum's permanent collection offer countless opportunities for teaching directly from objects. The ability to work directly from significant original artworks is one of the reasons studying art history at Bowdoin is so rewarding.
Visual Arts Center
The Visual Arts Center (VAC) is home to the Pierce Art Library, faculty offices, and classrooms that are equipped for displaying digital presentations. In the basement of the VAC, Kresge Auditorium provides a venue for lectures, concerts, and performances.
Many art history students work as curatorial interns in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art and in other museums and galleries across the country.