Visual and Communication Arts

The Visual and Communication Arts Department (VACA) offers majors in studio art, art education, communication, digital media and photography. These majors provide preparation for students to pursue professional jobs in a variety of careers and to pursue graduate work in a variety of programs.

VACA is part of Eastern Mennonite University, a different kind of Christian college where faculty and students purposefully engage social justice, peacebuilding, cross-cultural empathy , and environmental care as they seek to live out the call of Jesus.

Professors who are mentors

VACA professors push students to go beyond the aesthetic to consider the social and the global aspects of their work so that they can become transformers of cultural and community landscapes.

Passionate and ethical communication

In order to serve in this way, image-makers need more than technical competency. They need to possess a conceptual and aesthetic framework that will allow them to communicate effectively, passionately and ethically.

While intellectually rigorous, the VACA faculty seeks to nurture a profound appreciation for the spiritual, emotive and poetic aspects of human existence. The visual arts at EMU help students encounter a much bigger world that cannot always be described in logical terms.

Students explore the ethical and cultural problems inherit in mass communication and the artistic endeavor and the increasingly international thrust of communication.

Majors and minors

Our majors prepare students to move comfortably from the studio, to the gallery, to the field and to the screen in their creative activities.

• The art major and art education endorsement provide preparation for students who will pursue professional art-related careers, independent art work and graduate work in art. The art major offers a variety of studio arts options after students finish a core curriculum.

• The communication major offers students a broad group of core courses along with the foundational courses in a variety of electronic media, writing and theory courses.

• The digital media major focuses on the intersection of the internet, digital video, audio and photography within an increasing array of delivery systems.

• The photography major builds a solid framework in digital photography practice and theory (while also including an introduction to traditional dark room techniques).

• The journalism minor is a vibrant 18-credit curriculum that explores news and feature writing, documentary production, and more. The minor can be an add-on teaching endorsement for future teachers.

Curious about the vocational possibilities for EMU alums? Visit our VACA careers page..

Careers in Visual and Communication Arts

Careers include artist, art educator, photographer, graphic designer, video producer, web-producer, industrial designer, visual artist, web designer, video editor, journalist, photo-journalist, fine artist, interior designer, communications, art therapist, community arts activist, production craftsperson, CD-ROM developer, advertising, broadcasting, screen printer, photographer, exhibit designer, gallery director, curator, fashion designer, theater set, lighting or sound designer, illustrator, arts administrator, framer, gallery preparator and graduate study in visual art, communication or film and video.

Some art careers require education beyond the undergraduate level.