Grow where you are.
An Art degree at UMA is an investment in an expansive, creative life. Your Art education at UMA will give you the skills, knowledge, and experience to pursue creative work in Maine and beyond. With a wide variety of courses in-person and remote modalities that have been carefully tailored to create lasting learning mean that UMA’s classes meet you where you are.
At UMA, you can grow your creative vision and professional practice in the ways you choose.
UMA gives Art students freedom and support to evolve their own creative potential. Students complete the art foundation courses in Art and Art History, and then have the opportunity to progress into upper-level courses in subjects/media including:
- Art History
- Ceramics
- Data Visualization
- Animation
- Drawing
- Graphic Design
- Painting
- Photography
- Printmaking
- Sculpture
Through your coursework at UMA, you’ll achieve steady growth in your skills and expertise, develop different models of artistic practice, learn to work in multiple areas of the arts, (including traditional and new media), and express your ideas in a supportive community of feedback and exchange.
In classes, exhibitions, and special projects, you’ll develop your artistic voice, collaborate with peers and faculty, learn to think critically, and emerge uniquely ready to participate in your community and shape your own creative path. An Art degree at UMA gives you the skills and resilience to respond to the evolving fields and challenges of the future and contribute your unique artistic vision.
I began at UMA with a desire to complete a degree in the arts, but my experience expanded with a sense of community toward peers, faculty, and administration. Through UMA I discovered who I was and who I wanted to be, as a student, as a professional, and as a citizen.
— Ted Closson, ‘09
Who are UMA Art Students?
UMA’s Art students are from Maine and beyond. They are full-time students and full-time workers. They are parents. They are caregivers. They are recent high school graduates. They are retired professionals. They are community-oriented. They are all ages. They are first-generation college students and lifelong learners. If you’re picturing yourself as a UMA Art student, that’s because you belong here. UMA is for everyone.
The diversity of UMA’s Art students is a strength of the program, leading to studios and classrooms that buzz with the collective experience and knowledge of our strong community and a generous camaraderie of dedicated learners.
The Charles Danforth Gallery
The Charles Danforth Gallery at the University of Maine at Augusta is an exhibition space for contemporary art and a living classroom where UMA faculty, staff, and students gather in-person and through remote programming. A site of connection, curiosity, and engagement, the gallery bridges communities within UMA and across Maine in conversation around contemporary art rooted in our state and shared desire to understand the art of our time. The gallery provides art exhibitions of UMA’s art and architecture students and faculty, as well as other emerging and mid-career professional artists connected with Maine.
The gallery’s exhibitions and programming reflect UMA’s wider access mission to “transform the lives of students of every age and background across the State of Maine and beyond through access to high-quality distance and on-site education, excellent student support and civic engagement, and innovative professional and liberal arts programs.” By connecting the Danforth to the vitality of the arts through exhibitions, in-person and remote programming, and coordination with UMA’s classes and scholarship, the gallery offers UMA’s community fresh perspectives on innovative arts conversations in Maine.
