Writing About the Arts

Writing is a critical skill for those who engage in the practice of art history, art criticism, and art theory. This writing-intensive workshop/seminar will offer students the opportunity to encounter various kinds of art in various real-world settings, then write about them. Different genres of art writing will be explored (reviews, museum wall texts, scholarly analyses, etc.) and, through frequent short assignments, participants will be learn to write with greater clarity, precision, and organization. Readings will explore the problems entailed in art historical description and what happens when visual ideas become texts.