DOVA - The Department of Visual Arts – is located within the Humanities Division of the University of Chicago, one of the world’s great research institutions.
We aim to stimulate and provoke both graduate and undergraduate students, encouraging the development of independent and challenging thought as expressed and inscribed in the visual arts. We propose that art is inquiry. Our faculty, diverse in it’s pursuits, is critically engaged in dialogue nationally and internationally. Our students benefit from this dialogue, and are also encouraged to pursue
11/04/2025
The University of Chicago’s MFA students in the Department of Visual Arts invite members of the university community and public at large for an evening of open studios at the Logan Center for the Arts on Saturday, November 8, 6-9pm.
Come meet the artists, see their process, and tour their studios located throughout the second floor of the building!
10/27/2025
Better late than never! Welcome to DoVA MFA class of 2027! Halfway through quarter one of six 😎
05/09/2025
Come thru to the Logan Center Gallery and check out Part 1 of the 2025 MFA Thesis Exhibition Substitute Equal Amounts featuring Rebekka Federle-McCabe, Laveen Gammie, and Susan Jablonski. On view through May 18!
04/27/2025
Final EXPO hours! DoVA booth 252 👋
10/10/2024
The Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago invites applications from practicing artists well-versed in contemporary issues across all artistic disciplines to join the faculty at the rank of Assistant Professor.
Applicants must upload materials to the University of Chicago’s recruitment website at https://apply.interfolio.com/156331 by 10:59pm Central Time/11:59pm Eastern Time on November 3, 2024! (Link in bio)
EOE/Vet/Disability
09/20/2024
We are so excited to welcome the MFA class of 2026!!! 👏👏👏
05/10/2024
The Open Practice Committee in the Department of Visual Arts is pleased to invite Rachel Harrison to the University of Chicago to deliver this year’s Deborah Goodman Davis and Gerald Davis Lecture on the evening of May 13th starting at 6pm at the Logan Center for the Arts, Penthouse Room 901. Harrison will discuss “Sitting in a Room”, her 2022 solo exhibition at the Astrup Fearnley in Oslo, Norway, as well as other things.
Established in 2018, through the generosity of Deborah Goodman Davis, the Deborah Goodman Davis and Gerald Davis Lecture Series brings vibrant voices to the University of Chicago’s Department of Visual Arts and the greater university community.
This event if free and open to the public.
05/06/2024
Check out WORKS BY, a show at the featuring MFA alum Devin T. Mays (MFA ‘16) and faculty member Bethany Collins! Up until July 14th, 2024
09/08/2023
Opening this Sunday at Goldfinch Gallery in Chicago, two solo exhibitions of new works by DoVA faculty member Scott Wolniak and alum Carris Adams (MFA 2015). An artist talk by Carris will take place at 1pm followed by an opening reception from 2-5pm!
07/31/2023
East coast! Opening tomorrow is an exhibition of DoVA faculty and artist Laura Letinsky’s work at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland. Laura is in town for the week as an Artist-in-Residence and will present an artist talk and a masterclass during her residency on how the camera shapes our understanding of the world. To learn more visit Academy Art Museum
11/10/2022
Come join us next Monday for a special panel presentation by DoVA faculty member Scott Wolniak alongside DoVA alum Nicole Ma**er (2010), Maggie Crowley (2013), Marco G. Ferrari (2013), Paul Gerard Somers (2013), and Madeline Gallucci (2020) on the topic of artist-run spaces and curation. Each participant will give a brief overview of past curatorial projects taking us back to the 2000’s in Chicago, Kansas, the periphery of Rome, Italy, and back to present day Chicago while also discussing their motivations as artists to facilitate the public presentation of other artists’ work and the circumstances that have allowed them each to make such opportunities happen.
A group discussion and Q&A moderated by Scott Wolniak will follow.
**Free and open to the public.
Presented by the Open Practice Committee and Logan Center Exhibitions