THE MUSEUM EXPERIENCE

"The museum experience" makes TCU's art history program distinctive. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is distinguished by its number of world-class art museums, several of which are conveniently close to campus.

The Kimbell Art Museum, often considered one of the finest smaller museums in the world, is just a five-minute drive from TCU, as are the Amon Carter Museum, with its comprehensive collection of American art, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, which opened a magnificent new building designed by Tadao Ando in 2002. Also in Fort Worth is the Sid Richardson Museum, while nearby are found the Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, Arlington Museum of Art, Meadows Museum, Museum of African-American American Life and Culture, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, and Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art.

As a student, you will go to museums and study original works of art as part of your classes. Imagine being able to examine the bold brushwork of Claude Monet, the delicate touch of Fra Angelico, or the intriguing surfaces of works by Anselm Kiefer. In addition to gaining familiarity with the permanent collections of area museums, you will be able to view special exhibitions shown in only a few museums around the world. Our students also take advantage of "behind the scenes" tours given by museum staff members, and attend lectures, symposia, and gallery tours presented by recognized experts. TCU art history courses will sometimes meet primarily, or even entirely, at a museums during the semester, allowing students to gain a deep understanding and appreciation of a particular collection. Our students consistently rate "the museum experience" as one of the highlights of being at TCU.

TCU serves as host to the Cultural District Library Consortium, which is a database of the collective art library holdings of the Amon Carter Museum, Kimbell Art Museum, and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Together with TCU's art holdings, this makes approximately 90,000 volumes accessible to students. For advanced students, the museums offer the opportunity to serve--for course credit--as an intern or docent (guide). More than many other schools, TCU is able to offer undergraduate art history majors and minors the practical experience in working in an art museum or gallery. Students have taken advantage of this possibility at area museums and galleries: Amon Carter Museum, Arlington Museum of Art. Dallas Museum of Art. Kimbell Art Museum, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Sid Richardson Museum, and William Campbell Gallery. Arrangements can also be made for students to intern during the summer at museums in their hometowns; students have been interns at Hart Gallery (Houston), Kurts Bingham Gallery (Memphis), Laumeier Sculpture Park (St. Louis), Leslie Hindman Auctioneers (Chicago), Philbrook Museum of Art (Tulsa), Phoenix Art Museum, Texas Film Commission (Austin).

The graduate program in art history focuses even more on the experience of studying in art museums and working with museum professionals. Centering on the art object, the Master's program allows students to expand their knowledge of the historical, stylistic, and theoretical dimensions of the visual arts, while having the practical experience of working directly with art objects and in museums with professional staffs. Graduate students serve as museum interns during their second year in the program. Working closely with museums has other advantages for TCU graduate students; for instance, students enrolled in a seminar related to an exhibition at the Amon Carter Museum were invited by the museum to present a series of public lectures. In conjunction with the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, students design and present their own public gallery tours, for course credit.