Hartford Art School Viewbook

• Under 300 full-time undergraduate students

• 8 undergraduate majors: BA in Art History; BFA in Ceramics, Illustration, Painting/Drawing, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Visual Communication Design; and minors in all departments

• 15:1 student/teacher ratio

• 65,000 square-foot facility

• Senior studio spaces

• $18,000–$28,000 artistic merit scholarships

• Two full-tuition artistic-merit scholarships, and one full-tuition Art History scholarship awarded each year by competition

• 130 Apple computer stations in student studios

• 10% of students study abroad

• Member of the National Portfolio Day Association (NPDA)

• Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)

• A scaffolded career readiness focus offering support from your first-year to graduation.

The Hartford Art School (HAS) has a rich history, beginning in 1877 with its founding by a who’s who of late 19th-century Hartford women. These visionary individuals included Harriet Beecher Stowe, the abolitionist writer; Olivia Clemens, the wife of Mark Twain; Elizabeth Colt, the president of Colt’s Firearms Manufacturing Company; Susan Warner, the wife of the owner of the Hartford Courant; and Mary Bushnell Cheney of Cheney Silk Mills. We believe the founders would be proud to know that the school they created nearly a century and a half ago, has become one of the most highly regarded art schools in the country.

In 1957, the Hartford Art School merged with the Hartt College of Music and Hillyer College to form the University of Hartford. Today, the University has seven colleges, with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and 1,900 graduate students. At the Hartford Art School, you will be enrolled in a rigorous, professional, studio-based program that is an integral part of a thriving University.

During the 2027–28 academic year, the Hartford Art School will celebrate its Sesquicentennial, marking 150 years since our founding in 1877.

Our 300 undergraduate BA and BFA students, and 50 graduate MFA students, are part of a vibrant and beautiful residential campus that has a newly renovated high-tech library and access to University-wide lectures, classes, and expertise in other colleges. UHart also offers outstanding music, theatre, and dance performances, and robust intercollegiate and intramural athletic offerings.

We are proud of the ongoing accomplishments reached each year. HAS, Inc., today known as HAS Endowment, Inc., is a 501(C)3 with a mission to support HAS. The HAS Endowment, Inc. Board of Trustees and Corporators have carried out this mission over the years by fundraising and advocating in support of HAS, as well as through oversight and management of the HASE, Inc. endowment.

We’re a small art school within the University of Hartford. This means you get the creative focus and strength of a long-standing art school, combined with the interdisciplinary opportunities of a broader university. You have the option to minor, subject area major, or double major in many other areas throughout the University’s seven schools and colleges.

At the Hartford Art School, learning takes place both in and out of the classroom. Students are afforded the opportunity to visit some incredible local art venues like New Britain Museum of Art, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, and Real Artways.

New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA) is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art.

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, in downtown Hartford, is the oldest continually operating public art museum in the United States. All University students receive free admission to this amazing museum, as well as the New Britain Museum of American Art.

Real Art Ways (RAW)—founded by HAS alums—in Hartford is home to gallery exhibitions, independent cinema, innovative performances, social events, and educational programs. Will K. Wilkins, director of RAW, serves on the HAS Endowment, Inc. Board. Many HAS students have participated in internships at RAW.

Take a look at all Hartford County has to offer at hartford.com.

Two major bus trips each year to art destinations like Boston, New York City, Dia Beacon, Storm King Art Center, or our Western Massachusetts trip, to Mass MoCA, The Clark Art Institute, and Williams College Museum of Art.

Studio practices forge new conversations around topics that deeply impact society. The great work of HAS Alumni in internships and jobs has paved the way for current and future students to gain the same valuable opportunities. It is not uncommon for internship sponsors and employers to reach out to us and ask if we have any candidates for positions within their organizations and businesses.