Southeast University boasts a long tradition of art education and theoretical research. As early as the Liangjiang Normal School period, President Li Ruiqing established a drawing and handicraft department, pioneering modern art education in my country. Throughout the university's history, many art masters, such as music educator Li Shutong, opera researcher and educator Wu Mei, aesthetics master Zong Baihua, and painting masters Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong, Lü Fengzi, Chen Zhifo, Fu Baoshi, Wu Zuoren, and Huang Junbi, have taught here, cultivating a large number of outstanding talents for the country.

In the 1990s, Southeast University established the Department of Art Studies (1994) and the Center for Modern Art and Design Research (renamed the Department of Art Communication in 2004), and established my country's first doctoral program in art studies. In September 2006, Southeast University established the School of Art based on the original Department of Art Studies and the Department of Art Communication. Currently, the School of Arts at Southeast University comprises the Departments of Art Theory, Design, Fine Arts, and Animation. It also houses several academic research institutions, including the Collaborative Innovation Center for International Communication Strategy of Chinese Art, the Research Center for Cultural Development Strategy Planning, the Institute of Art Anthropology and Sociology, the Chinese Painting Research Institute, and the Institute of Drama and Novel. The school has 61 full-time faculty members, including 16 professors, 22 associate professors, 22 lecturers, and 1 teaching assistant. Over 87% of the faculty hold doctoral degrees, and over 50% have overseas study experience or postdoctoral research experience.

The School of Arts at Southeast University is a specialized institution for art education and research. It has a postdoctoral research station in Art Studies, a doctoral degree program in Art Theory (a first-level discipline), a master's degree program in Design (a first-level discipline), and an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) program. It enrolls undergraduate students in four majors: Art History and Theory, Product Design, Fine Arts, and Animation.

The faculty of the School of Arts at Southeast University has led, participated in, and completed 25 national-level research projects and 28 provincial/ministerial-level projects. Currently, they are leading 2 national major projects, 4 key projects, 18 national general and youth projects, and 19 provincial/ministerial-level projects. The faculty has received 29 provincial/ministerial-level or higher research awards, published over 110 academic works, over 30 textbooks, and over 1200 academic papers. Many outstanding postdoctoral fellows and doctoral students trained by the School of Arts have become leading figures in art history and theory research in my country, and many outstanding master's and undergraduate students have become backbone forces in my country's art practice.

The art theory discipline of the School of Arts at Southeast University ranked first in the Ministry of Education's postgraduate education discipline rankings in 2012 and has been continuously recognized as a key discipline in Jiangsu Province from the 10th Five-Year Plan to the 13th Five-Year Plan. In 2007, the Art Studies and Ethics Alliance successfully completed the National "985 Project Phase II" "Science, Technology, Ethics and Art" Philosophy and Social Science Innovation Base Project, the National "985 Project Phase III" "Art and Creative Industry Research" Philosophy and Social Science Base Project, and the National "211 Project" "Art Theory Innovation and Application Research" Platform Project. In 2007, Southeast University's Art Studies was added to the list of national key disciplines by the Ministry of Education. This discipline is currently the only national key discipline in the arts in Jiangsu Province, and the only one in the country belonging to Art Theory.

In 2012, in the third round of discipline evaluation by the Ministry of Education, the college's Art Theory discipline ranked first in the country. In the fourth round of discipline evaluation by the Ministry of Education in 2017, the college's Art Theory discipline was rated A+, and Design was rated B. In 2017, the college's Art Theory discipline was listed as a national first-class discipline construction discipline. In 2018, the Guqin (a seven-stringed zither) inheritance project hosted by the college was listed by the Ministry of Education as one of the first batch of bases for the inheritance of excellent traditional Chinese culture. In 2020, the School of Arts at Southeast University, in conjunction with the School of Architecture, spearheaded the application for the establishment of the "Southeast University Research Base for the Visual Image of the Chinese Nation," a national-level think tank. This base was approved as a research base jointly established by four central ministries to strengthen the sense of community among the Chinese nation.

The School of Arts at Southeast University implements an open teaching and research policy. It maintains close cooperative relationships with renowned universities, research institutions, and cultural enterprises both domestically and internationally in scientific research and art education. Currently, the School of Arts at Southeast University has grown into a major center for art education and research in my country. The School of Arts at Southeast University will strive to unite friends at home and abroad to jointly promote the vigorous development of art research and education.