It is often assumed that foreign language students must reach a certain (usually advanced) level of linguistic proficiency before they can begin to engage meaningfully with authentic cultural materials and think critically about their own cultural position vis-à-vis that of the L2 culture. This presentation will show how art and visual culture can offer beginning-intermediate language students an opportunity for deeper exploration of the L2 culture. I will demonstrate two clusters of visual cultural artifacts (including 18th century portraiture, Soviet propaganda posters, newspaper clippings, film, post-Soviet installation and performance art), and show how they can embed and enact cultural studies in the beginning-intermediate language classroom.