Art
Majoring & Minoring
The Studio Art Department offers courses leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art, and minors in Studio Art, and in Architecture and Design Studies.
Studio Art (Art)
The studio art curriculum offers art, design, and architecture courses as expressive media with contemporary cultural relevance. Because art is inherently interdisciplinary, the major in Studio Art is offered as a pre-professional program within a liberal arts context; it intends that each student should produce artworks with technical proficiency in a principal medium supported by knowledge of a variety of media processes as well as liberal arts breadth in critical thinking and verbal skills. In advanced classes, students focus on a body of related creative works, locating their ideas and artworks within a contemporary cultural and theoretical context. The major is preparation both for students intending to apply to Master of Fine Arts programs; for those who wish to pursue professional work as artists; and for students who wish to acquire a liberal arts degree which can lead to work in a wide variety of fields in graduate school both inside and outside the world of art (such as art history, architecture, digital arts, commercial art, design, arts administration, teaching art in elementary and secondary schools, etc.).
There are two studio art degree programs: the Bachelor of Arts, and the Bachelor of Fine Arts. The latter is a more focused degree that requires departmental approval for admittance into the program.
Studio Art Goals:
1. Develop students’ abilities to think critically and creatively about art practice and the influences that inform art as a discipline.
2. Impart a basic knowledge of the central theoretical concepts in contemporary art and art practice.
3. Provide the basis for a life of sustained intellectual and creative inquiry with interdisciplinary frames of reference.
All entering students who are considering studio art as a major are required to take the beginning studios in drawing, ceramics, painting and sculpture in their first three semesters and Drawing II as soon as possible. In order to finish within four years, students must decide upon their focus medium (ceramics, painting or sculpture) and take the second studio in that medium by the end of their sophomore year.
In the visual arts, it is important for the undergraduate studio art major to build a strong knowledge base over a wide variety of media as well as to become proficient in one medium. Students are encouraged to use their electives to develop skills in a number of media other than their focus medium. Students also have the option of creating a “double focus” by using their department electives.