Fine Arts- Painting and Sculpture

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BFA degree

The Department of Fine Arts offers two majors: Painting/2D Studies and Sculpture/3D Studies. Students who choose one of these disciplines enter a rigorous, four-year program. As its foundation, each major has a structured, sequential drawing requirement which provides a rich visual vocabulary and a basis for visual problem solving. The department teaches the fundamental principles and skills of each discipline, enabling students to acquire the knowledge needed to produce a coherent, personal body of creative work.

Painting/2D Studies and Sculpture/3D Studies students have space, facilities and equipment which place the programs among the more desirable ones in the country. Juniors and seniors work in private studio areas. Each student receives individual attention from faculty committed to teaching excellence as well as the critical support that comes from working within a group. Students know that their instructors are active and respected artists who bring first-hand, up-to-date knowledge to their studios. Academic excellence is recognized annually by department and college awards.

Fine Arts also has an active Visiting Artist Program that brings well-known artists to the university on a regular basis to discuss their work, conduct workshops, and assess developments in the art world. The Department and College host or participate in many on and off-campus exhibitions. These experiences prepare students to enter the competitive, exciting world of the visual arts with confidence.

Specific Requirements for the Different Majors

All Fine Arts Majors are required to take one 300-level Art History elective in addition to the ARH 125, 150 and 200 requirements. Students are urged to take as much Art History as possible or to earn an Art History Minor.

*Studio Support: Painting/2D Studies Majors are required to take one 200-level sculpture course and one 200-level printmaking course.
Sculpture/3D Studies Majors are required to take one 200-level painting course and one 200-level printmaking course.

Studio Electives: Credits are fulfilled by taking studio courses offered by the following departments: Art Education, Artisanry, Design and Fine Arts.

Free elective: Any course will satisfy this requirement.

Foundation Studio Arts Program

Required of All Majors (except Art History and Music)

Foundation Studio Arts is a rigorous two-semester program. It is designed to promote creativity, to develop technical and conceptual skills, and to provide an essential awareness of our visual culture. Its drawing, two-dimensional and three-dimensional courses serve as prerequisites-requisites for all 200 or higher-level courses in Fine Arts, Artisanry, Visual Design and Art Education. Its art history components, Renaissance to Modern Art and Modern to Contemporary Art, serve as prerequisites for the higher-level Department of Art History study that is demanded by each of the studio art departments.

Except where transferred or advance placement examination credits are accepted in lieu of requirements, first-year students may expect to take seven courses, totaling 17 credits, in each of their two freshman semesters: One drawing course, one two-dimensional studio course, one three-dimensional studio course, one art history course, one English course, one single-credit Foundation Studio Arts lecture course (Visual Arts Colloquium I and II) and one non-studio class are taken each semester.

The successful completion of the Foundation Studio Arts program is a required of all candidates for a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

FOU 101 - Visual Arts Colloquium I 1 credits
FOU 102 - Visual Arts Colloquium II 1 credits
FOU 110 - Foundation: Structural Drawing 3 credits
FOU 112 - Foundation Life Drawing 3 credits
FOU 114 - 2D Workshop 2 credits
FOU 115 - Visual Language 2 credits
FOU 124 - 3D Concepts 2 credits
FOU 125 - 3D Workshop 2 credits
ARH 125 - Renaissance to Modern Art and its Antecedents 3 credits
ARH 150 - Modern to Contemporary Art 3 credits
ARH 200 - Studies in Visual Culture 3 credits

Requirements

First Year

First Semester: 17 credits

Non-Studio electives - 3 credits

FOU 101 - Visual Arts Colloquium I 1 credits
FOU 110 - Foundation: Structural Drawing 3 credits
FOU 114 - 2D Workshop 2 credits
FOU 124 - 3D Concepts 2 credits
ARH 125 - Renaissance to Modern Art and its Antecedents 3 credits
ENL 101 - Critical Writing and Reading I 3 credits

Second Semester: 17 credits

Non-Studio electives - 3 credits

FOU 102 - Visual Arts Colloquium II 1 credits
FOU 112 - Foundation Life Drawing 3 credits
FOU 115 - Visual Language 2 credits
FOU 125 - 3D Workshop 2 credits
ARH 150 - Modern to Contemporary Art 3 credits
ENL 102 - Critical Writing and Reading II 3 credits

Second Year

First Semester: 15 credits

Major Studio - 3 credits
Studio Support - 3 credits
See * Specific Requirements for the Different Majors above.
Literature elective - 3 credits

FIA 221 - Figure Drawing I 3 credits
ARH 200 - Studies in Visual Culture 3 credits

Second Semester: 15 credits

Major Studio - 3 credits
Studio Support - 3 credits
See * Specific Requirements for the Different Majors above.
Humanities or Social Science elective - 3 credits
English Elective - 3 credits