Overview

The Fine Arts program is designed to help students attain full development as visionaries in both a general arts context and within the framework of art’s history and philosophy. Students are encouraged to create a personal style and a critical approach to the solution of individual problems by exploring two- and three-year dimensional media and forms.

Students need 92 credits to graduate, which can be normally completed in three years. 

Mission

The mission of the Fine Arts program is to help students attain their full development as leading creative artists and thinkers, in both the studio arts context and within the framework of art history and philosophy.

Program Objectives

The purpose of the Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts is to:

1. Seek a liberal arts education designed to acquaint students with the leading ideas and forces that steer and shape the arts and art education globally;
2. Provide students with the technical skills and knowledge of the use of materials and technologies in the making of   drawing, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, multimedia, and computer art as professional artists;
3. Prepare students interested in art education for a career in teaching art;
4. Pave the way for graduate studies in studio art, art theory, and/or art education;
5. Relate the fine arts to other disciplines and practices in design, technology, science and the humanities, for inspiration and areas of interaction;
6. Help heighten the student’s sense of imagination, creative personal expression, and their pursuit of excellence in today’s highly competitive art world; and
7. Provide a yearly art exhibition and an accompanying art catalogue featuring the student’s works, introducing them to how a professional art exhibit is carried out, while also exposing them to galleries, art critics, and the public at large.

Program Outcomes

Graduates of the Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts will be able to be:

1. A professional artist who is highly trained and equipped to exhibit and market their own work, who has a strong portfolio;
2. An art teacher in elementary and secondary schools, with a strong educational background and a distinctive art portfolio;
3. A graduate student pursuing higher education in art theory, and/or in creative studio art;
4. An illustrator contributing drawings and illustrations to books, newspapers, and magazines;
5. An artist/intellectual contributing to both their own culture and to the world’s reservoir of creative art and art theory works;
6. An art critic; and/or
7. An artist seeking employment in museums and art galleries.

Admission Requirements

To enter the major, students must meet the general university requirements and the fine arts program specific requirements.

Graduation Requirements

A total of 92 credits are required to graduate, based on:

Program Requirements

Major Core Requirements (49 credits):

• ART201 / Fundamentals of Design I (3 cr.)
• ART202 / Fundamentals of Design II (3 cr.)
• ART211 / Ceramics I (3 cr.)
• ART212 / Ceramics II (3 cr.)
• ART221 / Drawing I (3 cr.)
• ART222 / Drawing II (3 cr.)
• ART223 / Perspective Drawing (1 cr.)
• ART331 / History of Art I (3 cr.)
• ART332 / History of Art II (3 cr.)
• ART335 / Islamic Art of the Middle East (3 cr.)
• ART341 / Painting I (3 cr.)
• ART342 / Painting II (3 cr.)
• ART351 / Sculpture I (3 cr.)
• ART352 / Sculpture II (3 cr.)
• ART441 / Painting III (3 cr.)
• ART442 / Painting IV (3 cr.)
• ART499 / Senior Studies (3 cr.)

Art or Photography Electives

Choose any three courses of the following (9 credits):

• ART333 / Art Education (3 cr.)
• ART334 / Graphics (3 cr.)
• ART431 / Modern art (3 cr.)
• PHO211 / Photography I (3 cr.)
• PHO212 / Photography II (3 cr.)
• PHO222 / Digital Photography I (3 cr.)

Sample Study Plan

Year One

Fall (13 credits)

• ART201 / Fundamentals of Design I (3 cr.)
• ART221 / Drawing I (3 cr.)
• ART223 / Perspective Drawing (1 cr.)
• Art or Photography Elective (3 cr.)
• LAC (3 cr.)

Spring (15 credits)

• ART202 / Fundamentals of Design II (3 cr.)
• ART211 / Ceramics I (3 cr.)
• ART222 / Drawing II (3 cr.)
• LAC (6 cr.)

Summer (7 credits)

• LAC (7 cr.)

Year Two

Fall (15 credits)

• ART212 / Ceramics II (3 cr.)
• ART331 / History of Art I (3 cr.)
• ART341 / Painting I (3 cr.)
• ART351 / Sculpture I (3 cr.)
• LAC (3 cr.)

Spring (15 credits)

• ART331 / History of Art I (3 cr.)
• ART341 / Painting I (3 cr.)
• ART351 / Sculpture I (3 cr.)
• Art or Photography Elective (3 cr.)
• LAC (3 cr.)

Summer (3 credits)

• LAC (3 cr.)

Year Three

Fall (12 credits)

• ART335 / Islamic Art of the Middle East (3 cr.)
• ART441 / Painting III (3 cr.)
• Art or Photography Elective (3 cr.)
• LAC (3 cr.)

Spring (12 credits)

• ART442 / Painting IV (3 cr.)
• ART499 / Senior Studies (3 cr.)
• LAC (6 cr.)