Degrees Offered

The Department of Art & and Design offers the following undergraduate degrees:

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
  • Bachelor of Arts (BA)
  • Art History Minor

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is the professional arts degree, with intensive work in art and design, supported by a program in general studies. The BFA program prepares you for professional careers in the visual arts—a studio artist or designer. In accordance with the standards of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the major consists of 80 credits in the Department of Art & Design.

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) with Studio Arts Emphasis is the liberal arts degree, with a focus on art and design in the context of a broad program of general studies. The BA encourages study in a variety of disciplines and consists of 45 credits in the Department of Art & Design.

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) with Art Historical Emphasis is a combination of studio art courses plus a strong art historical preparation. The standards for this BA in Art are those needed for admission into graduate study in Art History. The BA in Art with Art Historical Emphasis consists of 68 credits, including 8 credits of foreign language.

The Art History Minor consists of 24 credits as specified in the UWSP catalog.

Academic Requirements

Specific requirements for the BFA, BA and Art History Minor can be found in the UWSP University online Catalog:https://catalog.uwsp.edu/

Programs

The study of art and design involves conceptual, historical, theoretical, and technical skill development. Our programs invest you with knowledge of materials and processes to create work and the ability for critical evaluation of art and design.​

Studio Courses

We offer a range of courses where you explore various methods for learning and producing work. As a Freshman, you learn fundamental principles and skills in our Foundation courses. As you advance in the program you will find that our studio classes have low student to teacher ratio, so individual attention is the norm.

Supplies

There is a lab fee for each studio class that provides for a portion of required materials. There are additional materials that all students may need to purchase. You can purchase these items from the bookstore, a local or on-line art store.

 

Art History Courses

We are happy to offer you a new Emphasis in Art History, essentially a preparation for further study in graduate school. You can choose from Art History courses focusing on Western or Eastern Art History.

Emphasis Areas

The department is organized around emphasis areas. For the BA degree your choices include: art history, studio arts. For the BFA degree your choices include: two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D), and graphic design (GD). BFA degree students choose one (or two) areas for concentrated study. Disciplines within the studio emphasis areas include:

  • 2D: drawing, painting, photography, print making
  • 3D: ceramics, sculpture
  • GD: graphic design

BFA Portfolio Review

The Bachelor of Fine Arts Portfolio Review is the gateway process to enter the professional degree program in the Department of Art&Design, the BFA.  It is divided into two parts: 

Part I:
A review of all first year, Foundation level, student work which then receives a score as an average of all the faculty evaluations

Part II:
An Interview process with small teams of faculty emphasizing the student's development in the second year of the program.

The final determination of entry into the professional Bachelor of Fine Arts degree track is made after reviewing the sum of these results.