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Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art
- Overview
- Curriculum
The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art is a highly competitive professional degree program. The BFA prepares students for a variety of art and art related careers or graduate school by providing a thorough grounding in fundamental principles and techniques with opportunities for emphasis in one or more fine arts areas. This degree focuses on intensive work in art or design supported by a program of general studies. The BFA degree offers a concentration in the following 6 areas:
- Ceramics
- Graphic Communication
- Painting and Drawing
- Photography
- Printmaking
- Sculpture
All art and art education majors are required to take lower-division major requirements in art and art history before taking upper-division art or art education courses. ART 2990, Professional Practices & Portfolio Review, is required of all BFA art majors before submitting a portfolio for acceptance into a specific concentration area. Art education majors must take ART 2990 before the completion of six hours of upper level art or art education courses.
More information:
Semester schedules of art classes are available at the Registrar's Web Page.
Course requirements are also available online in the KSU Undergraduate Catalog.
Download the new BFA Degree catalog information (87kB PDF)
Advisement worksheets:
Printable BFA Advising Checksheet (Enacted Fall, 2010) (55 KB PDF download)
Printable BFA Advising Checksheet (Old Catalog) (117 KB PDF download)
BFA Required Courses
LOWER-DIVISION COURSES (Area F)
(All required for a total of 18 credit hours)
| Course Title | Credits |
| ART 1100: 2-D Design & Color Theory | 3 |
| ART 1150: Drawing I | 3 |
| ART 1200: 3-D Design | 3 |
| ART 2150: Drawing II | 3 |
| ART 2550: Computer Applications in Art | 3 |
| ART 2990: Professional Practices and Portfolio Preparation | 3 |
Entrance Portfolio 9
All prospective art majors are required to complete an application form and submit a portfolio of their artwork. Admission to degree programs in the Department of Visual Arts is contingent upon portfolio review and acceptance by the department. Portfolio submission and review must take place before a student can enroll in courses beyond ART 1100, 2-D Design, and ART 1150, Drawing I.
UPPER-DIVISION COURSES
Distribution Requirements (9)
(Select from below 3 outside the concentration area for a total of 9 credit hours. At least one 2-D and one 3-D area must be represented.)
| Course Title | Credits |
| 2-D | |
| ART 3010: Electronic Illustration | 3 |
| ART 3160: Painting I | 3 |
| ART 3400: Photography I | 3 |
| ART 3500: Printmaking I | 3 |
| ART 3990: Art as a Public Profession | 3 |
| 3-D | |
| ART 3120: Ceramics I | 3 |
| ART 3300: Sculpture I | 3 |
| ART 3320: Jewelry & Small Metals | 3 |
| ART 3550: Papermaking and Book Arts | 3 |
Art History (12)
(Both below are required by all art majors for a total of 6 credit hours)
| Course Title | Credits |
| ARH 2750: Ancient through Medieval Art | 3 |
| ARH 2850: Renaissance through Modern Art | 3 |
(Select 2 from below for a total of 6 credit hours)
| ARH 3000 Survey of Asian Art | 3 |
| ARH 3100 African Art | 3 |
| ARH 3150 Islamic Art | 3 |
| ARH 3200 Art of the Ancient Americas | 3 |
| ARH 3250 Latin-American Art | 3 |
| ARH 3300 Ancient Egyptian Art | 3 |
| ARH 3350 Art of Ancient Greece | 3 |
| ARH 3370 Roman Art and Architecture | 3 |
| ARH 3398 Internship | 3 |
| ARH 3500 Italian Renaissance Art | 3 |
| ARH 3600 Baroque Art | 3 |
| ARH 3650 Theory and Criticism of the Visual Arts | 3 |
| ARH 3700 Nineteenth-Century Art | 3 |
| ARH 3750 History of American Art | 3 |
| ARH 3800 Art Since 1900 | 3 |
| ARH 3990 Research Methods in Art History | 3 |
| ARH 4000 Historical Studio Practices | 3 |
| ARH 4150 African-American Art | 3 |
| ARH 4400 Directed Study | 3 |
| ARH 4490 Special Topics in Art History | 3 |
| ARH 4500 Women in Art | 3 |
| ARH 4700 Victorian Art and Culture | 3 |
| ARH 4750 American Landscape Painting | 3 |
| ARH 4850 History of Graphic Design | 3 |
| ARH 4870 History of Photography | 3 |
| ARH 4900 Contemporary Art | 3 |
| TPS 3493 Performance Art | 3 |
BFA Concentration Courses
UPPER DIVISION COURSES (total credit hours = 30)
Complete a minimum of 18 credits in either painting/drawing, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, or photography. Complete 9 additional upper-division credits in any class in ART, ARED, or ARH. Graphic communication concentrations complete 27 credits in graphic communication courses and 3 additional credits.
Concentration Review Portfolio 10
Students select an area of concentration from those listed below. While enrolled in the second course of the concentration students will submit a portfolio of work in that area for review by the supervising faculty. Students who do not pass will not be allowed to continue in the program.
GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS CONCENTRATION
| Course Title | Credits |
| ART 3011: Typography I | 3 |
| ART 3020: Typography II 11 | 3 |
| ART 3021: Publication Design | 3 |
| ART 3022: Pre-press & Image Manipulation | 3 |
| ART 4011: Design Strategy & Presentation | 3 |
| ART 4021: Advertising & Packaging | 3 |
| ART 4020: Electronic Illustration | 3 |
| ART 4022: Digital Design: Dreamweaver | 3 |
| ART 4023: Digital Design: Flash | 3 |
| ART, ARH or ARED 3000 or 4000 level elective choice | 3 |
DRAWING AND PAINTING CONCENTRATION
| Course Title | Credits |
| ART 3150: Drawing III - Life Drawing | 3 |
| ART 3160: Painting I | 3 |
| ART 3260: Painting II | |
| ART 4260: Painting III - Aqueous Media | 3 |
| ART 4150: Advanced Study in Drawing and ART 4265: Advanced Study in Painting (take at least 1 of each course and any combination for a total of 9 hours) |
9 |
| ART, ARH or ARED 3000 or 4000 level elective choice (take at least 1 of each course and any combination for a total of 9 hours) |
9 |
PHOTOGRAPHY CONCENTRATION
| Course Title | Credits |
| ART 3150: Drawing III – Life Drawing | 3 |
| ART 3400: Photography I | 3 |
| ART 3410: Photography II | 3 |
| ART 4410: Advanced Study in Photography (repeat for a total of 12 hours) |
12 |
| ART, ARH or ARED 3000 or 4000 level elective choice (choose three courses for a total of 9 hours) |
9 |
PRINTMAKING CONCENTRATION
| Course Title | Credits |
| ART 3150: Drawing III – Life Drawing | 3 |
| ART 3500: Printmaking I | 3 |
| ART 3510: Printmaking II | 3 |
| ART 4510: Advanced Study in Printmaking (repeat for a total of 12 hours) |
12 |
| ART, ARH or ARED 3000 or 4000 level elective choice (choose three courses for a total of 9 hours) |
9 |
CERAMICS CONCENTRATION
| Course Title | Credits |
| ART 3150: Drawing III – Life Drawing | 3 |
| ART 3120: Ceramics 1 | 3 |
| ART 3360: Ceramics II | 3 |
| ART 4360: Advanced Study in Ceramics (take at least 1 of each course and any combination for a total of 12 hours) |
12 |
| ART, ARH or ARED 3000 or 4000 level elective choice (choose three courses for a total of 9 hours) |
9 |
SCULPTURE CONCENTRATION
| Course Title | Credits |
| ART 3150: Drawing III – Life Drawing | 3 |
| ART 3300: Sculpture I | 3 |
| ART 3310: Sculpture II | 3 |
| ART 4310: Advanced Study in Sculpture (take at least 1 of each course and any combination for a total of 12 hours) |
12 |
| ART, ARH or ARED 3000 or 4000 level elective choice (choose three courses for a total of 9 hours) |
9 |
SENIOR REVIEW EXHIBITION
(choose one according to concentration plus 6 hours of free electives)
| Course Title | Credits |
| ART 4980 Senior Portfolio and Applied Project (Graphic Communication only)12 | 3 |
| ART 4990 Senior Exhibition and Seminar (Studio Concentrations) | 3 |
| FREE ELECTIVES | 6 |
General Education Requirements
ESSENTIAL SKILLS: 9 credit hours
| Composition (6 credits) | Credits |
| ENGL 1101 (Composition I)1 | 3 |
| ENGL 1102 (Composition II)2 | 3 |
| Mathematics (3 credits) | Credits |
| MATH 1101, 1111, 1112, or 11133 | 3 |
SOCIAL ISSUES (Institutional Option): 5 credit hours
| ANTH 2105 or GEOG 2105 or PSYC 2105 or SOCI 2105 | 2 |
| COM 1109 or FL 1002 or PHIL 2200 | 3 |
HUMANITIES/FINE ARTS: 6 credit hours
| ENGL 2110 (World Literature)4 | 3 |
| ART 1107 or MUSI 1107 or THTR 1107** (Arts in Society)5 | 3 |
SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS AND TECHNOLOGY: 10-11 credit hours
| ***SCI 1101, CHEM 1211/1211L, CHEM 1151/1151L, PHYS 1111, or PHYS 1111 | 3 or 4 |
| ***SCI 1102, CHEM 1212/1212L, CHEM 1152/1152L, PHYS 1112, or PHYS 2212 | 3 or 4 |
| MATH 1106, 1107, 1190, 2017, or 2207 | 3 |
SOCIAL SCIENCES: 12 credit hours
| ECON 1100 or ECON 2100 | 3 |
| HIST 1110 (World Civilizations)6 | 3 |
| HIST 2112 (America Since 1890)7 | 3 |
| POLS 1101 (American Government/Global Perspective) | 3 |
OTHER REQUIREMENTS: 3-6 credit hours
| KSU 11018 or KSU 1102 or enroll in a Learning Community | 3 |
| HPS 1000 | 3 |
| Regents' Exam or RGTR 0198: Regents' Reading Skills or RGTR 0199: Regents' Writing Skills |
Total Credit Hours in General Education= 45
PROGRAM TOTAL CREDIT HOURS = 123
FOOTNOTES:
- Prerequisites: ENGL 0099 & READ 0099 if required
- Prerequisite: ENGL 1101 with C or better
- Prerequisite: MATH 0098 or 0099 if required
- Prerequisite: ENGL 1102 with C or better
- Art, Music and Theatre majors should not take the course in their major discipline
- Prerequisite: ENGL 1101 with C or better
- Prerequisite: ENGL 1101 with C or better
- All first-year full-time students entering with fewer than 15 credits are required to take KSU 1101 or enroll in a Learning Community.
- All students must submit a portfolio of their work. Students must pass this review to be admitted as an art major and enroll in further art studio classes beyond ART 1100 and ART 1150
- During the second course in the concentration, a portfolio of prior work must be submitted in order to be accepted into the concentration area.
- For graphic communication concentrations only. All others take ART 3150.
- For graphic communication concentrations only.
Important Note: The faculty advisor serves as a guide in schedule planning. The ultimate responsibility of meeting degree requirements resides with the student.