With a Bfa in Fine Arts is It Easy to Be a Comic Book Artist

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In University of the Arts' Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program in Fine Arts, your personal vision and artistic innovation anchor the development of your work. You'll be exposed to a wide range of historical and contemporary art and encouraged to choose techniques, processes and formats that are necessary for your artistic vision. You'll develop a personal studio practice based on conceptual interests, expanding your technical skills, and integrating cultural and historical context into your perspective.

The Fine Arts curriculum is based on a framework of research, studio experimentation, artistic invention and daily practice. You'll be prepared to produce significant cultural contributions and dialogue, exhibit art in galleries and museums, and create work for diverse communities and public spaces. You'll complete assignments that will develop your conceptual skills, so you can master the processes and techniques you need to achieve your artistic vision.

As a student in the Fine Arts program, you can choose an emphasis in Painting, Expanded Drawing and Print Media or Sculpture. Each has five required classes designed to impart advanced technical skills and an understanding of art historical and contemporary practice. You can choose to use your electives to acquire deep knowledge of your chosen discipline, or expand your field of study to include the breadth of creative practice, such as dance, performance or virtual reality. You will learn to express your unique artistic voice in multiple facets, through a combination of technical skills and critical thinking.

Critical thinking and visual analysis is combined with research into culturally important areas outside of the arts, such as, philosophy, psychology, history, sociology and science. Upon graduation, you'll be prepared to add something of value to the human experience and make a mark on history.

Your senior thesis project/exhibition prepares you for successful entry into graduate-level programs or a variety of professional careers, as well as preparing you to be competitive in gaining other forms of support such as grants, residencies and gallery exhibitions.

Quick Facts

As a Fine Arts student:

• Must complete 61.5 credits - see curriculum requirements below
• Must submit an application by August 12, 2022
• UArts Fine Arts graduates receive an accredited degree in Fine Arts, certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education
• You are eligible for a wide range of scholarships available during the admissions process.
• You can transfer into UArts. Transfer student applications for the Fall semester will be accepted through August 12, 2022.

See the full curriculum

Studying in the City

Living and working in the heart of Philadelphia, you'll get to know local art organizations, museums, theaters, venues and the other spaces that make Philadelphia culturally and artistically inspiring. Our accomplished faculty are deeply embedded in the vibrant Philadelphia contemporary art scene and fabrication studios, which provides networking opportunities and behind-the-scenes experiences for UArts students. Our visiting artist and speaker series brings renowned artists, curators, writers, industry professionals and gallery directors to UArts, providing you with the opportunity for one-on-one meetings with the most important professionals in the field. Beyond Philadelphia, you'll explore New York City and Washington D.C. through program-organized visits to museums, galleries and major contemporary art sites.

Philadelphia is an aspiring artist's extended classroom. The city's vibrant gallery scene, artist cooperatives and world-class museums showcase the work of national, international and local artists.

Why Zakiyah Stewart chose UArts

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Student Work /

Zeinab Diomande BFA '22

Faith Higgins '22

Emily Grden '21

Jackie Kolifrath BFA '20

Nick Stienman BFA '20

Hannah Voley BFA '20

Hannah Voley BFA '20

Simone Williams BFA '20

Matt Wittig BFA '20

Guangyu Zhang BFA '20

Zeinab Diomande

'23

Painting (BFA in Fine Arts)

Logan Smith

'25

Fine Arts (BFA)

Lola Smith

'24

Fine Arts (BFA)

Keshawna Logan

'23

Fine Arts (BFA)

Prince De León

'24

Fine Arts (BFA)

Alexander Medlin II

'25

Fine Arts (BFA)

Program Curriculum

Program Outcomes

After completing the Fine Arts program, students will be able to

• Demonstrate independent, creative problem solving and original thinking through the development of a distinct and personal approach to art-making informed by contemporary issues and historical precedents.
• Demonstrate critical and conceptual development through research and analysis, applying readings, theories and methodologies to the production of critically informed artworks.
• Acquire and demonstrate the professional skills needed to be successful as practicing artists, entrepreneurs and productive citizens, including study at the graduate level.
• Effectively communicate, orally and in writing, the thoughts behind their choices and decisions concerning content and strategies.
• Demonstrate proficiency in a number of advanced techniques in their individual studio practice, including a deep familiarity with materials and processes.
• Share a rich portfolio of personal work demonstrating exploration and mastery of their chosen media.

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Fall semester: 16.5 credits

Image/Time 3 credits
Object/Environment 3 credits
Drawing: Objects & Space 3 credits
Art, Design & the Moving Image 3 credits
Writing Composition 3 credits
Free elective (your choice) (1.5 credits)

Spring semester: 16.5 credits

Color 3 credits
Body as Form 3 credits
Drawing: Natural Form & Human Figure 3 credits
Art, Design & the Moving Image II 3 credits
Writing Composition 3 credits
Free elective (your choice) (1.5 credits)

During your first year in the Fine Arts program, you'll learn fundamental skills of art making and the development of critical thinking while connecting with art history and contemporary art. You'll have a broad introduction to 2D and 3D digital and traditional practices, orient yourself in our many shops and facilities and gain a strong foundation upon which to build your practice. You will be able to explore courses in your chosen emphasis and broaden your creative scope through coursework in other programs. You'll have the opportunity to collaborate with other students from the School of Art and use the city as a resource to expand your creative pursuits.

Fall semester: 15 credits

Sophomore Projects 3 credits
Contemporary Issues 3 credits
200 level emphasis course 3 credits (this could include Painting Materials & Processes)
Critical Studies 3 credits
Free elective (your choice) 3 credits

Spring semester: 15 of credits

Expanded Materials 3 credits
200 level emphasis course (this could include Drawing into Painting)
Art History (your choice) 3 credits
Science (your choice) 3 credits
Digital Requirement 3 credits (this could include Artmaking in VR, Stop Motion Animation, Digital Illustration)

Your second year will focus on developing your skills and expanding your practice. You will have the opportunity to take a deep dive of the materials, processes and techniques in your chosen emphasis studio courses. You will be introduced to key writings, concepts, artists and practitioners of contemporary Art in Contemporary Issues, and you will explore working across disciplines in Expanded Materials. In Sophomore Projects, you'll work with students across the School of Art to learn how to combine research with your studio-based practices to effectively communicate your artistic voice and convey your vision visually, verbally and in writing. Additional electives and requirements empower you to customize your learning experience by taking further coursework within the Fine Arts program, the School of Art or across the University!

Fall semester: 15 credits

Junior Projects I 3 credits
300 level emphasis course 3 credits
Critical Studies 3 credits
Critical Studies (your choice) 3 credits
Free Elective (your choice) 3 credits

Spring semester 13.5 credits

Junior Projects II 3 credits
300 level emphasis course 3 credits
Critical Studies 3 credits
Internship (1.5 credits)
Free electives 3 credits

During your third year, you will refine your technical skills and research practices. Studio courses will take you on a deep exploration of the historic traditions and techniques of your chosen discipline. Electives offer the opportunity to expand your scope with ventures into animation, film, business, dance, photography, among others. During your third year, you will also develop critical professional skills and have opportunities to develop a professional network through your internship. Internships will place you in an artist's studio, a museum, non-profit or into another facet of Philadelphia's creative economy.

Fall semester: 15 credits

Fine Arts Thesis Groundwork 3 credits
Professional Practice 3 credits
400 level emphasis studio 3 credits
Critical Studies (your choice) 3 credits
Critical Studies (your choice)

Spring semester: 13.5 credits

Fine Art Thesis Studio 3 credits
The Artist Manifesto 3 credits
Critical Studies (your choice) 3 credits
Free electives (your choice) 3 credits
Free electives (your choice) 3 credits

The fourth year is focused on your development of an individually motivated, conceptually and materially rigorous body of work that stems from your own interest. This culminates in the Fine Arts capstone, a thesis exhibition and accompanying thesis paper. You will learn critical skills to prepare you for succeeding in the creative economy; including the development of your professional materials, grant writing, preparation of taxes and more.

Explore the Full Curriculum

Facilities

Students at UArts have access to a broad selection of well-equipped facilities. As a student in the Fine Arts Program, you will be able to take classes, create art, explore mediums and refine your skills in UArts' state of the art spaces, including spaces, including

• Sculpture studios
• Painting studios
• Drawing studios
• Print studios
• Metal shop with cold and hot processes
• Multiple well equipped woodshops
• Foundry for creating bronze and aluminum casting
• Makerspace, offering facilities dedicated to mold making and casting
• Extensive printmaking facilities including etching, screen printing and lithography
• A letterpress studio with one of the largest movable type collections in an art school in the US
• Bindery for book arts and book binding Facilities dedicated to non-silver and alternative print and photographic processes Photography studios and dark rooms Fibers facilities Ceramic facilities

The Albert M. Greenfield Makerspace is a 3,500-square-foot digital and traditional fabrication studio that houses state-of-the-art digital and analog equipment that helps you create virtually anything you can imagine. It is outfitted with

• 3-D printers and scanners;
• a router and a mill;
• laser,
• vinyl and substrate cutters;
• printed circuit board (PCB) and decal printers;
• and more.

The Center for Immersive Media (CIM) helps you explore and create with augmented and virtual reality, performance motion-capture and human-computer interaction. At 5,600 square feet, CIM is the largest such facility in the region.

The Borowsky Center for Publication Arts offers the UArts community the opportunity to explore offset process as a creative medium. Students in Printmaking, Graphic Design, Illustration, and other disciplines can utilize this commercial process to create a variety of projects, from show posters and promotional postcards to fine prints and artists' books. The Borowsky Center additionally acts as a research facility within the university.

Students at UArts as well as members of the public can use the Print Center in Terra Hall to produce all manner of works. The Print Center's Print Shop is a full-service printing facility specializing in archival Inkjet printing, laser printing, vinyl cutting and laminating. The Print Center also acts as an educational facility, providing guidance on file preparation and print media.

UArts' studios and facilities center the social environment of creativity and embrace the peer-to-peer learning that's fostered as in comfortable, well-equipped spaces where creatives and creators can work side by side and share knowledge, inspiration and techniques.

Galleries

Beyond spaces for creating art, UArts offers extensive facilities for exhibiting and experiencing art. UArts is home to 12 galleries, including the storied Philadelphia Art Alliance and the critically acclaimed Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery.

The Fine Arts program specifically maintains three galleries at UArts, including

• The Painting Gallery, located on the 8th floor of Anderson Hall. This gallery is a model venue for exhibiting two-dimensional artwork, focusing on painting, drawing and interdisciplinary work. The gallery runs three shows per semester of art by internationally recognized visiting artists, as well as that of students, alumni and faculty.
• The Fine Arts Gallery, located on the 6th floor of Anderson hall. This gallery focuses on print-based media with exhibitions of work from students, alumni and faculty, as well as from internationally recognized printmakers and book artists.
• Hybrid installation studios.

Visiting Artists

Throughout your studies in the Fine Arts program, you will be exposed to a variety of internationally recognized guest artists and speakers, in order to introduce you to the limitless possibilities for your future.

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• Rina Banerjee
• William Villalongo
• Eric Fischl
• Nicola Lopez
• Jules de Balincourt
• Daniel Gordon
• Jennifer Packer
• Nadia Hironaka & Matt Suib
• Angela Dufresne
• Rachel Frank
• Katrina Andry
• Miguel Antonio
• Horn Bethany
• Collins Odili
• Donald Odita
• Stacy Levy
• Martha Colburn
• Mary Mattingly
• KaKyoung Lee
• Bev Semmes
• Jordan Kasey
• Catehrine Bebout
• Carrie Moyer
• Peter Krashes
• Anthony Giocolea
• Yoonmi Nam
• Midred Beltre
• Wardell Milan
• Lee Stoetzel
• Jonathan Van Dyke
• Spiral Q Puppet Theater

Careers & Internships

Your creative and technical studies in the Fine Arts program will intersect with critical professional competencies, setting you up to take successful next steps after graduating.

Careers in Fine Art

By the time they graduate, Fine Arts students will have developed an extensive portfolio of works and honed a breadth and depth of skill in fine arts practices, as well as developed sharp critical thinking and problem solving skills. As a graduate of the Fine Arts program, you will be able to apply your creativity to many different positions in a variety of career paths, including:

• Arts educator
• Art director
• Industrial designer
• Product designer
• Mural Artist Museum or Gallery Administrator
• Studio Artist
• Studio Manager/Artist assistant
• Special effects fabricator
• Business owners
• Art outreach program developer
• Textile designer
• Art therapist

Internships

As a student in the Fine Arts program, you will gain hands-on professional experience during your Professional Practices course and a required internship. Fine Arts students have the opportunity to exhibit work in numerous galleries and exhibition spaces, on campus and beyond. Such opportunities provide professional experiences and introduce your work to an audience that includes peers, faculty and the greater Philadelphia arts community.

Organizations that have hosted prior internships include

• Professional sculptor's studios;
• Spiral Q Puppet Theater;
• industry fabrication studios, ceramic shops and foundries;
• The Fabric Workshop and Museum;
• public art fabrication projects, including Miguel Antonio Hornn's "ContraFuerte" installation and fabrication;
• Philadelphia Museum of Art;
• The Center for Emerging Visual Artists;
• Vox Populi Gallery;
• and Philadelphia Mural Arts.

Alumni Spotlight

Our alumni work as artists and leaders across many creative industries. Their artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally and featured at institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Brookyln Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art among others.

They've collaborated on projects like the Mars rover, exhibited their artwork in museums internationally, founded special effects companies, and worked in the biomedical field. They have created ecologically focused sustainable businesses, worked with theater set design, constructed large-scale commercial displays for companies such as Anthopologie and have been awarded prestigious fellowships like the Guggenheim Fellowship, and Pew Fellowship for the Arts.

Olivia Jia

Painting (BFA in Fine Arts)

Justin Rubich

BFA '10

Painting (BFA in Fine Arts)

Alex Da Corte

BFA '04

Expanded Drawing & Print Media (BFA in Fine Arts)

Pap Souleye Fall

BFA '17

Sculpture (BFA in Fine Arts)

Jonathan Lyndon Chase

BFA '13

Painting (BFA in Fine Arts)

UArts offers recommended priority deadlines; students who apply and submit all required materials by the priority deadline will receive first consideration for scholarship aid from UArts. Applications received after the priority deadline will be reviewed on a rolling, space-available basis.

International students requiring an F-1 visa for study in the U.S. might be subject to earlier deadlines to provide time for completion of the visa process. Contact Admissions for guidance if you are an international student who wishes to apply after the priority deadline.

Fall 2022 priority deadline:Our fall 2022 priority deadline to apply has passed, but we will continue to accept applications as space remains available in each program.

We cannot accept fall 2022 applications after Aug. 12, 2022.

The following materials are required for your application.

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• If you qualify for a fee waiver from NACAC, CollegeBoard, UArts or another source, indicate that on your application. If the cost of the application fee is a barrier, contact Admissions to request a fee waiver code.

• Official transcripts must be sent directly from your school by mail, email or a secure electronic document-delivery service.

• International transcript requirements

  • If you've attended high school outside the U.S., read the additional guidelines for international transcripts.

• Transfer student transcript requirements

  • High school transcripts may be waived for transfer applicants who have completed a minimum of 24 credits of college-level coursework, including a minimum of 18 academic, non-studio credits.

  • Official college transcript(s)

    • Official transcripts must be sent directly from all the colleges you have attended by mail, email or a secure electronic document-delivery service.

    • If you've attended college outside the U.S., you are required to have an official course-by-course evaluation of your college coursework sent to UArts. Additional guidelines for international transcripts are available.

A portfolio is required for all Art, Design, Film and Writing programs. Your portfolio may be uploaded during the application process or via your applicant status portal after submission. You must confirm when your submission is complete via the linked electronic form before your portfolio can be reviewed for admission.

Learn more about portfolio requirements.

• Letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors are optional and may be submitted by the recommender via email to undergradcredentials@uarts.edu or by your high school through a secure electronic document-delivery service.

Apply Now

Scholarships & Financial Aid

UArts recognizes the extraordinary talent of our students through a range of merit-based scholarships. All applicants are automatically considered for such scholarships—no special application is necessary.

Nearly 98 percent of UArts' undergraduate students enrolled on a full-time basis are eligible for some type of need-based aid. Additionally, some scholarship opportunities take need-based criteria into account. All students who are U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens and are enrolled in a degree program are encouraged to apply by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

About the School of Art

The School of Art at University of the Arts deeply values and celebrates creative curiosity, interdisciplinary collaboration and exploration of numerous media and practices. The School of Art breaks with traditional, medium- and discipline-specific art education by making it possible for you to explore working and building skills in different media throughout the school.

You will be professionally prepared for a creative practice that emphasizes critical thinking and technical skill. You can create your own education through interdisciplinary learning and mixed media, or focus on a chosen discipline. No matter how you focus your exploration at the School of Art, you'll learn to express your personal vision and innovate your chosen artforms.

Learn more about the School of Art.

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Source: https://www.uarts.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/finearts

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