Fine Arts
Offered at IU South Bend by College of Arts and Sciences
About
The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) programs provide students a solid foundation of technical proficiency and high-level studio skills in the area of their choice: Drawing and Painting, Graphic Design, Photography, Printmaking, and/or Sculpture. Graduates are prepared for hands-on careers in the fine arts or for pursuit of a graduate degree.
The Drawing and Painting program provides a thorough grounding in the development of technical skills and visual description while preparing students for graduate study and enriching careers as visual artists. The primary component of the program is studio activity, with students exploring various forms of drawing and painting to develop an individual vision. The program is particularly strong in its emphasis on the figure while exploring different mediums including oils, charcoal, pastel, graphite, and pen-and-ink. Students in the Drawing and Painting program have the unique opportunity to work in individual B.F.A. studios.
The concentration in Graphic Design provides a strong foundation in fundamental art skills, theory, art history, and advanced professional training in the concentrated theory and technical skills of graphic design. Within the degree program, students can tailor their education to meet various areas of interest in design, print, web, video, photography, printmaking, sculpture, art history, animation, or a combination of these areas and will be prepared for careers in graphic design, multimedia, web, or illustration or for pursuing a graduate degree.
The Photography concentration is a preprofessional degree program focusing on high-level studio skills. It includes intensive portfolio development and prepares students for hands-on careers in the fine arts or for pursuit of a Master in Fine Arts degree. This program stresses the medium's formal and conceptual aspects in the fine art tradition and aesthetic and cultural understanding of photography in a historical and contemporary context. Utilizing black-and-white film and digital photography, students will be prepared for graduate study, professional employment, or continued exploration of photography within their art practice.
The concentration in Printmaking provides competency in a core set of printmaking technologies: relief, intaglio, silkscreen, lithography, papermaking, book design, letter press, and digital processes. Students specialize in one of these focus areas and are encouraged to take additional upper-level courses in another art concentration: design, photography, or drawing and painting. This program recognizes that all individuals express their art in unique ways, and candidates produce work that synthesizes their areas of expertise.
The concentration in Sculpture encompasses traditional studies and contemporary approaches to the field. Students are supported in pursuing individual creative work in a wide range of media, techniques, and conceptual orientations. Students are encouraged to develop their ideas through experimentation and critical inquiry while developing expertise in figure modeling, stone carving, plaster/metal casting, ceramics, jewelry, and fabrication.