Art and design are creative endeavors that communicate to the viewer in myriad ways. Both often mirror the culture that created them, and thus the forms of these expressions may be able to transcend the context of their making to describe or explain an entire world outside of our own experiences.
Interested?
The artist and the designer often share the ability to visually articulate cultural values, ideals for social change, and individual conceptions of what it means to be human. The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at UW-Stout prepares graduates for careers as professional artists and designers.
The curriculum is based on foundation courses in general education and the visual arts, including mathematics, social sciences, humanities (including art history), drawing and design. Students in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program may opt to pursue advanced studies in the studio arts emphases of ceramics, drawing, metals, painting, printmaking, and sculpture; or a concentration in graphic design, industrial design, interior design, or multimedia design. Regardless of emphasis or concentration, students in the program engage in a curriculum which is grounded in the fine arts, which values the critical and perceptual dynamics of art-making, the relevance of art history to contemporary art and design, and the analytical principles of aesthetics.
A Conducive Learning Environment
Modern studio/classrooms provide conducive environments for learning, and extensive open studio/lab hours allow access to these spaces outside of class periods. The Library Learning Center and the Department of Art and Design's Visual Resources Center contain collections of slides, films, laserdiscs, books, periodicals, and subscription-based online databases. Two galleries housed in the department, a student gallery and the John Furlong Gallery, along with other spaces on and off campus, provide for student, faculty and outside exhibitions throughout the academic year. Regular field trips to museums and galleries in Minneapolis and St. Paul give students further opportunities to view a changing array of exhibitions, performances, presentations, demonstrations, and lectures.
The university provides access to international study in such countries as Australia, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Thailand. Bachelor of Fine Arts students are encouraged to participate in study abroad programs and to become involved in student organizations, such as the Fine Arts Association (Studio Arts), the Graphic Design Student Association, the Industrial Design Student Association, the Interior Design Student Association, or the Multimedia Design Student Association.
Since 1988 UW-Stout has been an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and since spring 2000 the Interior Design concentration has been accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (formerly known as FIDER -- the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research).
Preparing for UW-Stout
Preparation for the Bachelor of Fine Arts program should include a sound liberal studies background, as well as courses in the fine arts. Basic computer science or programming is a strongly recommended addition for those pursuing design concentrations of the program.
Starting Out
During your first semester at Stout, the Advisement and Career Center will provide advisers to assist you in the selection of your courses, and to help you successfully navigate the university community. Your first few semesters will consist of a mixture of general education, art, art history, and for the design concentrations, technical courses. General education courses include English, speech, mathematics, and technology. In your first art department courses, you will be introduced to art history, drawing, and basic two-dimensional design. For those concentrating in multimedia design, the first year should also include a two-semester sequence of computer science coursework.
As You Progress
Your schedule will continue to balance general education and visual arts courses. At the time you are approaching the half-way mark in your undergraduate career, you will participate in the art and design department's mid-program portfolio review, during which you will be asked to present the best quality works from your art and design foundations coursework to a team of department faculty, who will review your progress and offer suggestions for enhancing your portfolio. A faculty adviser will assist with course and professional career options. Additional support services are offered by the Advisement Center, the Counseling Center, and the Career Services Office.
During your last four semesters, you will be taking more courses in your chosen emphasis or concentration: design studio selectives for design concentrations, and advanced fine arts courses for the Studio Art B.F.A. degree without concentration. For the design concentrations, many of these upper-level courses are restricted from concurrent registrations, since the art and design department faculty want the programmatic requirements to ensure the finest quality student portfolios. The culmination of the final years of academic study is the student's senior show, which is a requirement for all art and design majors regardless of concentration. This exhibition should present the very finest art and design work created during the final stages of your coursework.