Visual Arts (B.A.)

Available at the Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield campuses.

Art history involves understanding these works of creativity through the ages and across diverse cultures. Such an understanding entails not only developing a basic visual vocabulary of great works of art and architecture past and present, but also the capacity to articulate their appearance, to describe and discuss the cultures they evidence, and to explore the ideals and practices of their times. The museum and the library are the studio of the art historian.

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Available at the Lock Haven campus.

The Ceramics program is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in both traditional and contemporary ceramic techniques, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and technical skills. Our faculty consists of accomplished ceramic artists who are passionate about nurturing talent and guiding students toward excellence in this versatile medium.

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Available at the Bloomsburg and Mansfield campuses.

Our Digital Media program opens students to the growing possibilities in digital image creation. To begin, students can take any of the more than ten courses in digital media, including Digital Drawing and Painting, 2D Animation, Video Art, Digital Illustration, Digital Photography, Portrait Photography as well as many other courses in digital photography. Students will learn and hone their technical skills in these classes while exploring conceptual ideas. Once students have completed at least two digital media courses, they will be eligible to enroll in the Focus/Thesis digital courses. These classes will give students more independence to develop their own personal work and artistic voice. The advanced courses are designed to prepare students for professional practice and the numerous career options in digital image making. Each student will complete a cohesive body of work, write an artist statement, and give a professional artist lecture to a group outside their class.

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Available at the Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield campuses.

In the Drawing concentration, students move from an introductory experience that emphasizes perceptual skills to an advanced experience that privileges a nuanced and complex understanding of the implications of style and materials, as well as a specific and personal content.

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Available at the Bloomsburg campus.

In the Fabric Design concentration, students focus on media specific courses for in depth investigation of processes. Students will explore the meaning, purpose, and significance of fiber art and textile design. Students begin with conceptual prompts and introductory sample works, which hone their skills in the medium. This leads to self-directed research, development of their own theme, and results in a strong portfolio of professional level works for exhibition.

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Available at the Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield campuses.

The Graphic Design concentration provides students with a broad set of skills and processes within the discipline, as well as applicable experience within a variety of digital media. Students investigate critical thinking and visual problem-solving, along with current trends in technology, to address formal, conceptual, and applied projects. Courses present a wide array of design-related material, focusing on typography, print design, image manipulation, time-based sequencing, narrative structures, environmental graphics, and interactive design. Students work toward developing a cohesive body of work that represents a personal vision relevant to current design culture. Advanced course options in Graphic Design offer students the opportunity to develop a portfolio, design statement, and prepare their work for professional practice.

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Available at the Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield campuses.

At the introductory level, painting students are introduced to a variety of technical, historical, and conceptual approaches to the medium. Students are encouraged to work independently pursuing their personal vision, and to work through a variety of directed exercises to explore different approaches to form. At the intermediate and advanced levels, students work more independently to develop a unique body of work.

Instruction is highly individualized, and students are required to pursue research intended to help enhance the content and contextualize their work. Students are asked to write and speak coherently about their work within this broader context. These skills enable the student to prepare and present their portfolio in a professional manner.

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Available at the Bloomsburg and Mansfield campuses.

The Photography program offers a comprehensive experience for the interested student. Courses offered include darkroom, digital, portraiture, experimental, landscape, and street photography. Facilities include a complete chemical darkroom, fully equipped Mac lab with 24” and 44” wide Epson printers, and a dedicated lighting studio. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the numerous opportunities offered through the department such as internships, independent study projects, and study abroad, along with the regular course offerings. These opportunities enable photographers to develop their portfolios and gain professional experience before graduating. With close proximity to New York City and Philadelphia, photography majors have many opportunities to view and study the work of artists relevant to their own photographic interests.

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Available at the Bloomsburg campus.

Our Printmaking concentration offers the student a contemporary approach to non-toxic printmaking. At the introductory level, students may take three individual courses including Intaglio (etching and collagraph techniques), Silkscreen, and Waterless Lithography and Relief printmaking. In each class, the student will learn in-depth technical skills while exploring conceptual ideas.

After the student has completed at least two of the introductory level print courses they may enroll in Advanced Printmaking. In this class, students work more independently, concentrating on their focused body of work.

Experimentation is highly encouraged, including multiple techniques/layers, the use of alternative surfaces/materials, print installations, and sculptural works. The advanced class is preparation for the real world. Each student will complete a cohesive body of prints, write an artist statement, and give a professional artist lecture to a group outside of their own class.

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Available at the Bloomsburg and Lock Haven campuses.

The Sculpture program provides a balance of craft and concept development. Students can model, manipulate, cast, fabricate, and construct sculptural environments. The courses in sculpture introduce students to a variety of concepts, materials, and processes aimed at providing a knowledge base that students can rely upon as they continue to develop. Upper-level classes continue to build skills while providing the students with an understanding of how their practice fits into the larger discussions within the contemporary art world.

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

• Visual Arts

ART BA Visual Arts Degree Program NASAD (National Association of Schools of Art and Design - accrediting body for Visual Arts) Competencies required of Liberal Arts Degrees in Visual Arts.

Students graduating with a BA in Visual Arts with concentrations in Painting, Drawing, Fabric Design, Printmaking, Sculpture, Photography, Digital Media, and Ceramics must possess: 

• A developed visual sensitivity. 
• The technical skills, perceptual development, and understanding of principles of visual organization sufficient to achieve basic visual communication and expression in one or more media. 
• Ability to make workable connections between concept and media. 
• Some familiarity with the works and intentions of major artists/designers and movements of the past and the present, both in the Western and non-Western worlds. 
• Students should understand the nature of contemporary thinking on art and design, and have gained at least a rudimentary discernment of quality in design projects and works of art. 

Students graduating with BA in Visual Arts degree with a concentration in Graphic Design must possess: 

• Technical skills, perceptual development, and understanding of design and other principles of visual organization sufficient to achieve basic visual communication using one or more media associated with design. 
• Basic ability to demonstrate how relationships among design principles and the material qualities of objects are incorporated into the production of design work, and how they contribute in terms of use and interpretation. 
• Functional knowledge of how the design of communication, products, environments, systems, and services both reflects and shapes various aspects of the context in which they are produced. 
• Understanding of the various levels at which design problems can be formulated and addressed, and the ability to discern observable or potential consequences of specific design action in large, complex systems. 
• Ability to identify differences among audiences/users for design, and an understanding of how audience/user values and behaviors are reflected in the design of communications, products, environments, and services. 
• Understanding of the design process, including abilities to consider probable or potential future conditions, think divergently in the generation of multiple solutions, and use design principles and elements of the design process to converge on ideas and results that are effective in realizing project purposes. 
• Awareness of the critical perspectives in the evaluation of design, including the history of ideas about the role of design in culture and of ideas informing design practice over time. 
• For students emphasizing design scholarship, the ability to use overview knowledge of design practice, history, theory, criticism, and technology and the tools and techniques of research, scholarship, and communication in the production of scholarly analytical work about design. 

Students graduating with BA in Visual Arts degree with a concentration in Art History must possess: 

• A general knowledge of the monuments and principal artists of all major art periods of the past, including a broad understanding of the art of the twentieth century and acquaintance with the art history of non-Western cultures. This knowledge should be augmented by study in greater depth and precision of several cultures and periods in the history of art and concentration in at least one area to the advanced seminar level. Study at the advanced level should include theory, analysis, and criticism. 
• A general knowledge of world history. 
• Knowledge of the tools and techniques of scholarship. Active research and the writing of analytical and critical essays should continue throughout the program. 
• Functional knowledge of the creative process. Normally, this is accomplished through one or more foundation or other studio courses; however, there are many methods of ensuring this competence.