Visual Arts (B.F.A.)

Degree Requirements

  Degree Progress: Enrolled students can review program requirements and track progress toward degree completion using the university’s degree audit and advising tool, Degree Works.

At Commonwealth University, you can pursue your specific interests in Visual Arts with a specialization. Once you start classes at CU, you can declare a specialization through advising with a Visual Arts faculty member. They will guide you towards your academic goals. This hands-on approach is designed to make it easier for you to navigate your unique academic path while preparing you for a wide range of professional opportunities.

Visual Arts (B.F.A.) Specializations

Digital Media

Campus Availability: Bloomsburg
Our Digital Media specialization 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.

Drawing

Campus Availability: Bloomsburg
In the Drawing specialization, 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. 

Fabric Design

Campus Availability: Bloomsburg
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.

Graphic Design

Campus Availability: Bloomsburg
The Graphic Design specialization 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. At the conclusion of their degree, each student will complete a cohesive body of work for a professional designer’s portfolio, write a designer’s statement, present a designer’s talk, and prepare an exit exhibition.

Painting

Campus Availability: Bloomsburg
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 encouraged 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.

Photography

Campus Availability: Bloomsburg
The photography specialization 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.

Printmaking

Campus Availability: Bloomsburg
Our printmaking specialization 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.

Sculpture

Campus Availability: Bloomsburg
The Sculpture specialization 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.

• Visual Arts

ART BFA 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.  The student learning outcomes apply to all specializations and use assessments appropriate to student learning in each area for SLO#4: Presentation of Professional Level Work in the Visual Arts.

Upon successful completion of the BFA in Visual Arts, students will be able to:

1. Essential Competencies: Apply knowledge of visual art media processes. (NASAD Handbook. H.IX.G.3.d)
2. Context: Identify historical and cultural contexts in visual art. (NASAD Handbook. H.VIII.B.2.c.)
3. Creative Work: Incorporate self-directed concepts in personal work. (NASAD Handbook. H.VIII.B.1.b.)
4. Presentation of Professional Level Work in the Visual Arts: Demonstrate professional-level presentation in a specialty area. (NASAD Handbook. H.VII.C.1. (Results))