Fine Arts Studio (BFA and BA)

Department of Art and Design

Fine Arts Studio BFA

Program Director: Prof. William McCreath; 973-655-7540

 

Fine Arts Studio (BFA): The Big Picture

The Bachelor of Fine Arts, or BFA, in Fine Arts Studio is a pre-professional degree program that prepares students to be professional fine artists. Students may specialize in ceramics, drawing, metalwork/jewelry, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. The BFA is especially recommended for students wishing to continue their visual arts education at the graduate level.

Independent BFA majors are also available in Animation/Illustration, Graphic Design, and Industrial Design. 

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Fine Arts Studio (BA): The Big Picture

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Fine Arts Studio offers the same studio specialization options as the BFA in Fine Arts/Studio, but places a heavier emphasis on the liberal arts.

BA studio specializations include ceramics, drawing, metalwork/jewelry, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. The BA in Fine Arts Studio program is intended for students who wish to explore a broader range of academic areas alongside their studio concentration.

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What You Will Study

As a freshman in either the BFA or BA Fine Arts Studio program, you will follow a core curriculum that includes courses in concept development; two- and three-dimensional design; figure drawing; color studies, and the history of art. In your sophomore year, you will take courses in your chosen specialization, as well as elective courses that broaden and enhance your studio experience. The general education curriculum, which is part of both the BFA and BA programs, provides grounding in the liberal arts while reinforcing critical thinking skills. 

For BFA Fine Arts Studio students, studio and art history courses, including a minimum of five sequential courses in a chosen area of specialization, make up about two thirds of the curriculum, or 97 credits. The balance of the curriculum (31 credits) is comprised of general education coursework.

For BA Fine Arts Studio students, studio – including four sequential courses in a chosen area of specialization -- and art history courses comprise about one third, or 48 credits, of the curriculum. The majority of coursework (72 credits) is dedicated to general education subjects and free electives.

For complete Fine Arts/Studio Major BFA and BA course requirements and descriptions, go to:

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Our Faculty

You will study with our outstanding full- and part-time faculty and interact with world-renowned visiting artists and designers, who mentor our art and design students each semester.

Click the links below to learn more:

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Studio Facilities

The Department of Art and Design occupies several on-campus buildings, housing full-equipped studios for all studio areas.

For more information, go to:

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Student Work

Throughout their course of study, student artists create work using a variety of media and techniques, including ceramics, drawing, metalwork & jewelry, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. Student work is regularly exhibited on campus. 

Visit our Student Work Gallery:

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Careers in Fine Arts and Professional Resources

Artists with degrees in Fine Arts pursue many paths to find outlets for their creativity. Those wishing to teach at the college level or advance their education in the arts go on to graduate school. Others embark immediately on careers as professional artists, opening studios where they develop work for exhibition.

Successful fine artists are often adventurous and entrepreneurial in spirit, often supporting their art-making careers with parallel work. Artists often work as teachers in community programs or as administrators in galleries, museums, arts organizations, or schools.  Others work as studio assistants or apprentices to established professional artists. Some pursue art history degrees and become critics, curators, art publishers, or historians. Studio artists are often commissioned -- or receive grant support -- for special projects including portraiture, illustration work, public sculpture, billboard art, or mural installations. Others find work as art framers, space designers or in the fields of decorative and crafts arts.

Please visit the links below for additional information:

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Accreditation

Montclair State University’s art and design programs are among the region’s most competitive, and meet the rigorous standards of the National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD).

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Apply Now

To apply to the Art and Design BFA and BA Fine Arts Studio programs, or to any of the Department of Art and Design programs, please visit Department Admissions.

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