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Visual Arts

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Art majors work on their projects in the paint studio of the Arts and Administration Building
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The Department of Visual Arts provides an intellectual and creative environment where students reach their potential as emerging artists and art historians. Our program cultivates in each student a considered and articulated understanding of the visual arts within the context of history and contemporary culture. We provide a broad foundation of experiences that embrace traditional practices, as well as current approaches to the study of art. Students graduate socially engaged, aesthetically conversant and devoted to a life in the visual arts.

Art Programs

Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Visual Arts

Concentrations: Drawing; Painting; Printmaking; Graphic Design; Digital Media; Sculpture; Photography; Art History; and Fabric Design
 
The 42-credit liberal arts Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Arts provides a strong studio art and art history foundation. Then, students select a 15-credit concentration for the degree from the following topics: Drawing; Painting; Fabric Design; Printmaking; Graphic Design; Digital Media; Sculpture; Photography or Art History. The BA is well suited for students who wish to pursue another major – like Psychology, Theater, Media and Journalism, for example. 

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Visual Arts

Concentrations: Drawing; Painting; Fabric Design; Printmaking; Graphic Design; Sculpture; Photography; Art History 

The 75-credit professional Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Visual Arts provides a rigorous multi-disciplinary studio art, and art history foundation. Then, students select an 18-credit concentration for the degree from the following topics: Drawing; Painting; Fabric Design; Printmaking; Graphic Design; Sculpture; Photograph; or Art History. All Visual Arts BFA students also take coursework in digital art and graphic design electives. This degree is the highest-level undergraduate credentialing in Visual Arts. 

Visual Arts – Minor 

The 18-credit Minor in Visual Arts offers students the opportunity to study Visual Arts with a core of studio art and art history foundation courses and 9 credits from any Visual Arts courses in studio art, art history and/or graphic design.

The Classroom and Studio Experience

Over 95% of studio classes are in person at all Commonwealth University campuses. For Graphic Design, most courses are in person, with a few exceptions that will be taught online to all campuses synchronously. Art History courses are approximately 50% in person and 50% online with other Commonwealth University campuses.

During their third year, all visual arts students take a professional development Junior Seminar studio course online with their fellow juniors across the Commonwealth University triad (Studio Theory and Practice for Studio and Art History concentration students and Design Theory and Practice for Graphic Design concentration students). This offers Visual Arts juniors the opportunity to collaborate with and get to know their peers within our global Visual Arts department. 

Art Gallery of Student Work

Art major shows off her designed costume for the annual Personal Adornment Day Extravaganza

Student Art Experience

Students may participate in varied activities to enrich and expand the classroom experience. In addition to department sponsored field trips to New York City and other important art destinations, numerous artists are brought to campus each semester to show their work and to meet and talk with students. Students may also participate in the annual Personal Adornment Day Extravaganza that includes a workshop and juried runway show. The annual Student Symposium in Art History prepares students for an academic career through the presentation of original research papers in professional settings.

Art History
Art major sets up his sculpture display for the Senior Exit Art Show

Exhibition Spaces

The department operates the Haas Gallery of Art located at the Haas Center for Performing Arts and the Gallery at Greenly Center in downtown Bloomsburg. These galleries feature regular exhibitions of diverse art forms and gallery lectures by nationally recognized visiting artists, as well as exhibitions of student work and curatorial projects throughout the year.

Facilities & Galleries
A winter sunset over the Academic Quad

Permanent Art Collection

The department maintains a diverse permanent art collection with works displayed throughout the campus in many of the academic, administrative, and residential facilities. The collection represents a vital resource enriching the aesthetic and cultural climate of Bloomsburg University. Since beginning this collection in 1962, over 500 works have be acquired, accessioned, and placed on public view. Works of art in the permanent collection have been acquired from individuals, bequests, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and The Childe Hassam Fund of The American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The Husky Difference

National Association of Schools of Art and Design
Accreditation
Founded in 1944, the National Association of Schools of Art and Design is an organization of schools, conservatories, colleges, and universities with approximately 363 accredited institutional members.

Department Faculty and Staff