The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art, Media, and Design offers a specialized studio curriculum that identifies and promotes continuing contact with the enduring values of our artistic heritage and the application of these values to the future. The educational aim of the school is to provide, through individualized mentoring, a focused foundation in studio art practice. The curriculum emphasizes fundamental artistic concepts through project-based learning, problem solving, experimentation in studio courses, and through development of the student artistic voice.
The Art School offers three concentrations, Studio Art, Photography and Media Art, and Graphic Art, leading to a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Each of the concentrations is comprised of courses specifically designed to enhance students' creativity, productivity, artistic and analytic skills, and mastery of tools and materials. Through individualized mentoring and a choice of electives, students are aided in planning for a variety of diverse art-related professions and graduate school options.
Studio Art: Designed to develop artistic skills and abilities in painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and digital imaging. Areas of Specialty:
- Drawing and Painting and Printmaking,
- Sculpture,
- Digital Imaging in Studio Art,
- Graphic Art
Photography and Media Art: Designed to develop artistic skills and abilities in photography, digital photography, video, and web art. Areas of Specialty:
- Photography,
- Digital Photography,
- Graphic Art,
- Intermedia/Web Art and Video Art
Graphic Art: Designed to develop artistic skills and abilities in primarily two-dimensional media, focusing on an intersection of art and design that can include photography, drawing, printmaking, text, digital imaging, web art, the graphic novel, and the artist book and poster. Areas of Specialty:
- Photography,
- Intermedia/Web Art and Video Art,
- Drawing and Painting and Printmaking
Complementary Minors in related areas: Students in the BFA in Art, Media, and Design have the option of complementing their major for extended artistic study and/or expanded career possibilities with minors in: Communication and Media, Graphic Design, Creative Writing, Art-Related Service Learning, Illustration, Animation, Game Design, Digital Cinema, Marketing (for non-business majors), History of Art and Architecture, American Politics, Psychology, International Politics, Public Law and Political Thought, Environmental Studies/Science, and Sustainability Studies. For details please visit the college/school website for the minor(s) in which you are interested.
Students majoring in Art, Media, and Design (BA) or Art (BA) are restricted from earning this major.
| Program Requirements | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|
| Liberal Studies Requirements | 64 |
| Major Requirements (Core + Concentration) | 104 |
| Open Electives | 24 |
| Total hours required | 192 |
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Demonstrate a high degree of competency of technical execution appropriate to their chosen medium.
- Produce work that demonstrates the social, visual, psychological, and/or aesthetic components of art making.
- Differentiate between artistic styles and the diverse populations and communities from which works of art are made.
- Express their thoughts and opinions in critiques, written assignments, and through their artwork.
- Produce work that demonstrate their ability to take creative and intellectual risks.
- Integrate the ways in which their materials, techniques, and subjects generate meaning.
- Understand the place of art making in a global context that connects with other disciplines.
- Define themselves as professional artists who contribute to their communities with their creative work.
College Core Requirements
Study in the Major Field
The student’s course of study in the College consists of three parts: Liberal Studies, the major field, and electives. Together these three parts contribute to the liberal education of the student which is the common purpose of all study in the College. By “liberal education” the College understands not only a deep and thorough knowledge of a particular area of study but a knowledge of the diverse areas of study represented by criticism, history, the arts, the behavioral and social sciences, philosophy, religious studies, the natural science, and mathematics.
The major field program generally is built upon a set of core courses and a specialized “concentration.” The number of courses required for a major varies by department. Most students go beyond the minimum requirements, electing additional courses which both broaden and deepen their understanding of their chosen discipline.
Because no academic major program is built in isolation, students are required to pursue a number of electives of the student’s choice. The inherent flexibility of this curriculum demands that the student consult an academic advisor at each stage in the total program and at least once prior to each registration.
Students will be prompted to visit the College Office for their official graduation check early in their senior year.
Declaration of Major, Minor and Concentration
All students in the College are required to declare a major field prior to beginning their junior year. The student will then be assigned a faculty advisor in the major field department or program and should make an appointment to see that advisor at his or her earliest convenience.
Students must declare or change majors, minors, and concentrations, via Campus Connection. However, for the purpose of exploring the possibility of changing a major field, the student should consult an academic advisor in the Office for Academic Advising Support.
External Credit and Residency
A student who has been admitted to the College begins residency within the college as of the first day of classes of the term in which the student is registered. Students in residence, whether attending on a full-time or part-time basis, may not take courses away from DePaul University without the written permission of the college. Permission must be obtained in advance of registration to avoid loss of credit or residency in the college; see the LAS website for more information.
Liberal Studies Requirements
Honors program requirements can be found in the individual Colleges & Schools section of the University Catalog. Select the appropriate college or school, followed by Undergraduate Academics and scroll down.
| First Year Program | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Quarter | ||
| LSP 110 or LSP 111 | DISCOVER CHICAGO or EXPLORE CHICAGO | 4 |
| Focal Point | ||
| Not Required | ||
| Writing | ||
| WRD 103 | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC I 1 | 4 |
| WRD 104 | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC II 1 | 4 |
| Quantitative Reasoning | ||
| MAT 120 | QUANTITATIVE REASONING 2 | 4 |
| Sophomore Year | ||
| Race, Power, and Resistance | ||
| LSP 200 | SEMINAR ON RACE, POWER, AND RESISTANCE | 4 |
| Junior Year | ||
| Experiential Learning | ||
| AMD Course Required (Select one of the following courses, applied to major): | 4 | |
| ART 291 | MURAL PAINTING | |
| ART 292 | COMMUNITY VIDEO PRODUCTION | |
| ART 348 | GRAPHIC ART IN THE PUBLIC REALM | |
| ART 382 | STUDENTS TEACHING ART IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM | |
| ART 383 | SERVICE LEARNING IN THE ARTS INTERNSHIP | |
| Senior Year | ||
| Capstone | ||
| AMD Course Required (Select one of the following courses, or other related capstone course - with advisor approval, applied to major): | 4 | |
| ART 392 | SENIOR STUDIO SEMINAR 1 | |
| ART 393 | SENIOR PROJECT STUDIO 1 | |
- 1
Students must earn a C- or better in this course.
- 2
Readiness for MAT 120 is determined by the math placement test taken online after admission. Students may need to take developmental coursework prior to MAT 120. Students who complete MAT 120 and both a Computational Reasoning course and a Statistical Reasoning course in the Math and Computing Learning Domain take one less Learning Domain course. Students may not apply the course reduction to any Domain where only one course is required, and cannot be applied to the Scientific Inquiry Learning Domain. The MAT 120 requirement may be waived by passing a dedicated proficiency exam or it may be fulfilled by credit for advanced math coursework earned in-residence at DePaul (MAT 135, MAT 136, MAT 147, MAT 148, MAT 149, MAT 150, MAT 151, MAT 152 MAT 155, MAT 156, MAT 160, MAT 161, MAT 162 MAT 170, MAT 171, MAT 172, or equivalent) or earned externally either as transfer credit from another college/university or as test credit through AP, CLEP, IB, or International A and A/S Level exams. Calculus course(s) may be used to fulfill any of the three QR/MCD requirements.
Learning Domains
Arts and Literature (AL)
- Not Required
Historical Inquiry (HI)
- 2 Courses Required
Math and Computing (MC)
- Not Required
Philosophical Inquiry (PI)
- 2 Courses Required
Religious Dimensions (RD)
- 2 Courses Required
Scientific Inquiry (SI)
- 1 Course Required
[1 Lab Course]
Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Inquiry (SCBI)
- 2 Course Required
Notes
A student majoring in Art, Media, and Design (AMD) is required to complete the Capstone offered by the AMD Department. This is the case even if a student is double majoring (or pursuing a dual degree) and the secondary major (or degree) requires its own Capstone. An AMD major in the University Honors Program shall take the University Honors Capstone and the AMD Capstone.
Courses offered in the student's primary major cannot be taken to fulfill LSP Domain requirements. If students double major, LSP Domain courses may double count for both LSP credit and the second major. Students who choose to take an experiential learning course offered by the major may count it either as a general elective or as the Experiential Learning requirement.
In meeting learning domain requirements, no more than one course that is outside the student’s major and is cross-listed with a course within the student’s major, can be applied to count for LSP domain credit. This policy does not apply to those who are pursuing a double major or earning BFA or BM degrees.
Major Requirements
Core Requirements
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ART 101 | DIGITAL FOUNDATIONS | 4 |
| ART 105 | TWO-DIMENSIONAL FOUNDATIONS | 4 |
| or GD 105 | INTRO TO VISUAL DESIGN | |
| or ANI 105 | MOTION GRAPHICS FOUNDATIONS | |
| ART 106 | BEGINNING DRAWING | 4 |
| ART 113 | THREE DIMENSIONAL FOUNDATIONS | 4 |
| or ART 114 | FOUR DIMENSIONAL FOUNDATIONS | |
| ART 200 | ART & ARTISTS IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE | 4 |
| ART 205 | COLOR THEORY AND APPLICATION | 4 |
| ART 224 | BEGINNING DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY | 4 |
Art Culture, Theory, Criticism, and History Electives
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 4 courses from the following list: | 16 | |
| VISUAL COMMUNICATION (If not applied to Concentration or Specialty) | ||
| THINKING PHOTOGRAPHY (If not applied to Concentration or Specialty) | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN ART | ||
| 19TH CENTURY EUROPEAN ART | ||
| ART FROM 1900-1945 | ||
| ART FROM 1945 - 1975 | ||
| HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY | ||
| CINEMA & ART | ||
| HISTORY OF ANIMATION | ||
| CINEMA, ANIMATION, AND ART | ||
| HISTORY OF COMICS | ||
| HISTORIES OF DESIGN | ||
| SPECIAL TOPICS IN ART (Repeatable with a different topic) | ||
Or other related courses based on approval of the advisor, for example courses in ART, CDM, and HAA. | ||
Experiential Learning: Artists and Community
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following list: | 4 | |
| MURAL PAINTING | ||
| GRAPHIC ART IN THE PUBLIC REALM | ||
| SERVICE LEARNING IN THE ARTS INTERNSHIP | ||
| Or other related courses based on approval of the advisor. | ||
Senior Requirements
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ART 394 | PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN THE STUDIO 1 | 4 |
| ART 392 | SENIOR STUDIO SEMINAR 2 | 4 |
| or ART 393 | SENIOR PROJECT STUDIO | |
- 1
ART 394, offered in the Autumn Quarter only. Contact your advisor for other quarters that ART 394 might be offered in.
- 2
ART 392 offered Spring Quarter only. ART 393 offered in the Winter Quarter. 4 credits earned towards Senior Capstone LSP Requirement, not concentration requirements.
Please Note: ART 104 is not acceptable for major credit.
Prerequisites may be waived with the permission of the instructor.
Concentration Requirements
Students must also complete the requirements from one of the following concentrations: Studio Art, Photography and Media Art, or Graphic Art.