Art (BA, Minor)

The Art program is committed to an undergraduate education that gives students life-long skills as artists and prepares them for public lives as active members of communities and professionals in society. Strong faculty mentorship thoughtfully guides students through the conceptualization, production, and critique of their creative works. Beginning with essential foundational coursework in drawing, two and three dimensional design, and art history, students progress into a series of upper division courses, which leads to the development and production of their Senior Thesis Exhibition in Dominican’s San Marco Gallery.

Through a liberal arts education, the Art major can acquire a unique civic, cultural, historical, and moral perspective, as well as receive training in communication, collaboration, and business skills. Community engaged learning opportunities ask students to think critically and collaboratively about how the arts intersect with other community concerns, and explore methods for addressing a wide range of societal issues through the arts. Students also utilize the arts-rich resources of the San Francisco Bay Area to participate in local arts communities and forums.

The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Art is a liberal arts degree providing a breadth of experience and understanding in the visual arts. The curriculum aims to give students a general background in art/design knowledge and skills as well as access to multidisciplinary issues and studies.

Program Learning Outcomes (BA, Minor)

Upon graduation the student will:

Create works of art that demonstrate sufficient technical skills, perceptual development, and understanding of principles of visual organization to achieve basic visual communication and expression in one or more media.
Make workable connections between concept and media in order to devise a methodology to create original artwork.
Identify works and intentions of artists and art movements of the past and the present from a diversity of global contexts.
Describe their creative work in relationship to contemporary thinking in art and design.
Formulate and create a body of work that is based on an original concept and demonstrates a developed technical ability and visual acuity.