Academics

Four images: person cleans ink from a copper plate, person carves a sculpture in clay, person draws with marker, person draws with charcoal

Refine Your Craft

The Department of Studio Arts offers hands-on courses with small class sizes, providing an exceptional amount of one-on-one attention from faculty within a close-knit and supportive community of creative thinkers and makers.

Studio Arts Major

The BA degree program is designed for students who desire a liberal education and may want to prepare for graduate art school or pursue a career in an art-related field. The program requires the completion of 52 credits

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Studio Arts Minor

Studio Arts' introductory-level courses carry no prerequisites and are open to non-art majors. These courses satisfy the Dietrich School's general education requirement for Creative Work and can launch your minor in Studio Arts.

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Digital Studies and Methods

This certificate program is designed to guide students through the process of gaining their own, deeply engaged, understanding of the ways in which digital technologies affect their lives on a daily basis.

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Resources for current students
Artist-in-Residence Programs
Internships
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Research Awards
Blue/White Feature Slider: right, elective page.png, Featured Elective—Spring
Featured Elective—Spring 2026

Computational Art Practices 02: DrawBot

Instructor: Triton Mobley

Spring 2026: Mon/Wed 10:00 – 11:40am

Learn to create graphic designs, automate photo manipulations, generate animated type + graphic assets for web and projection, plus many other creative possibilities using python programming with the DrawBot app. Students will critically engage with and explore the rich possibilities of digital remix cultures on the internet and blend the technological with less conventional approaches for analog simulations of the digital.

SA 0171

Featured Elective—Spring 2026

Performance Art

Instructor: Scott Andrew

Spring 2026: Mon/Wed 6:00 – 7:40pm

Performance Art is an advanced studio course offering an introductory survey of a variety of performance art practices, histories, and methods. Throughout the semester students will research, explore, and present both short-form and durational solo and group performances that span poetic monologue, comedy, movement, sound, costuming and character creation, lip-synch, participatory, and performance for video. The semester will culminate with a live staged, group variety show.

SA 1390

Featured Elective—Spring 2026

Digital Studio: Video

Instructor: Scott Andrew

Spring 2026: Mon/Wed 1:00 – 2:40pm

Video is an advanced studio designed for students to deeply explore and experiment in the making of moving digital images and sound production in an art context. Students will investigate concepts and develop skills involved in working with digital video, sound, media design, and performance for video from pre- to post production. 

SA 1380 (Cross listed with FMST 1775) 

Featured Courses

Visual Thinking

Visual Thinking is a survey of concepts, methods, and issues of visual form as a vehicle of visual organization, structure, thought, and expression.

SA 0110

Featured Courses

Drawing Studio 1

Drawing Studio provides a comprehensive introduction to the art of drawing. The coursework follows a sequence of studies that introduces basic drawing techniques, media, and composition through observation and analysis of natural and manufactured forms. The course culminates with an introduction to the human figure.

SA 0130

Featured Courses

Painting Studio 1

Painting Studio 1 is an introduction to oil painting that emphasizes color mixing, painting techniques, and composition. The purpose of the course is to promote sensitivity to color interaction, advance technical and compositional skills, and provide a basis for creative growth and expression.

SA 0140

Draw Bot
Performance Art
Digital Studio
Two students examine a work of art holding flashlights
Individual uses tweezers to gently look through a booklet of drawings
Students work independently on projects while instructor offers guidance
Beyond the classroom
Aerial view of Florence
Study Abroad

Many Studio Arts students study at the SACI Art School in Florence. SACI provides a stimulating educational experience that draws upon the rich cultural resources of both past and present Italy.

Go Global
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Wyoming Field Study

The Wyoming Field Study is a collaborative program offered by the University Honors College and taught by the Department of Studio Arts.  The program is a three-credit, two-week intensive field study that takes place in southeastern Wyoming.

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Internships

An internship can give you a closer look at working in a particular field, help you gain a competitive edge, help you make contacts in the marketplace, and provide credits toward your degree.

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