Programs
We offer two degree programs: Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Bachelor of Arts (BA). The BFA degrees are professional degrees designed to offer students an intensive program of study in specific visual art fields. BA degrees emphasize the liberal arts.
BFA Degrees
Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees are professional degrees designed to offer students an intensive program of study in specific visual art fields. bfa degrees require passing the Portfolio Review and the completion of a capstone project. Upper division students pursuing bfa degrees receive studio space in which to work. Students who wish to develop autonomous practices within an intellectually rigorous and focused program benefit from pursuing a bfa degree.
We offer four BFA concentrations:
- Painting & Drawing
The Painting & Drawing program prepares students to become practicing artists. Through individualized instruction and access to private studio space, students are guided by faculty to form convictions about their work, develop research priorities, and determine their own positions within the expansiveness of contemporary practice. Upon completion of their studies, our students are prepared for professional life, they have forged distinctive studio practices, and they are empowered to make their own contributions to the field.
- Photography & Media Art
The Photography & Media Art program is centered around creative imaging and time-based arts. With a strong foundation in photographic imaging and digital media, students at the upper division may choose to focus their individual interests in photography, video, sound, digital media, or explore various combinations and new media. At the upper division, independent studio practice is complemented by PMA coursework that explores web-based art, bookmaking, interdisciplinary research, physical computing, and other new forms of photo-media production and expression.
- Sculpture
The Sculpture program teaches students to engage the physical world through a range of approaches with a focus on material exploration and conceptual intent. Students develop a strong knowledge of fabrication processes in both traditional and nontraditional media and investigate contemporary concepts including installation, performance, interdisciplinary strategies, and emerging forms. Sculpture students in the upper division contribute to the evolving discourse of the field through a series of specialized topics courses and the development of independently driven studio work.
- Design Research & Practice
Design has a direct impact on culture at large by shaping the form and the contexts for our relationships with one another. At UTC, students develop the pragmatic formal and technical skills to practice design effectively and are also expected to continually consider the broader socio-political contexts within which design operates and is defined. This helps students clearly articulate the decisions they make throughout the creative process. Through this, our students begin to practice design with curiosity, reflexivity, and conviction. Students leave the program with the ability to select appropriate design methodologies to approach and analyze problems, demonstrate their communication skills (visually, verbally, and in writing), and above all, to identify and adapt to changing contexts and needs. It is this very adaptability that we work to instill in our students, the trait that is most often cited as a differentiating factor in favor of our students when applying for professional positions or for graduate study.
About Portfolio Review
Portfolio Review is required of all BFA candidates. The review is a formal assessment of the student’s studio performance as well as oral and written competency as it pertains to the designated concentration area. In addition to the portfolio review, the student’s overall academic record will be evaluated for quality and seriousness of purpose. A history of excessive absences, significant lack of participation, withdrawals, or incompletes may result in denial of progression.
If, in the year of review, there is a high interest in a particular program of study, only the most qualified students will be admitted into their desired concentration area. In such cases, students not offered entrance into their desired degree may work with their advisors to determine the best options for next steps. Portfolio Review provides students with an assessment of their potential for success early enough to allow them to change their major, should that be advisable.
Students will receive a “Satisfactory” or “No Progress” grade for art 2900 at the determination of the Portfolio Review Committee, which is comprised of full-time departmental faculty. To be eligible for Portfolio Review, students must have completed all pre-requisites, be enrolled in required co-requisites, and meet a minimum Art GPA of 2.5.
BA Degrees
Bachelor of Arts degrees emphasize the liberal arts. They offer students the opportunity to study more than one visual art field and to meaningfully synthesize their major with an academic minor. ba degrees do not require participation in the Portfolio Review and do not have a capstone project. ba degrees require students to complete four semesters of foreign language and/or study abroad. Students who are equally interested in multiple fields of study benefit from a ba degree.
We offer three BA degrees:
- BA Art: Studio
The BA in Art Studio degree, with its general studio focus, allows a student to pursue a career that calls for broad education in the visual arts. This degree offers students the opportunity to study more than one visual art field and to meaningfully synthesize their major with an academic minor. Upon graduation, students might seek professional opportunities in gallery or museum work, art auctioning and sales, curatorship, art criticism, printing or publishing production, or art development and advocacy. The degree is also appropriate for students wishing to do non-studio graduate study in art history, museum conservation, art therapy, or other arts-related professions.
- BA Art: Art Education
The BA in Art Education is rooted in a fine arts curriculum that prepares students for teacher certification in the state of Tennessee. Our curriculum provides students with a broad range of studio skills, study in the history of art, and invaluable student teaching experience in collaboration with the UTC School of Education. It is an excellent program for individuals whose love of artmaking intersects with the ambition to teach. The Art Education major also leads to professional opportunities in less conventional career paths including museum studies, work with recreational programs, senior centers, and hospitals—providing exciting career paths for individuals who recognize the value of the visual arts in people’s lives.
- BA Art: Art History
The BA in Art History develops students’ ability to understand and interpret their visualworld. Focusing on the human artistic production made across the globe from prehistory to the contemporary moment, the BA in Art History explores how different types of art, architecture, and other visual materials engaged their particular historical, religious, sociocultural, theoretical, and formal contexts. Students learn to approach visual materials in a critical and inquisitive manner, and to analyze the influence of major artistic movements and concepts. Students also learn to confidently and cogently write and speak about their own visual interpretations and to conduct advanced research in specialized areas of emphasis. The concentration’s core courses examine the broad themes of global human production, while upper division courses expose students to a variety of more focused explorations of specific geographic regions, temporal periods, and critical methodologies, such as postcolonialism. The BA in Art History provides ideal preparation for work in museums, auction houses, and other researched-focus careers, as well as graduate programs in art history.