Programs
We offer two different degree programs: Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA). BA degrees (in Studio Art, Art History, and Art Education) emphasize the liberal arts, and allow for flexibility in course offerings to meet student’s interests. The BFA degree is designed to offer students an intensive program of study in specific visual art and design concentrations (Design Research and Practice, Painting and Drawing, Photography and Media Art, and Sculpture).
BFA Degrees
The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is a professional degree designed to offer students an intensive program of study in specific visual art fields. The BFA requires passing the Portfolio Review, maintaining a 2.5 minimum GPA in Art coursework, and the completion of a capstone thesis project. Upper division students pursuing the BFA receive studio space in which to work. Students who wish to develop independent practices within a 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 to a BA in Studio Art, for instance. Students can still graduate on time if they do not progress through the review.
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 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 are open to all students! 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.
Some common areas of interest
The BA in Studio Art allows for flexibility for students who are interested in areas in which we do not have degrees. If you are interested in Animation, Illustration, or Arts Administration, here are suggested courses for you to take in those areas. If there are other areas that you want to pursue that are not listed, please reach out to Katie Hargrave at [email protected] and she can help you work with your advisor to plan a course of study.
- Animation
- Studio classes that are relevant to an interest in animation:
- Art 2380: Media Art 1
- Art 3830: Media Art 2
- Art 2050: Figure drawing
- Art 2601: Visual Literacy for Design
- Art 3621: Interactive Media
- Art 2840: Survey of time-based art
- Art 4810: Expanded Media
- Possible minors that would connect well to an interest in animation:
- Creative Writing
- Communication (focus on Film/Video Production)
- Narrative Design
- New minor housed in English, focus on video games
- https://www.utc.edu/arts-and-sciences/english/undergraduate/narrative-design-minor
- Film and TV
- Learn more about this new minor here: https://blog.utc.edu/news/2025/03/lights-camera-action-utc-introduces-new-film-and-tv-minor/
- Recommended Art History courses
- A variety of Art 4190 courses will be relevant. Some recent classes to look out for:
- Indigenous Film
- Horror in Art and Visual Culture
- A variety of Art 4190 courses will be relevant. Some recent classes to look out for:
- Other classes at UTC that connect to this track:
- MCLL 1500R - World Cinema
- THSP 1430 – Basic Design in Theatre
- Also have courses in scenic design, lighting design, costume design, all 3000 level courses that could be interesting, but these will have pre-requisites, so you should plan ahead.
- Studio classes that are relevant to an interest in animation:
- Illustration
- Studio classes that are relevant to an interest in illustration:
- Art 2050: Figure drawing
- Art 2070: Painting I
- Art 3120: Figure painting
- Art 2601: Visual Literacy for Design
- Art 2611: Type and Language
- Art 4815: Web and Book
- Possible minors that would connect well to an interest in illustration:
- Creative Writing
- Narrative Design
- New minor housed in English, focus on video games
- https://www.utc.edu/arts-and-sciences/english/undergraduate/narrative-design-minor
- Communications (focus on Graphics and Design OR storytelling)
- Recommended Art History courses
- Art 3601: Survey of Design Practice
- Possible other electives at UTC include:
- History 2520: Graphic Novels and History
- Studio classes that are relevant to an interest in illustration:
- Art Administration
- For an interest in Arts Administration, we recommend minoring in Art History.
- Make sure to take Art 4190: Museum Studies (this course will have a new number in a few years, but for now listed as 4190)
- Possible electives to consider at the university include:
- Anth 4500 – Archives, Collection, and Curation*
- *You would need to take Ant 1400: Archeology as a pre-requisite
- Anth 3350r – Archeological Field Methods
- Anth 3450 – Archeological Lab methods
- English 2880 - Rhetoric and Professional Writing
- IARC 3500 Intro to historic preservation
- Anth 4500 – Archives, Collection, and Curation*
- Possible Studio classes to consider
- Students would need an override but they could be interested in taking Art 4910 – Professional prep for the visual artist
- Art 4900R: BA portfolio and professional development.
- For an interest in Arts Administration, we recommend minoring in Art History.