Studio Art Minor

*Not a baccalaureate degree program.

The study of art opens the mind to a wealth of possibilities and allows students to discover their unique skills. Artists and designers produce visual expressions of culture that investigate and redefine our world. The art program prepares students for the real world practice of art and design.

The General Studio Minor emphasizes the development of individual ideas, expressed through technical skills in a variety of media and practices that range from the graphic design, photography (digital and black-and-white non-silver), sculpture (full wood and metal shops, bronze foundry and digital lab with laser cutter), installation, painting, drawing, performance, video/sound recording and editing, electronics/physical computing, specialized digital output and biological art.

Upon successful completion of all requirements, the student will have knowledge of:

• A broad, applied knowledge of fundamental strategies, and methods of contemporary art-making.
• A facility with a specific set of tools and/or techniques of artistic or design production.
• How to deepen their creative intellect and artistic problem-solving skills.
• How to acquire professional experience to equip them for professional practice and/or advanced study in their field.
• How to acquire critical discursive skills, for presenting their work, explaining their concepts and critically engaging the work of others.
• How to acquire analytical skills to enable them to access (latent and manifest) meanings in visual images. They will develop a visual literacy.
• How to acquire a solid understanding of the roles of art and visual culture in a particular historical period and/or world culture.

The UB Department of Art unites the disciplines of art, graphic design, art history, and visual theory in a comprehensive program that professionalizes students for careers in art, education, and the creative industries.

The Art Faculty at UB take a full spectrum approach to developing all the cognitive skills of our students to help ensure their success in their future endeavors. Students are given ample opportunity in the classroom and in the studio to exercise, develop, and refine their analytical and technical skills along with their creative and expressive abilities.

Studio art labs are spacious, well equipped and organized. Specialized studios support all major conventional, digital, and experimental processes in art and design. Highlights include: a biological arts laboratory, an electronics art lab, galleries for exhibition and experimentation, digital and multimedia labs, digital and analog photography labs, extensive printmaking labs, an audio lab, a large sculpture facility, including a laser cutter, and one of largest university foundries in the Eastern United States.

The highly ranked Department of Art faculty and staff consist of professionally and internationally active artists, scholars and technicians who make available a diverse range of discourse and expertise. A partial list of the fellowships secured by our faculty suggests its strength: Guggenheim Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Warhol Foundation, Terra Foundation, Smithsonian, Fulbright Fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Capital Foundation, American Association of University Women, American Academy in Berlin, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, the Corporation of Yaddo, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Chalmers Arts Fellowship. Teaching staff in the Department of Art include approximately 21 teaching assistants and 10 adjunct instructors annually.

Please visit the Department of Art website for additional information about our faculty.

UB Art alumni can qualify for a range of professions that include art galleries, museums, alternative spaces, and auction houses where alumni work as directors, curators, preparators, installers, and art handlers.

Art Department alumni include independent artists who exhibit nationally and internationally, execute commissions, and receive national and international awards. Other alumni are assistants, collaborators, and project coordinators to world-class artists. Our students have become professors and lecturers at leading colleges and universities, and teachers at community colleges, secondary schools, and arts-in-education programs throughout North America. They are art therapists in health care professions, schools, community centers, and correctional facilities. They are also employed as graphic and web designers. Art alumni publish fine art editions, run galleries, printing firms, custom framing businesses, and casting foundries.

The Department of Art has a full-time advisor on staff to assist as they make decisions about their educational directions. The Department of Art advisor can help plan academic programs, explore scholarship options, find independent study and internship opportunities, and help the student keep on track to successfully graduate and enter the job market.

The Advisor for The Department of Art, Lisa Hewitt, in Center for the Arts 205, is available to advise Undergraduate students in the Art History and Art Programs.

One four-year scholarship covering all resident tuition and fees, minus any other aid received, is available to an undergraduate Honors student in the creative or performing arts. To be considered, students must have an unweighted high school average of at least 90 and a combined SAT critical reading and math score of at least 1230 or an ACT score of at least 27. A personal interview and a separate scholarship application are required. Contact the Honors College to request an application.