Art Major Requirements
The art major is designed to develop a discriminating appreciation of art and knowledge of the technical requirements for succeeding as educated artists. To foster these abilities and to promote analytical and aesthetic understanding, the program provides a foundation in both the theoretical and practical aspects of art. The Art Department offers the professional degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts. The department also offers minor programs in studio art. A major in art provides students the opportunity to prepare for careers in fine arts, computer-based illustration and graphic design, computer-based interactive-media, animation, community oriented art programs, gallery work, museum research, photography related occupations, teaching, and graduate study in art.
Accreditation
The Art Department of the University of Massachusetts Lowell is an accreditated member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).
General Education requirement: A minimum of 33 credits must be completed as part of the University General Education requirement.
BFA studies in art consist of 87 credit hours and must include at least five courses (15 credits hours) at the 300 level, including the following distribution requirements:
1. Six Studio Foundation courses (18 credits): Art Concepts I, Art Concepts II, Art Colloquium, Form and Content, Drawing I, and Drawing II must be completed prior to starting the concentration.
2. Fifteen Concentration courses (45 credits) are required within the student's chosen concentration in Art or Design. Students may choose to focus their concentrations in advertising design, animation, digital imaging, drawing, graphic design, illustration, interactive-media, painting, photography, sculpture or web design. One of the fifteen concentrations is the required internship in the senior year.
3. Six courses (18 credits) in Aesthetics and Critical Studies, constituting a required minor:
- 58-203 - History of Art I (Prehistoric to Medieval Art)
- 58-204 - History of Art II (Renaissance to Modern)
- 79-221 - Aesthetics and Critical Studies of 20th Century Art
- 79-352 - Aesthetics and Critical Studies of Contemporary Art and Culture
- 79-xxx - Discipline specific Aesthetics and Critical Studies
- 79-xxx - Aesthetics and Critical Studies elective
4. Senior Studio Seminar Requirement (6 credits):
- 70.497.801 -(last semester of senior year)
Senior Studio Seminar is the BFA degree capstone course and can only be taken in the last semester of a student’s course sequence. There is a portfolio requirement for Senior Studio Seminar. Students who have completed 105 BFA applicable credit hours are eligible to apply for Senior Studio Seminar.
An exhibition of work completed in Senior Studio Seminar is required as part of in the student's final semester. A minimum grade of BC is required to pass Senior Studio Seminar. Students who receive a grade below C+ must repeat the course.
The Senior Studio Seminar course is regarded as a professional course and for this reason it is restricted to matriculating BFA majors only and may not be credited to any other major. Students should be aware that transferring from the BFA program to another degree major will normally entail a loss of credits and that the completion of degree requirements within the customary four year period may not be possible.
View the complete (pdf).
Students admitted to the BFA program are exempt from a language requirement.
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