The Art Department offers a degree in Art with concentrations in Studio Art, Art History, and Art Education. We also offer a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Fine Arts and a Certificate in Art Museum and Gallery Operations.
The studio concentration offers small classes with individual attention and large, well-equipped studio facilities, including a computer lab and a foundry. In studio courses, students learn processes and strategies used in creating works of art in various media through problem solving assignments and accompanying instruction. Students are given the opportunity at the upper division level to concentrate on a particular studio area in depth, allowing them to prepare a portfolio for further professional opportunities or for post-graduate study.
Art History is taught in a variety of ways based on the visual and historical context in which the art was created. At the beginning level of instruction, the program features courses that provide an in-depth introduction to works of art within their historical context. Upper division Art History courses focus on narrower period, movements, artists, or problems. There are travel courses which in recent years have focused on major exhibitions or collections in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco or on Native American sites and collection on the North Coast. Our undergraduate seminar prepares students for advanced study leading to teaching and curatorial careers.
The undergraduate program in Art Education prepares students to teach grades K-12—focusing on curriculum for junior or senior high school. The Art Education curriculum is a combination of Studio, Art History and Museum Practices, and service learning opportunities that prepares students for more advanced training to become an art educator either in schools or museums. In the fifth year graduate credentialing program, students are immersed in education classes and have opportunities to student teach with excellent Master Teachers in Humboldt County.
Students in the Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Fine Arts program work closely with faculty from our eight different media areas: Painting, Drawing/Illustration, Printmaking, Graphic Design/Digital Media, Ceramics, Sculpture, Photography, Jewelry/Small Metals. The BFA degree offers students the opportunity to further their studio art practice and to prepare for graduate school or professional art careers through a rigorous and focused course of study in the visual arts.
The Certificate in Museum and Gallery Practices prepares students for careers in museums and galleries, and graduate programs in archives and preservation, conservation, museum studies, curatorial studies and related fields. Students engage in hands-on work in the on-campus Goudi’ni Native American Arts, Reese Bullen and Student Access Galleries, and through internship experiences. The Certificate is interdisciplinary and includes specialized tracks in Anthropology, Art, Environmental Science & Management, History and Native American Studies.