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Art

The Bachelor of Arts in Art degree at the University of Mount Union provides students with the essential skills, tools, and resources needed for personal interpretation and artistic expression. The mission of the department is to develop, produce, and maintain a curriculum that enables students to acquire a broad knowledge of an array of art disciplines.

When pursuing a degree in art, students can choose from three different concentrations: studio, graphic design, and art education. All three concentrations share a basic foundation of art courses before advancing to the classes designed specifically for that particular area of study. A major in art will provide an excellent basis for further study leading to a career in fine or applied art, or for an advanced degree leading to teaching, and the department has also initiated a program that meets the requirements for a multi-age teaching license.

Art Major Quick Facts 

The art degree requires 76-80 total credit hours of coursework with 44-48 (depending on the concentration) taken in the major and 32 taken in general education courses. The University’s general education program, the Integrative Core, allows students to explore areas of study outside their field of interest while developing essential leadership and communication skills that employers value.

In addition to required coursework, the art program also offers a variety of hands-on learning opportunities:

  • Students can join Kappa Pi, the honorary art organization on Mount Union’s campus
  • Art majors can submit work to Calliope, Mount Union’s student-led literary and art magazine
  • Students’ work can be featured in student showcases in our art galleries on campus throughout the year

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Curriculum

The art major at the University of Mount Union is a two-stage program involving freshman-sophomore foundation courses and junior-senior advanced study. The foundation courses deal with the fundamental theory and studio skills which provide the broad base from which any artist functions. In the junior-senior advanced studio courses, the student uses the theory and skills learned in the foundation sequence to develop a personal creative approach which can function both as a method of inquiry and as a vocabulary for the communication of humanistic ideas. A thorough general study of the history of art is also offered as an important part of the art major.

Art majors also have the opportunity to choose between a concentration in studio, graphic design, art history, or art education. Depending on the student’s chosen concentration, they may expand their artistic abilities in a wide variety of foundations and media directed courses including drawing, design, sculpture, printmaking, painting, art history, web design, art education methods, or interactive media.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • The student will demonstrate a facility in design theory as the foundation for further growth in specific media.
  • The student will demonstrate proficiency in employing art theories in discussions, critiques, and written assignments.
  • The students will be able to use any media to communicate their interpretation of a subject through solid theory and technical development.
  • The student will demonstrate the ability to integrate the streams of theory, practice, and communication in the Senior Culminating Experience.

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