Welcome to the Art Department at Boise State University


Mission Statement

The overall mission of the Department of Art as part of urban Liberal Arts University is to function as the primary emphasis program representing the visual arts disciplines. The department provides:
  1. diverse ideological positions, visual arts disciplines, teacher preparation and degree programs;
  2. liberal arts core and elective courses for all BSU students;
  3. a variety of local, regional, national and international visual art exhibitions and visiting artists and scholars.
The central mission of the department is to provide students with the requisite technical skills and theoretical knowledge for competitive and successful careers as professional artists, art teachers, art historians, graphic designers and illustrators. The department provides professional practice and leadership in the represented disciplines through individual faculty research and creative activity. The departments programs emphasize creativity, proficiency in skill and technique, fluency in written and verbal communication, engagement with contemporary theory and criticism and an understanding of historical, social and aesthetic issues pertaining to art and visual culture. The department prepares students to situate their work within diverse cultural and visual contexts through the presentation of a range of viewpoints, projects, and studies designed to broaden their cultural perspectives.
 

Faculty
Our department is composed of twenty-three full-time faculty who are nationally recognized scholars, artists and researchers. For information on their individual accomplishments see faculty weblink.
 

Students
The Art Department supports over 700 majors, the largest in the state of Idaho. There are a multitude of student art organizations including the Sculpture club, Photography club, Art Metals club, Printmaking Club (Red Circle Press),Visual Arts League and an AIGA student group for Graphic Design and Illustration students. The Visual Arts Center organizes annual juried student exhibitions and annual BFA and MFA thesis exhibitions. Our graduates have pursued careers as artists, graphic designers, art educators and illustrators. Many of our alumni have also pursued advanced degrees at prestigious graduate schools throughout the country and currently teach at the University level.
 

Facilities

We are located in five different buildings on campus. Our main offices are housed on the second floor of the Liberal Arts building.

The Liberal Arts building also features Art Metals, Ceramics, Photography, Sculpture and Gallery 1 of the Visual Arts Center.

A second Ceramics facility is located at 1426 Belmont Street in close proximity to central campus.

The History of Art and Visual Culture offices and Gallery II of the Visual Art Center are located in the Hemingway Western Studies Center.

Art Education Drawing, Foundations, Illustration, Painting, Pre Architecture and Printmaking, are situated in Public Affairs/Arts West building (Campus School).

The Fine Arts building houses Graphic Design and the MFA graduate studios.

Campus Map PDF
 

Programs and Degrees
B.A. and minor in the History of Art and Visual Culture
B.A., B.F.A. and minor in Visual Art
B.F.A. in Art Education (k-12, 6-12)
B.F.A. in Graphic Design
B.F.A. in Illustration
Two-year pre-architecture program
M.A. in Art Education
M.F.A. in Visual Arts.
 

What's New
Please visit the "What's New" link on our splash page. It features updates on student and faculty accomplishments plus special events.