Arts Major: Studio Art/Art Education Option (B.A.)

Arts Major: Studio Art/Art Education Option (B.A.)
child making clay sculpture

What is studio art/art education?

If you’re interested in teaching art, our degree with the option in studio art/art education will prepare you for a career as an art educator in public schools. In the first four years, you’ll immerse yourself in the studio art program, earning a bachelor’s degree while gaining broad experience working with diverse media. You’ll have the opportunity to study art forms such as drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture and woodcraft. A fifth-year internship satisfies the initial certification requirements for teachers of art in public schools in New Hampshire and most other states.

Why study studio art/art education at UNH?

In addition to the Museum of Art and Paul Creative Arts Center on campus and the rich artistic community of Portsmouth just minutes away, the fine art museums of Boston are within an hour’s drive. You’ll meet and learn from artists and historians from around the world through our Visiting Artists & Art Historians program. Your education coursework will be handled expertly by our Education Department, which has been teaching teachers for more than 100 years.

Potential careers

  • Art teacher
  • Commercial artist
  • Designer
  • Museum educator
  • Program director
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Curriculum & Requirements

The program in art education is organized into a five-year, teacher-education sequence. This curriculum is designed to prepare teachers of art in the public schools. The satisfactory completion of the B.A. studio art curriculum for art education students and required education courses, in conjunction with the fifth-year internship, will satisfy the initial certification requirements for teachers of art in the public schools of New Hampshire and in most other states. These requirements may change by the time students apply for certification and the students are required to fulfill the then-current requirements. Art education students may take accredited crafts courses at other institutions as art electives.

A portfolio is required for acceptance to the studio art/art education option. 

Degree Requirements

Minimum Credit Requirement: 128 credits
Minimum Residency Requirement: 32 credits must be taken at UNH
Minimum GPA: 2.0 required for conferral*
Core Curriculum Required: Discovery & Writing Program Requirements
Foreign Language Requirement: Yes

All Major, Option and Elective Requirements as indicated.
*Major GPA requirements as indicated.

Major Requirements

Students selecting to work toward a bachelor of arts degree in studio art/art education must complete a minimum of 14 courses (56 credits), with a minimum grade of C in each course. The following courses are required:

Core Foundation (4 courses)
ARTS 501Introductory Ceramics4
ARTS 510Principles of Design4
ARTS 532Introductory Drawing4
ARTS 567Introductory Sculpture4
Core Supplemental (2 courses)
Select one 500/600-level 2D course from the following:4
ARTS 536
Introduction Printmaking: Intaglio
ARTS 546
Painting Design I: Perceptual Painting and Color Theory
ARTS 640
Drawing Workshop
Select one 500-level Photography course from the following:4
ARTS 551
Introduction to Darkroom Photography
ARTS 552
Introductory Digital Photography (recommended)
Concentration Courses
Select four courses in a studio concentration at the 500/600/700 levels (see concentration courses below)16
Advanced Studio Seminar
ARTS 780Advanced Studio Seminar4
Art History Courses
Select one course from the following:4
ARTH 474
Introduction to Architectural History
ARTH 480
Introduction to Art History
ARTH 485
Introduction to Global Art History
Select one 600-level elective from the following:4
ARTH #654
17th and 18th Century American Architecture
ARTH #655
Nineteenth-Century Architecture: The Architecture of Empire
ARTH #656
Twentieth-Century Architecture: Modern and Contemporary
ARTH 674
Greek Art and Architecture
ARTH #675
Roman Art and Architecture
ARTH #677
Early Medieval Art
ARTH 678
Romanesque and Gothic Art
ARTH #679
Northern Renaissance Art I
ARTH #680
Iconoclasm and Collecting: The Art of Early Modern Northern Europe
ARTH 681
Early Renaissance Art
ARTH 682
The High Renaissance
ARTH #684
Baroque Art in Northern Europe
ARTH #685
Graphic Art of the Renaissance and Baroque Periods
ARTH 686
Sex and Sensuality in 18th-Century Art
ARTH 688
Histories of Late 19th & 20th Century European Modernism
ARTH #689
Contemporary Art and Theory: 1945-2000
ARTH #693
American Art
ARTH 694
Vision and Modernity: From Panorama to Early Film
ARTH 695
Topics in Art History
ARTH #697
Topics in Asian Art
ARTH 795
Understanding Art History: An In-Depth Overview
Select one 600-level elective with depth of content in 20th-21st Century art from the following:4
ARTH #656
Twentieth-Century Architecture: Modern and Contemporary
ARTH 688
Histories of Late 19th & 20th Century European Modernism
ARTH #689
Contemporary Art and Theory: 1945-2000
ARTH #693
American Art
ARTH 694
Vision and Modernity: From Panorama to Early Film
In addition to the above, other courses are required for teaching certification.
Total Credits56

Concentration Courses (4 courses)

Minimum of three 600-700 level studio courses. No more than one of the following: a 500-level studio course (select from ARTS 501 , ARTS 525ARTS 536, ARTS 546, ARTS 551, ARTS 552, ARTS 596), ARTS 598, a 600-700 level art history (see selection of courses in art history requirement above), or ARTS 600 Internship in Studio Art  (with approval). Jterm and summer online courses cannot be used.

ARTS 601
Ceramics Workshop (may be repeated)
ARTS 610
Principles of Typography
ARTS 611
Animation and Motion Design
ARTS 612
Interaction & Game Design
ARTS 613
Design and Place
ARTS 614
Design and People
ARTS 625
Wood/Furniture Design Workshop (may be repeated)
ARTS 636
Printmaking Workshop (may be repeated)
ARTS 640
Drawing Workshop
ARTS 660
Painting Workshop
ARTS 651
Photography Workshop (may be repeated)
ARTS 667
Sculpture Workshop (may be repeated)
ARTS 780
Advanced Studio Seminar
ARTS 796
Independent Study: Studio Art (K: Wood Design, may be repeated)

The Discovery Program capstone requirement will be fulfilled by completing a capstone project that reflects the training received, and personal artistic growth made, throughout the student’s years of study at UNH. The capstone project includes participation in the BA/BFA Senior Exhibition in the UNH Museum of Art in April-May. Students will submit a minimum of 5 (or the equivalent what would be the equivalent of 5) recent works for faculty to review and select for the exhibition. At the review a written artist statement and verbal explanation of the work must also be presented.

The required minimum overall GPA in major coursework is 2.0.

Candidates for a degree must satisfy all of the University Discovery Program requirements in addition to satisfying the requirements of each individual major program. Bachelor of arts candidates must also satisfy the foreign language proficiency requirement.

Studio art/art education majors may use two major-required courses to satisfy two Discovery category requirements.

Introductory (500) Level:

  • Basic skillset in a particular arts discipline
  • Working knowledge of the tools and materials used in a particular arts discipline
  • Basic understanding of analytical thinking when making and talking about art
  • Demonstrate development of artistry

Intermediate (500/600) Level:

  • Demonstrate development of artistry and skill set in a range of artistic disciplines
  • Demonstrate knowledge of tools and materials beyond the basics
  • Deeper ability to discuss and analyze works of art
  • Ability to verbalize intent in a particular work of art
  • Ability to research particular artists
  • Ability to declare an area of concentration for advanced  in a particular arts discipline  

Advanced (600/700) Level:

  • Demonstrate a high level of artistry
  • Ability to work independently
  • Develop and Demonstrate an individual sensibility
  • Ability to understand and verbalize intent in a work of art
  • Ability to construct a professional capstone portfolio or thesis
  • Demonstrate in-depth familiarity with a range of artistic movements both historical and contemporary

 

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