Fine Arts (B.F.A.)

Fine Arts (B.F.A.)
Fine arts students painting outdoors

What is fine arts?

Whether you plan to work as an artist or pursue graduate studies, our fine arts degree will prepare you with a solid foundation in art history and studio art. Students admitted to the studio arts program may submit a portfolio of work to be considered for the B.F.A. Through your studies, you’ll have the opportunity to work with a broad array of media, with access to facilities including our sculpture, ceramics, and woodworking and furniture design studios.

Why study fine arts at UNH?

You’ll develop and refine your creative vision while in the fine arts degree program at UNH, also gaining a practical understanding of what it takes to survive as a working artist. You’ll find inspiration through the Museum of Art and Paul Creative Arts Center on campus, and within the arts-rich community of Portsmouth just minutes away. The fine art museums of Boston are within an hour’s drive. You’ll also meet and learn from artists and historians from around the world through our Visiting Artists & Art Historians program.

Potential careers

  • Commercial artist
  • Fine furniture maker
  • Professional artist
  • Professor
Contact
  • E.J. Theriault in her studio
    Fine Arts Major (Sculpture)
    How did you choose your major and why? As an undeclared student my first semester as a freshman, I explored a variety of classes and enrolled in a biology class which I immediately dropped after the first meeting. With a gap that needed to be filled, I registered for Professor Ben Cariens evening drawing class and was instantly sucked back into the magical world of creating…
    Learn More
  • Tejas Moses with Don Williams, senior lecturer in art
    Fine Arts Major
    A native of Dublin, N.H., Tejas Moses came to UNH because he wanted to maintain his relationships to people and places he had before college, while feeding his desire “for challenge and adventure and bliss.” Those and “a really good financial aid package” that included a prestigious Hamel Scholarship, landed Tejas in Durham and UNH, where he majored in fine arts with a concentration…
    Learn More

Curriculum & Requirements

Incoming first-year and transfer applicants wishing to enter the bachelor of fine arts (B.F.A.) degree program must first apply for, and be admitted to, the bachelor of arts (B.A.) in the Arts: Studio Art option. Students may submit a B.F.A. portfolio after they begin their studies at UNH, as early as the spring semester of their first year. A full faculty review is held each spring semester.

The B.F.A. curriculum provides advanced training for students who plan to enter professional graduate school or pursue careers as professional artists.

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: No

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

Major Requirements

Students selecting to work toward a B.F.A. degree must complete a minimum of 17 courses and 72 credits, with a minimum grade of C in each course. Transfer of 3-credit courses from other institutions will require additional course(s) to fulfill the major requirement of 72 credits. Transfer courses can fulfill only 8 requirements. The following courses are required:

Core Foundation (3 courses)
ARTS 510Principles of Design4
ARTS 532Introductory Drawing4
ARTS 567Introductory Sculpture4
Core Supplemental (3 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 3D course from the following:4
ARTS 501
Introductory Ceramics
ARTS 525
Introductory Woodworking
Select one Photography course from the following:4
ARTS 551
Introduction to Darkroom Photography
ARTS 552
Introductory Digital Photography
Core Seminars
ARTS 598An Artist's Life4
ARTS 798Seminar/Senior Thesis (two-semester course)8
Concentration Courses
Select 5 Studio courses in a concentration (see concentration courses below)20
Advanced Studio Seminar
ARTS 780Advanced Studio Seminar4
Core Art History (3 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 two 600-level or above art history courses from the following:8
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
Total Credits72

Concentration Courses (5 courses)

Minimum of four 600-700 level studio courses and no more than one of the following:  ARTS 600 Internship in Studio Art (with approval), a 600-700 level art history (see selection of courses in art history requirement above), or a 500-level studio course (select from ARTS 501, ARTS 525ARTS 536, ARTS 546, ARTS 551, ARTS 552, ARTS 596). Jterm and summer 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 651
Photography Workshop (may be repeated)
ARTS 667
Sculpture Workshop (may be repeated)
ARTS 796
Independent Study: Studio Art (K: Wood Design, may be repeated)

The possible areas of concentration within the department are painting, sculpture, ceramics, design, drawing, printmaking, photography, and furniture design. Proposals for individualized programs are accepted only by permission of the departmental chairperson, the major adviser, and the departmental bachelor of fine arts committee. Candidates applying for the bachelor of fine arts program are required to submit a portfolio to the B.F.A. committee, which meets each spring semester.

The Discovery Program capstone requirement may be fulfilled by completing .

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.

Fine arts 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