Why Earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts at Indiana State?
As a fine arts major at Indiana State, you will study art history, art theory, and criticism while developing marketable creative skills in your chosen medium.
Pursue Your Artistic Passion
Nurture your artistic talent in various styles of art, including ceramics, drawing, graphic design, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.
The BFA in fine arts offers four concentrations: graphic design, intermedia, three-dimensional arts (ceramics and sculpture/metal), and two-dimensional arts (digital art, drawing, painting, photography, and printmaking).
Through the BFA , you will benefit from hands-on curation experience in the University’s multiple galleries and will have the opportunity to exhibit your own work there. You will also meet visiting artists of national and international significance, deliver presentations on art topics, and volunteer at Terre Haute’s Swope Art Museum.
Learn from Our Talented Faculty
Indiana State's instructors are passionate about art, and our small class sizes enable you to receive individualized instruction and mentorship from them. Our faculty actively create and exhibit artwork in their chosen media, including ceramics, drawing, graphic design, painting, photography, and printmaking. Your professors will guide your experiences during trips to museums, galleries, and studios, and they will provide you with instruction and resources for other hands-on learning activities.
Create Art in Our Studios
As a fine arts major, you will take visual art classes in our 70,000-square-foot Fine Arts Building. The fully equipped facility houses graphic design and computer art studios, classrooms, a Media Realization Center, and an art education facility. You will also take art classes in designated studios for ceramics, drawing, painting, papermaking, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. Our art studios are available to all art majors.
What You'll Learn in the Fine Arts Program
The fine arts major includes studio hours for you to grow and refine your skills in a variety of art media. Coursework includes art history, theory, and criticism. Drawing is a vital part of the program and provides you with the basic perceptual and technical skills necessary for a fine arts education. You can complete our fine arts bachelor’s degree in four years of full-time study.
You will complete a foundation portfolio review during your sophomore year, documenting and submitting a portfolio of work already completed in your core studio courses [Fundamentals of Drawing, Fundamentals of Two-Dimensional Design and Color, and Fundamentals of Three-Dimensional Design]. You will provide a reflective statement evaluating your work, and your faculty will provide feedback. Students in the BFA program must receive an overall score of 12 or better on an overall scale of 16 possible points.
In addition, during your final semester in the BFA program, you will present a portfolio of your work in an approved gallery setting. The work should represent your area of fine arts concentration, and it will be evaluated by faculty.
In addition to your core art classes, you will select a concentration related to your preferred medium and style in place of the degree’s electives.
BFA Concentrations
Learn and practice new techniques in beginner, intermediate, and advanced ceramics.
arrow_forward View the required coursesAllow your creativity to flourish in all areas of digital art.
arrow_forward View the required coursesStudy and practice figure drawing and other drawing techniques.
arrow_forward View the required coursesStudy formal design values, visual aesthetics, print design, corporate identity, typography, photo-illustration, layout, drawn design, packaging, and web design.
arrow_forward View the required coursesLearn the finest painting techniques to craft masterpieces.
arrow_forward View the required coursesAllow your creativity to flourish in beginner, intermediate, and advanced photography classes.
arrow_forward View the required coursesLearn how to create art with images on paper, fabric, or plastic.
arrow_forward View the required coursesPractice new techniques in sculpture, including wood and studio furniture courses.
arrow_forward View the required courses
Transfer Credit
Indiana State University accepts credit from regionally accredited colleges and universities within the United States, and from selected schools located outside the United States. Credit also may be granted for military training and experience. Previously earned college credit can be applied toward completion of the program per Indiana State's transfer guidelines.
Transfer GuidelinesCreative Scholarships
Indiana State offers several scholarships for creative art students. Explore these and other available scholarships in our scholarship portal.
Career Possibilities for Fine Arts Majors
Career opportunities vary between concentrations. Many of our graduates are employed by museums, galleries, schools, art administration firms, antique dealerships, corporate collections, and private studios. Our students also pursue graduate studies, most often in art history, museum studies, and art administration.
Drawing Inspirational Illustrations
Fine arts alumna Nina Mims, ’23, is passionate about drawing and animation. The future animator wants to create uplifting stories that represent everyone, regardless of their background, ethnicity, or personal struggles.
Read about Nina Mims’ storytelling dreams.Accreditation
Indiana State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
In addition, the Department of Art and Design is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).
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