Why study Fine Arts at Benedictine?

The Fine Arts major at Benedictine University at Mesa leads to a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree and is a professional visual arts education rooted in the liberal arts with an emphasis upon the Benedictine values of a balanced life, the stewardship of intellectual and technical artistic gifts, and the full development of an artist’s role within the greater community.

• You will utilize the varied facilities and diverse teaching staff of Benedictine, local art centers and community colleges to develop as an artist.
• You will be engaged in intellectual and spiritual discovery through a chosen medium.
• You will be taught from a variety of philosophical and stylistic approaches to contemporary art.
• Your professional training of the visual arts will be combined with the analytical depth of a rigorous liberal arts curriculum.
• You will be prepared for continued study in a Master of Fine Arts program of your choosing.
• You will be prepared for an exhibition career and the life of an artist.

What does a degree in Fine Arts at Benedictine offer?

• Traditional Art Foundation Core: 18 semester credit hours of foundation courses that stress the Mimetic tradition of Western Art, coupled with the Modernist tradition of abstraction.
• 15 semester credit hours of Art History covering prehistoric through contemporary art.
• Readings in Criticism and Aesthetics expands the intellectual foundation for a practicing artist. The content of these two courses is rarely taught in B.F.A. programs elsewhere making our program distinctive.
• 6 semester credit hours of a 300-level language.
• 12 semester credit hours of Advanced Studio courses focusing in one specific area of choice. Each studio will build upon the knowledge and skills of the previous course.