Program Overview
The Studio Art BA program at Drake fosters students’ creative and intellectual development within the context of a comprehensive liberal arts education, providing students the opportunity to explore a broad range of artistic methods. This degree program allows students to focus on studio art by incorporating a wide range of artistic methods into their practice while benefiting from a well-rounded liberal arts education. The curriculum emphasizes both creative development and intellectual inquiry, encouraging students to build a personalized course of study that integrates diverse studio disciplines. With flexibility at its core, the program supports both cross-disciplinary exploration and focused engagement in areas such as drawing, painting, printmaking, or sculpture.
As students progress, they deepen their technical skills, conceptual understanding, and critical awareness of art’s role in cultural and historical contexts. The curriculum encourages broad exposure to ideas and practices across the arts and sciences, preparing students to pursue varied academic, civic, and personal pathways involving art.
B.A. Degree Requirements
The BA in Studio Art is situated firmly within the liberal arts tradition, offering students a flexible, interdisciplinary curriculum that supports wide-ranging inquiry. The degree emphasizes the exploration of studio art through studio practice, visual and material analysis, and historical and theoretical perspectives. Foundational coursework in drawing, design principles, and art history provides a basis for more advanced studies. The program structure is intentionally flexible; it can, in most cases, accommodate a double major or dual-degree program, making it especially well suited for students with intersecting academic interests.
Students are mentored in the development of interdisciplinary critical thinking skills essential to shaping an individualized aesthetic grounded in their broader educational experiences. Technical skills are refined within a conceptual, process-based environment that supports diverse investigative methods. At advanced levels, students are encouraged to question and expand the traditions of their chosen media through the deliberate synthesis of materials, methods and ideas as these processes merge across disciplines.
The program culminates in ART 176 SENIOR STUDIO ART CAPSTONE II, a public thesis exhibition presenting each student’s creative journey. Through the development of a cohesive body of work and an accompanying artist’s statement, students reflect on the intersections between their studio practice and their broader liberal arts experience. The capstone encourages multimedia, interdisciplinary, and collaborative approaches, allowing students to integrate skills and ideas from across their studies and align their practice with individual artistic goals while preparing for continued growth in art-related or cross-disciplinary fields.
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| ART 013 | 2-D DESIGN | 3 |
| ART 014 | CONSTRUCTING SPACE | 3 |
| ART 015 | OBSERVATIONAL DRAWING | 3 |
| ART 0-- | ART LOWER DIVISION (2-D ELECTIVE) | 3 |
| ART 0-- | ART LOWER DIVISION (3-D ELECTIVE) | 3 |
| ART 0-- | ART LOWER DIVISION (2-D or 3-D ELECTIVE) | 3 |
| ART 0-- | ART LOWER DIVISION (STUDIO AREA ELECTIVE) | 3 |
| ART 0-- | ART LOWER DIVISION (STUDIO AREA ELECTIVE) | 3 |
| ART 1-- | ART UPPER DIVISION (STUDIO AREA ELECTIVE) | 3 |
| ART 1-- | ART UPPER DIVISION (STUDIO AREA ELECTIVE) | 3 |
| ART 176 | SENIOR STUDIO ART CAPSTONE II | 4 |
| ART 1-- | ART UPPER DIVISION (ART/DESIGN HISTORY OR STUDIO ELECTIVE) | 3 |
| ART 075 | THEMES IN ART HISTORY | 4 |
| ART 1-- | ART UPPER DIVISION (Art History Elective) | 3 |
| Total Hours | 44 |
Students pursuing the BA in Studio Art must complete a minimum of 66 credit hours in general studies, including the Drake Curriculum and any combination of a second major, minors, or non-“ART” academic electives.
In addition to requirements for all undergraduate degrees, which can be found in the Graduation Requirements area of the catalog, Art and Design students must meet the following requirements:
A student is placed on probation if either the cumulative grade-point average or the average in Department of Art and Design courses falls below 2.00 (a "C" average) during any semester in which a student has earned less than 30 total credit hours. A student may be placed on probation for failing to meet the University’s standards for satisfactory progress toward completion of degree requirements.
To continue progress toward a Department of Art and Design degree, a student must have at least a 2.5 cumulative grade-point average and a 2.5 GPA in the Department of Art and Design courses at the end of the academic term in which the student completes the 30th credit hour. For transfer students, the 30th-hour GPA must be based upon at least 15 credit hours earned at Drake. Students who achieve the 2.5 GPA at the 30th-hour level are placed on probation if their GPAs fall below 2.5 in a subsequent semester. If the GPA is not raised to 2.5 or better after the probationary semester, the student may not continue in the Department of Art and Design or re-enroll later.
In addition to programmatic requirements, students are responsible for satisfying all requirements of the Drake Curriculum, including Areas of Inquiry (AOI).
Student must also satisfy university graduation requirements for all undergraduate students.