Program Overview
Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) with a major in Studio Art: This degree is for students who wish to enter an intensive professional studio art program or continue their education at the graduate level. Students will develop professional skills and a personal aesthetic philosophy within their area of focus: drawing, painting, printmaking, or sculpture. Students must possess an exceptional commitment to their work. B.F.A. students also graduate with an effective minor in a second studio area. Our comprehensive art curriculum is enhanced with a variety of individualized choices and liberal arts studies within the Drake Curriculum. In the spring of their junior year, students take part in B.F.A. reviews. The B.F.A. Capstone Experience is a senior thesis exhibition and a digital portfolio consisting of an artist's statement, photographic documentation of thesis work, and a statement of future professional plans.
B.F.A. Degree Requirements
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 60th-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.
Area of Emphasis: Painting (B.F.A.)
Painting fosters creativity within a time-tested visual tradition in ways that lead to significant artistic expression. Students are mentored in the development of critical visual thinking skills necessary to the growth of a highly individualized aesthetic. Technical skills are honed in a process-based environment designed to facilitate a diversity of investigative methods. At advanced stages students are encouraged to both embrace and test the traditions of painting through the deliberate synthesis of materials, methods and ideas. The successful BFA in Painting will be prepared for professional practice and/or graduate levels of study in the fine arts.
The B.F.A. Capstone Experience culminates with a senior thesis exhibition where each student is expected to present a display that reflects the intensive development of an individualized body of artwork. This exhibition may occur in the Weeks or Anderson galleries or an exhibition space in Des Moines may be procured. Additionally, the successful BFA will produce a digital portfolio that consists of an artist’s statement and photographic documentation of thesis work and a statement of future plans.
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| ART 013 | 2-D DESIGN | 3 |
| ART 014 | CONSTRUCTING SPACE | 3 |
| ART 015 | OBSERVATIONAL DRAWING | 3 |
| ART 016 | CONCEPTS IN DRAWING | 3 |
| ART 021 | DIGITAL MEDIA | 3 |
| 3 |
| INTRODUCTION TO PRINTMAKING | |
| INTRODUCTION TO RELIEF PRINTMAKING | |
| INTRODUCTION TO INTAGLIO PRINTMAKING | |
| INTRODUCTION TO LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTMAKING | |
| ART 063 | PAINTING I | 3 |
| ART 064 | PAINTING II | 3 |
| ART 075 | THEMES IN ART HISTORY | 4 |
| ART 079 | BUILDING IDEAS | 3 |
| 3 |
| MODERN ART HISTORY | |
| ART SINCE 1945 | |
| ART 125 | PAINTING AFTER OBSERVATION | 3 |
| ART 126 | PAINTING AND CRITICALITY | 3 |
| ART 163 | PAINTING THESIS I | 3 |
| ART 164 | PAINTING THESIS II | 3 |
| 9 |
| 6 |
| ART OF INDIA, CHINA, AND JAPAN | |
| FREEDOM, SLAVERY, AND EMANCIPATION | |
| AMERICAN ART HISTORY | |
| CULTURAL INTERSECTIONS C. 1900 | |
| SELECTED TOPICS IN ART HISTORY | |
| CURRENT CHINESE ART & ISSUES | |
| ART 175 | SENIOR STUDIO ART CAPSTONE I | 4 |
| ART 176 | SENIOR STUDIO ART CAPSTONE II | 4 |
| ART 199 | ART AND THEORY | 3 |
| 12 |
| Total Hours | 84 |
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..