Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art Houston Christian University, USA

The mission of the HCU Department of Art is to undertake and foster the intellectual and creative development of the individual through artistic activity, scholarship and teaching. The goal of the art faculty is to nurture and encourage students of all levels of experience in finding their visual voices and developing their own visual language. The Department of Art offers instruction in five basic studio areas: Drawing, Painting, Ceramics, Sculpture and Printmaking. Students in the studio areas have the unique opportunity of receiving feedback in both individual and group critique sessions.

The Department of Art offers both the Bachelor of Arts (BA – Studio Art) and the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA – Studio Art) degrees. The Art Education program (Art with All-level Teaching Certification) is being offered in conjunction with the College of Education. The Master of Fine Arts is now open for applications!

Clearly both the BA and the BFA degrees prepare any individual for studio art. The BFA is a more focused program, which more thoroughly prepares one for the possibility of further graduate study in visual arts.

The five basic studio areas taught include:

• Drawing
  • Courses in drawing include fundamental studies of form and value, figurative proportion and gesture, and pictorial devices such as foreshortening, linear perspective and atmospheric perspective.
• Painting
  • The painting studio offers instruction in oil as well as composite and experimental painting media.  Emphasis is placed first upon the fundamental mastery of the medium, and secondly upon the development of expression.
• Ceramics
  • Courses in Ceramics include fundamental hand-building in various types of clay bodies, glazing and firing. Wheel-throwing is introduced after the student has gained a basic understanding of the three-dimensional form.
• Sculpture
  • The sculpture studio offers instruction in additive, subtractive, casting and assemblage techniques. The studio is equipped for medium to small scale sculptural projects.
• Printmaking
  • Courses in printmaking emphasize basic techniques in Intaglio, Relief, and Serigraphy (silkscreening). Additionally, monotype and monoprint processes are explored in each course. Once the fundamental elements are mastered, upper-level students are encouraged to combine techniques to expand their own ideas. There are also opportunities available for advanced printmaking students to learn stone lithography at an off-campus site.