Art
Department of Art
College of Arts and Sciences
202 Center for the Arts
North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260-6010
Phone: 716.645.6878
Fax: 716.645.6970
Web: www.art.buffalo.edu
David Schirm
Interim Chair
About the Department
Art-making at UB connects inner exploration with outward expression. This requires interpretations that reflect personal vision informed by deep and broad understanding of culture. Inquiry into nature and society helps students understand and connect with the world around them in a more meaningful way.
We believe that the best preparation for success in today’s challenging workplace is a flexible, inquisitive mind and the ability to understand the forces that continue to shape and redefine our culture and our world at large. This can be gained at UB through a broad university education combined with a rigorous art curriculum emphasizing problem solving and art production skills, along with an understanding of contemporary critical theory.
The Department of Art combines hands-on skills with a strong basis in scholarly exploration, experimentation, and research. The Art department has first-rate studios to support various media, including several Mac computer labs, a digital photo lab, painting and drawing studios, extensive printmaking labs, and a large sculpture area that supports foundry, fabrication, and other processes.
Special Features
Since 1993, the Department of Art has been housed in the Center for the Arts, where students have state-of-the-art facilities as well as the opportunity to interact with adjacent programs in Media Study, Music Theatre, and Dance.
The Art Department Gallery has a regular program of student, faculty, and guest artist exhibitions throughout the academic year. In aulition, the Department of Art has a close working relationship with the University Gallery, and maintains close ties with local art galleries and artists' groups, including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art (CEPA), Big Orbit Gallery, and Hallwalls.
Visual Studies Speakers Series (ART 200)
Offered as a course meeting once per week, this series brings in noted artists and critics to discuss issues relevant to contemporary art and design. Visiting artists in the past have included: Luis Cruz Azaceta, Xu Bing, Robert Blackburn, Ellen Carey, Wendell Castle, Sue Coe, Douglas Crimp, Lydia Dona, Mark Alice Durant, Nancy Dwyer, Patricia Villalobos Echeverria, Maria Ferandez, Milton Glaser, Ed Gold, Mary Grandpre, Peter Halley, Edgar Heap-of-Birds, Gary Hesse, Catherine Howe, Peter Jemison, Byron Kim, Beauvais Lyons, Phyllis McGibbon, Clayton Merrell, Laurie Palmer, John Pfahl, Walid Ra’ad, Archie Rand, Milton Rogovin, Carolee Schneemann, Peter Sis, Buzz Spector, Lida Suchy, Evan Summer, Carlos Szembek, and Sam Walker.
Degrees Offered
Undergraduate: B.F.A., B.A., Minor in Photography
Concentrations: (B.F.A.) Communication Design, Computer Art, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, and Sculpture; (B.A.) General Studio, Communication Design, and Photography
Graduate: M.F.A.
About Our Degrees
Acceptance Criteria
Fine Arts B.F.A., Studio Art B.A.
Minimum GPA of 2.5 overall.
Minimum GPA of 2.5 in art courses.
Minimum grade of “B” in all transfer fine art courses.
Photography - Minor
Minimum GPA of 2.5 overall.
Minimum GPA of 2.5 in art courses.
All B.F.A. and B.A. art majors must apply to and be accepted by the Art department.
Students accepted to the university who have indicated fine art or studio art as their intended major on their university application are “block registered” into fall semester freshman foundation courses on a first-come, first-served basis. Portfolio reviews for admission to the major takes place during the spring semester of the freshman year.
Currently enrolled UB students with a minimum GPA of 2.5 are eligible to apply to the Art department’s B.A. or B.F.A. program. Admission is by portfolio review and interview. Freshman foundation courses are required for the B.A. and B.F.A. degrees and are prerequisites for most upper-level courses; students are encouraged to take these courses before applying to the major.
Portfolio Review Procedure
In order for us to schedule review appointments, students must pre-register (apply) for the portfolio review. Application forms are available through the Art department academic advisor’s office; contact Kim Yarwood, 205 CFA, for more information.
Individualized Admission
Applicants to UB at the freshman level who fail to meet university SAT and GPA requirements but have unique artistic talents and conceptual abilities not reflected in those scores may be eligible to be considered for admission through the individualized admission process. Contact the Art department academic advisor for more information.
Schedule of Portfolio Reviews
Freshmen: Spring of freshman year
Honors Scholarship: Check with academic advisor
Individualized Admissions: February - April
Currently Enrolled: Fall and Spring
Transfers: Spring prior to Fall entry
Minors: November and March
Acceptance Information
Number of applicants/year: 300
Number of accepted majors/year: 60-80 freshmen; 20 transfers/currently enrolled
Total number of majors currently enrolled: 320
Sequence of Study for the Major
The Freshman Foundations Program is a series of five studio courses and one contemporary theory course. These courses are required for all B.A./B.F.A. degrees and are prerequisites for most upper-level courses. Application for admission to the B.A. or B.F.A. program is done through an in-person portfolio review and interview and should be completed in the spring of the freshman year. Those failing the review may apply again the following year.
During the sophomore year, all majors take introductory (200-level) studio courses of their choice. Except for photography courses, registration for most sophomore art courses is limited to students who have been accepted to the B.A. or B.F.A. program.
Focused study in a concentration begins in the junior year. There is a second portfolio review for students intending to concentrate in communication design and computer art, where space is very limited. Most junior and senior-level courses in these two concentrations are reserved for students who have been accepted to the concentration. Reviews for these concentrations take place each spring.
A two-semester Senior Thesis Project is required for the B.F.A. degree.
Degree Requirements
See the Undergraduate Catalog.
Transfer Policy
Students accepted to UB must apply to and be accepted by the Art department, and must have a minimum GPA of 2.5 to be eligible to apply. Admission is by portfolio review and interview; this review takes place in the fall semester. Due to space limitations, delay of a portfolio review could jeopardize admission to the Art department.
Only courses evaluated as equivalent to UB art courses that earned a grade of B or better are transferable. Accepted transfer credits are applied to the department's degree requirements upon acceptance as an art major. Transfer students interested in communication design or computer art must also have a second portfolio review for these concentrations.
About Our Courses
The typical class size for:
Freshman/introductory courses is: 16-20
Sophomore/intermediate courses is: 16-20
Upper level/advanced courses is: 15-20
Most of the courses in the Art department are lab classes which meet for 2 ˝ hours twice a week. Several courses are in lecture or tutorial (one-on-one instruction) format.
In the Department of Art, what do graduate student teaching assistants (TA's) do?
TA's teach some 100- and 200-level introductory courses. Freshman foundation courses are taught either by full-time faculty or adjunct lecturers.
For course descriptions, please see the Undergraduate Catalog.
About Our Faculty
Art department faculty are all practicing artists in aulition to engaging in scholarly research and/or writings in their fields. Our faculty exhibit work, and receive fellowships and commissions for their artistic production.
Faculty members have received grants and awards from such organizations as the Fulbright Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Tiffany Foundation, the Government of the Netherlands, Polaroid, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Their works have been exhibited in many prestigious public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art, the Smithsonian Museum, the Carnegie Institute, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, among others.
Steven Kurtz, the Director of Undergraduate Studies, is available to aulress student concerns.
Special Academic Opportunities
Study Abroad
Students interested in study abroad have the opportunity to participate in numerous art-oriented programs around the globe.
Semester Internships
Semester-long internships are available in prominent design and art studios in New York City and elsewhere.
Local Internships
Advanced students in all B.A./B.F.A. concentrations may enroll in an internship course to gain practical experience. Placement is made individually with local companies and includes design studios; commercial photographers; galleries; and alternative art spaces, among others.
Awards
Departmental scholarships, available to currently enrolled art majors, range from $200 to $2,000. The following annual awards are designated for art-related travel and study, art supplies, tuition help, and general support:
Rumsey Summer Scholarship
- Sally Hoskins Potenza Scholarship
- Frances Morrison Memorial Scholarship
- Julius Bloom Scholarship
- Philip C. and Virginia Cuthbert Elliott Painting Scholarship
- Dennis Domkowski Memorial Scholarship
- Eugene L. Gaier Award for Excellence in Printmaking
- Eugene L. Gaier Award for Drawing
- Carl E. and Virginia W. Sentz Memorial Award
- Alan E. Cober Memorial Scholarship
- Allentown Village Society Scholarship
Extracurricular Activities
The Student Visual Art Organization is open to and provides leadership opportunities to all interested university students and is active in organizing special exhibits and events, open figure drawing sessions, and trips to museums and galleries. The director of SVAO is Jeff Sherven (716-645-6878, ext. 1369).
See the UB Student Association.
Complementary Programs and Courses
Minors that Complement a B.A. or B.F.A.
- American Studies
- Art History
- Communication
- Comparative Literature
- English
- General Management
- Media Study
Majors that Benefit from a Photography Minor
- American Studies
- Anthropology
- Architecture
- Art History
- English
- Media Study
Courses Outside the Major that Could Improve Employment Opportunities
- Business, marketing, and writing
Advising Information
Advisement is provided for accepted majors by a full-time academic advisor in the department, along with faculty members in the student’s area of concentration.
Photography Minors
Non-art majors who would like to minor in photography do not have to take the Freshman Foundation courses, but do need an in-person portfolio review.
Career Information
The study of art opens the mind to unforeseeable possibilities. It is an opportunity for students to identify and value their own particular and unique set of skills - skills that are transferable to an evolving and wide range of applications and career paths.
Skills gained in this program include:
- Forming conceptual ideas and communicating them visually
- Verbal and written analysis of visual works
- Understanding/weighing conceptual and aesthetic choices
- Learning the tools and techniques and process of 2D art making, painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, communication design, typography and layout
- Working with time-based media, such as web design, performance and video
- Building 3D structures and forming space by use of sculpture, fabrication and installation
- Understanding the theoretical, historical, cultural and research basis of art
Career Choices
UB art alumni enter a range of professions where creative problem solving, critical thinking, and an understanding of cultural context is valued, such as art galleries, museums, alternative spaces, and auction houses as directors, curators, preparators, installers, and art handlers, as well as in conservation, fabrication, grant writing, fund raising and educational programming.
Many of our alumni are recognized, independent artists who work and exhibit nationally and internationally, successfully compete for public and private commissions, and have received numerous top national and international awards. Others are assistants, collaborators and project coordinators to world-class artists. Our students have become professors and lecturers at leading colleges and universities, and teachers at community colleges, secondary schools, and arts-in-education programs throughout North America. They are art therapists in health care professions, schools, community centers and correctional facilities. Our students are technical instructors and shop managers in fine art and commercial photography, printmaking, casting, and welding enterprises.
UB art alumni write critical reviews and essays on art and popular culture, they work as illustrators, web page designers, electronic publishers, and developers of interactive and electronic media. They publish fine art editions, run galleries, printing firms, custom framing businesses, and casting foundries, among others.
Aulitional Resources
Artcareer.net, the complete resource for careers in the visual arts
www.artjob.org, art jobs online
Artist Resource
College Art Association
Arts Resource Network
New York Foundation for the Arts
Links to Further Information About This Program
- Undergraduate Catalog
- Undergraduate Admissions
- Graduate Admissions
- Department of Art
- College of Arts and Sciences