This is an archived copy of the 2024-2025 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.iastate.edu.
Overview
http://www.design.iastate.edu/artvisualculture/index.php
The Department of Art and Visual Culture offers degree programs focused on fine arts and visual culture, offering courses in studio arts, art history, art education, and scientific illustration. Degree offerings include the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Art and Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Integrated Studio Arts, and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Integrated Visual Arts.
BFA Integrated Studio Arts (ISA) (Fine/Studio Arts)
Students will select from ISA's studio options including ceramics, digital media, drawing, furniture/wood design, illustration, jewelry and metalsmithing, scientific illustration, mixed media, new genres, painting, photography, printmaking, and textiles.
Over the four-year course of study students will develop a portfolio and prepare for a professional practice in the visual arts. This concentration engages aesthetics, visual problem-solving, critical thinking, and skill development, drawing on historical and cultural theory, contemporary trends, and studio practice.
Transfer students with studio credits from other colleges and universities may present a portfolio of work created in those courses to determine if these credits can be applied toward specific studio requirements. Students will present this portfolio upon admission and prior to registration for classes. Arrangements for this process should be made with the department's academic advisors.
The department offers an undergraduate minor in Illustration and participates in the undergraduate minors in Classical Studies, Critical Studies in Design, Design Studies, Digital Media, and Textile Design.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will learn to:
- Develop creative problem-solving abilities and traditional and innovative technical skills through the design, research, and creative processes;
- Understand and express in multiple media the relationship between objects, aesthetics, and meaning;
- Exhibit an awareness of their roles as artists and thinkers regarding the ethical, cultural, and ecological impacts of what they do;
- Express through visual, verbal, and written means an awareness of global art movements and a meaningful understanding of historic and contemporary art; and
- Use their understanding and practice of art to engage with local, national, and global communities where they can participate in broad exchange of ideas.
Degree Requirements
The curriculum in leads to a 128-129 credit undergraduate Bachelor of Fine Arts in Integrated Studio Arts. Admission into the program requires the completion of at least 31.0 credits, including the following courses: DSNS 1020, DSNS 1100 or 115, DSNS 1310, DSNS 1320, and DSNS 1830; 6 credits of Social Sciences/Humanities; 6 credits of Math/Science; ENGL 1500 (or test-out credit); LIB 1600. Information on admission criteria is posted each year on the College of Design website.
Total Degree Requirement: 128-129 cr.
Only 65 credits from a two-year institution can apply and may include up to 16 technical credits; 9 P-NP credits of free electives; 2.00 minimum GPA.
International Perspective: 3 credits
U.S. Cultures and Communities: 3 credits
Communication: 10 credits
(C or better grade ENGL 1500 and ENGL 2500)
| ENGL 1500 | Critical Thinking and Communication | 3 |
| ENGL 2500 | Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition | 3 |
| LIB 1600 | Introduction to College Level Research | 1 |
| 3 |
| |
| Introduction to Communication Studies | |
| Interpersonal Communication | |
| Fundamentals of Public Speaking | |
| |
| Total Credits | 10 |
Humanities: 6 credits
6 credits from College of Design General Education Approved Course list.
Social Sciences: 6 credits
6 credits from College of Design General Education Approved Course list.
Math/Physics/Biol. Sciences: 6 credits
6 credits from College of Design General Education Approved Course list.
General Education Courses: 9 credits
College of Design Core: 13 credits
Integrated Studio Arts Core: 31 credits
ISA Concentration: 24 credits
Eight courses from ARTIS studio offerings. Faculty advisors will assist students in developing their studio concentration plan.
Art History: 9 credits
At least 6 credits from ARTH 3000+ course level.
Professional Practice: 3 credits
Electives: 11 credits
Integrated Studio Arts, BFA
| First Year |
|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
|---|
| DSNS 1020 or 1310 | 4 | DSNS 1020 or 1310 | 4 |
| DSNS 1100 or 1150 | 1 | DSNS 1830 (or General Education) | 3 |
| DSNS 1320 | 1 | ENGL 1500 (or General Education) | 3 |
| DSNS 1830 (or General Education) | 3 | General Education | 3 |
| ENGL 1500 (or General Education) | 3 | General Education | 3 |
| General Education | 3 | LIB 1600 | 1 |
| General Education | 3 | |
| | 18 | | 17 |
| Second Year |
|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
|---|
| ARTH 2800 (fall only) | 3 | ARTH 2810 (spring only) | 3 |
| ARTIS 2120 or 2300 | 3 | ARTIS 2300 or 2120 | 3 |
| ARTIS Studio Fundamentals | 2 | ARTIS Studio Fundamentals | 2 |
| ARTIS Studio Fundamentals | 2 | ARTIS Studio Fundamentals | 2 |
| ARTIS Studio Fundamentals | 2 | ARTIS Studio Fundamentals | 2 |
| ARTIS Studio Fundamentals | 2 | ARTIS Studio Fundamentals | 2 |
| ENGL 2500 (or General Education) | 3 | ENGL 2500 (or General Education) | 3 |
| | 17 | | 17 |
| Third Year |
|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
|---|
| ARTIS 3100 | 3 | ARTIS Studio Option | 3 |
| ARTIS Studio Option | 3 | ARTIS Studio Option | 3 |
| ARTIS Studio Option | 3 | ARTIS Studio Option | 3 |
| ARTH 3000 level or above | 3 | ARTH 3000 level or above | 3 |
| General Education | 3 | ARTIS 3990 | 2 |
| | DSNS 3010 (Rome option only) | 1 |
| | 15 | | 15 |
| Fourth Year |
|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
|---|
| ARTIS Studio Option | 3 | ARTIS Studio Option | 3 |
| ARTIS Studio Option | 3 | ARTIS Studio Option | 3 |
| ARTH 3000 level or above | 3 | ARTIS 4990 | 1 |
| General Education or Elective | 3 | General Education | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 5 |
| | 15 | | 15 |
Post-Baccalaureate Undergraduate Certificate
Iowa State’s Post-Baccalaureate Undergraduate Certificate program in Integrated Studio Arts (ISA) prepares students for either graduate study or career advancements by providing a focused environment for advancing aesthetic, technical, creative, and conceptual skills. While a bachelor’s degree in visual or fine arts is not necessary, a strong portfolio of creative work and a written statement of purpose are required for admission. Download application requirements (PDF) or view online.
Curriculum
Post-baccalaureate students will work with a faculty advisor to create a tailored 25-credit program of study including:
- 15 credits of 3000/4000-level Integrated Studio courses
- Six (6) credits of 3000/4000-level art history courses
- Three-credit elective selected from a list of options
- ARTIS 4910: One-credit capstone exhibition course
For the capstone experience, you will be expected to produce an artist’s statement and a written assessment of your learning that will be reviewed, along with your art, by the arts faculty.
This certificate program must be completed within two years. Students interested in developing a body of work for admission to graduate school or to focus on further skill development prior to moving into professional practice will be ideal candidates.
Application Requirements
To apply for this program, please submit the following materials.
- Digital portfolio:
— Twenty (20) images of recent work with no more than four (4) of the images being details
— Descriptions on each image need to include title, date, size and medium
- One-page statement of intent
- Current resume
- Name and contact information of three (3) references
Graduate Program
The department offers the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Integrated Visual Arts (IVA). The MFA curriculum in IVA requires a minimum of 60 credits. This MFA is a unique interdisciplinary program offering integrative study among a combination of media areas including ceramics, computer applications, drawing, textiles, illustration, jewelry/metalsmithing, painting, printmaking, photography, furniture/wood design and areas outside of AVC. The IVA program offers an innovative curriculum aligned with emerging art and design markets.
IVA graduates link traditional studio disciplines with interdisciplinary studies. Graduates are prepared as visual artists to enter studio practice, business, higher education, or new interdisciplinary fields. The MFA is recognized as the terminal degree. A required thesis exhibition is composed of two parts: a substantial solo exhibition; and a written thesis statement that describes the development of the work in the exhibition, its objectives, and its historical and cultural points of reference. A written thesis with no exhibition component may be an appropriate alternative, but some portion of the work should entail an element of creative problem-solving in the form of a visual product.
Upon completion of the graduate program IVA graduates are expected to:
- Have developed a fully realized creative direction which provides a platform for continued professional research and growth, and visual expression;
- Have produced a body of work which demonstrates a high level of creative investigation and accomplishment;
- Have acquired a professional level of technical proficiency in one or more media areas;
- Effectively communicate their ideas verbally and in writing;
- Understand the context, both historical and current, within which their creative pursuits exist;
- Have developed a well-formed and informed personal creative philosophy and a strong studio skill set;
- Understand current and relevant ethical, ecological, and social issues; and
- Use relevant theory in pursuing creative university-level scholarship.
Studio Courses: 39 credits
Seminar Courses: 6 credits
| |
| 3 credits each section |
| Graduate Seminar: Grants, Residencies, Exhibitions, Entrepreneurialism | |
| Graduate Seminar: Critique and Creative Process | |
| Seminar in Teaching | |
Art History/Theory/Criticism: 12 credits
Related Courses (outside of IVA program): 3 credits
Total: 60 Credits