Bachelor of Fine Arts

Studio Art

Our first–year Foundation Program is a focused progression of studio and critical art theory courses enables students to explore many forms and philosophies of art making, giving them an unusually wide array of skills and visual languages with which to express their ideas. Students develop technical and analytical skills, as well as creative discipline, and a clearer understanding of the relationship between art and society.

Beginning as early as second semester Freshman year and beyond, students begin to take Liberal Arts Core classes and choose studio courses in consultation with an adviser. Students also complete upper level interdisciplinary studio projects and departmental studio and theory based electives. Praxis courses combine critical theory with innovative artistic practices, and classes in experimental forms, such as Autobiography, Art and Activism, Sex and Contemporary Art, and The Artist as Visionary and Saboteur, expand the definitions of art and its audiences. Students may also select a minor from among many of the undergraduate programs at NYU.

Senior Studio is a year-long course that every BFA candidate enrolls in for the final year of their undergraduate education. The emphasis of the class is to provide a concentrated, non-media-specific forum for students to receive rigorous feedback from faculty and peers as they push a body of work towards a spring semester thesis exhibition. Senior Studio dovetails with every senior receiving a private studio in which to develop said work at their own pace without the interruption of the shared spaces they've grown accustomed to working in. Throughout the semester students are expected to be working extensively in their studios, putting in, at minimum, 25 hours a week.

The BFA curriculum is designed to progress from foundational to advanced levels and provides students with opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors described in the program’s goals. Through participation in our program, students are expected to develop in the following areas:

1. A broad base of knowledge in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, which complements the art-making process and provides you with opportunities to interpret the meaning of your artwork.

2. Demonstrating technical expertise related to the meaning of the artwork.

3. Understanding of historical and contemporary art modes, coupled with the development of language-based and theoretical models for contextualizing your artwork.

4. Ability to critique–to identify aesthetic/content problems–in the work of others and self.

5. Self-discipline.

6. Ability to demonstrate initiative and ingenuity in devising and sustaining a plan of experimentation or action.

7. Ability to use research and other resources in the completion of artworks.

8. Risk-taking in artwork; willingness to experiment and maintain an open mind.

9. Ability to work independently, developing a unique and meaningful artistic practice, as well as in collaboration with fellow artists. 

10. Growth/development toward a personally constructed conceptual direction in your artwork.

Barney Building facilities include studio classrooms and workshops for sculpture, printmaking, painting, drawing, ceramics, metalsmithing, and sewing; photography labs, a fabrication lab; digital labs; and printing studios.

The Commons is an exhibition and performance space with beautiful two-story clerestory windows. Rosenberg Gallery is our white-box space for installations. Student exhibitions change every 2–3 weeks.

BFA Senior Studios are located at 75 3rd Ave and are available to students during their senior year. Seniors will have access to 62 individual studios, a specialized screening room, computer stations, a pantry, and four installation areas for critique.

Learn more about our facilities and studio spaces.

Email
bfa.inquiries@nyu.edu

Phone
212-998-5700

NYU Steinhardt Department of Art and Art Professions

Barney Building
34 Stuyvesant Street
New York, NY 10003

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