Discover your potential and prepare for your creative future
In the YSU Department of Art, we recognize that each student is unique with individual talents, goals, and passions as artists and designers. Our programs focus on your future and you. Our student-to-faculty ratio allows you to explore your interests in depth and shape your education to suit your passion. This personalized experience helps you develop your niche and position yourself for the countless opportunities in our communities, schools, and today’s creative industries.
The Department of Art offers degrees and programs in 4 areas of study, including the Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Digital Media/Photography, Graphic + Interactive Design, and Interdisciplinary Studio Arts and the Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S.E.), Art Education. Our B.F.A. programs will broaden your understanding of the concepts of art and the language of visual form. We concentrate on your development and involvement with the processes and practices of the visual arts. The B.S.E. in Art Education provides exceptional instruction that prepares students for licensure as art teachers in the public schools and careers as art educators at all levels. As a student in the Department of Art, you'll receive a significant amount of individual attention from our world-class faculty and find a community of mentors and colleagues who are committed to your success.
We’re dedicated to providing dynamic and integrated experiences that are enriched by our state-of-the-art resources. Housed in Bliss Hall, our Art facilities support your engagement in collaborative, groundbreaking work that cultivates new ways to assimilate art into our communities, schools, and industry. Exhibition venues include the McDonough Museum of Art, Solomon Gallery, and the Student Project Gallery.
We know that you have interests that lie beyond what you're studying or making. Becoming involved in art or university student organizations is an ideal way to pursue those interests, interact with community members on and off campus, and find your own unique niche in the department and at YSU. We encourage you to join a student organization and improve your leadership skills, develop professional contacts, and have a positive impact on your campus and surrounding community. For art students, the Empty Bowls Fundraiser, the Red Press Collaborative, a Study Abroad trip to Glasgow, Scotland, and the Student Art Association may be of special interest.
Learn about our programs
To learn more about our degree programs and scholarships or to schedule a campus visit, contact Cliffe College Program Coordinator of Admissions and Recruitment at sawaltman@ysu.edu or 330.941.2346. We would love to hear about your interests, introduce you to our outstanding faculty and students, show you our exceptional facilities, and become an important part of your future.
YSU’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art – Digital Media/Photography Track offers pathways to study both fine art Digital Media and Photography. In the Digital Media area, students will explore the ways in which new technologies are engines of personal exploration and cultural production; experiment with new ways of expressing themselves through video, interactive media, and digital fabrication; discover that technology is a tool for creative experimentation, and more.
In Photography, student will study photographic processes in both traditional and digital technologies within the context of a fine arts program. They move seamlessly between the darkroom and the digital facilities while exploring historic and contemporary issues within lens-based media. The Photography program places equal emphasis on the science and craft of photography and on critical thinking and conceptual development.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art – Graphic + Interactive Design Track provides students with a foundation of critical and creative design processes and prepares them for the profession of graphic and interactive design—including careers in identity systems, package design, motion and web design, creative direction, and more. Based primarily on computer technology, students will investigate new ways of solving complex visual problems and use both print and interactive designs as solutions.
Interdisciplinary practice is a central component of contemporary art. Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art – Interdisciplinary Studio Arts program explore and combine a variety of media to investigate and examine relevant topics across studio areas. The program fosters innovative thinking and making for those interested in exploring alternative and experimental methodologies. Students may elect to take upper-level courses in ceramics, digital media, painting, photography, printmaking, or sculpture. This rigorous, multi-media program cultivates independent thinking and intellectual curiosity and provides the knowledge and skills necessary to adapt and respond to a myriad of opportunities in contemporary creative industries.
Art Education students are first and foremost artists who want to teach. They are dedicated to becoming lifelong learners, artists, researchers, and teachers. YSU's Bachelor of Science in Education – Art Education PreK-12 program fosters professional teaching skills along with creative and intellectual growth. Individualized attention and hands-on field teaching experiences effectively prepare students to enter the profession of teaching or a graduate degree program. Our Art Education graduates who seek a teaching position enjoy a 100% placement rate.
The Minor in Digital Media for Non-Art Majors provides students with the opportunity to explore how digital media works and teaches skills related to motion graphics, modeling, and animation.
The Minor in Interdisciplinary Game Studies is offered by the Departments of Art and Computer Sciences and Information Systems and the Dana School of Music. The curriculum allows students to focus on their area of interest while also broadening their collaborations with colleagues in other areas.
The Minor in Photography for Non-Art Majors is designed for students seeking to develop formal, conceptual, and technical skills and knowledge necessary for photographic image making, processing, and manipulation.
The Minor in Studio Art for Non-Art Majors provides students with strong technical and critical thinking skills along with experience in working with a variety of media.
