Department of Visual Arts
The mission of the HCU Department of Visual Arts 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 Visual Arts 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 Visual Arts 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 School 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.
Our students are able to intimately experience true masterworks in our Fine Arts Museum. They also get to interact with current professionals who exhibit in our Contemporary Art Gallery.
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.
Graphic Design
The BFA in Graphic Design provides students with a comprehensive pre-professional degree in studio art and digital design, preparing graduates for new opportunities in a wide variety of design-related media fields. The BFA degree trains students in traditional artistic principles through 33 hours of Studio Art courses, then follows this foundation with an additional 34 hours in digital media. The degree program also includes key courses in career preparation, including a professional internship and portfolio development. The BFA in Graphic Design is jointly coordinated by HCU’s Visual Arts department and Cinema & New Media Arts program.