Bachelor of Arts in Art

University of California - Santa Barbara

As a student in Art, you’ll receive a thorough foundation and comprehensive training in art as a humanistic activity. The program prepares students who wish to become practicing artists, go on to graduate study or professional school, or diverge into related professional and academic fields. Through a comprehensive core foundation program, you’ll be first introduced to the diverse and hybrid practices of contemporary art, including study of the history, theory, and production of art. At the advanced level, you’ll have the opportunity to focus and individualize your aesthetic development while still maintaining an open attitude towards art and its ever-evolving contextual relationship with contemporary culture. You may also choose to partake in additional opportunities that make our program exceptional: internships, student exhibitions, off-campus projects, field trips, faculty assistantships, courses in the College of Creative Studies, the Art Department Honors Program, and learning from visiting artists and speakers.

The Department of Art offers programs leading to the degrees of bachelor of arts (B.A.) and the master of fine arts (M.F.A.). The department is committed to creative research that investigates the relationship between inquiry and practice and how this dynamic manifests itself in contemporary and historical approaches to cultural production in a continually changing world. Students are exposed to a broad range of aesthetic perspectives through the department’s interdisciplinary curriculum and extensive range of faculty research.

College of Creative Studies