Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art

Create, inspire, innovate.

The BFA in Art is a pre-professional degree that prepares students for careers as independent artists or as creatives in corporations or arts organizations. The program balances technical skill-building with deep conceptual thinking, empowering you to express complex ideas across media. You will be able to develop your artistic practice in ceramics, creative photography, digital and electronic media, drawing, generative AI, installation, painting, performance, printmaking, and sculpture. You’ll dive deeply into making, experimenting, exhibiting, and thinking critically about contemporary art and culture. We teach the abilities you need to build and sustain a creative career in a dynamic and changing world.

Graduates of the program pursue successful careers as creative directors, illustrators, animators, gallerists, commercial or fine arts photographers, studio managers, metal and ceramics fabricators, museum educators and preparators, book designers, K-12 art teachers, content marketing managers, arts organizers for non-profits and communities, and as independent artists who run their own studios. Alumni work at museums such as the Smithsonian and Museum of Modern Art and corporations such as Disney and Bento Box Animation, and they have pursued graduate degrees at prestigious Art programs such as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of California, Hunter College, and Rhode Island School of Art and Design.

As part of this program, you will: 

  • Begin with our nationally recognized Workshop for Art Research and Practice (WARP) to jump start your creative thinking, artistic problem-solving, and engagement with contemporary art.
  • Build your foundations across 2D, 3D, and time-based media (like video). 
  • Gain fluency in the ideas that animate contemporary art and art criticism. 
  • Develop professional practices that will grow your career as an artist. 
  • Take advantage of opportunities to show your work in our exhibition spaces and beyond.
  • Shape your artistic journey through advanced courses, culminating in a year-long intensive Senior Studio to create a capstone project for the BFA Thesis Exhibition.
  • Build an individualized studio practice guided by faculty mentors and supported by a strong peer community.

BFA vs. BA
BFA: 2/3 of your coursework in Art. Ideal if you want to fully invest in an artistic career. Dedicated studios for seniors. Exhibit your capstone project in the BFA Thesis Exhibition. 

BA: Less than half of your coursework in Art, offering more flexibility. Ideal if you want to pursue Art in combination with a dual degree, certificate, minor, or other curricular and extra-curricular pursuits. To access the upper-level electives you want, consult with an advisor early to plan to take the prerequisites.

See full details in the UF Undergraduate Catalog

next steps