Welcome, Class of 2029!
Welcome to the School of Art + Art History
We are thrilled you are interested in pursuing a major within the School of Art + Art History (SA+AH)! We offer majors in Art, Art History, and Graphic Design.
Preview Orientation / First-Year Scheduling with the Arts (including the SA+AH!)
Because College of the Arts students have unique first-year schedule requirements, we provide our own advising during Preview. Just let your Small Group Leaders or Preview Staffers know that you’re interested in majoring in the Arts, and they’ll make sure you get to the right place. We’ll take care of you! Your first-semester schedule will usually include 6 credits of Art/Design coursework and 6 or more credits of courses that meet general education requirements or requirements for another major you may be considering.
Why Not Both? (a.k.a. Shoot for the Moon!)
We offer a range of degree programs, from the professional Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) to the more flexible Bachelor of Arts (BA). Many of our students pursue dual degrees or pair their majors with minors and certificates in other areas across the university to create a unique educational path.
At Orientation, we often tell students to “Shoot for the Moon!” You never know what’s possible! We know it can be challenging to have everything figured out from the start. If you’re unsure or interested in exploring multiple areas, just let us know. Our advisors are specifically trained to help you build a schedule that allows you to explore different paths and keep your options open.
Students continually amaze us with their ambitions, and we look forward to helping you discover the path that works best for you! Many students aren’t sure whether they want the BFA or BA—and that’s totally fine. (Learn more about the differences from your advisor in Small Group 2 on Day 1 at Preview!) Generally, the studio art or design coursework taken in the first year can apply to either degree option.
Popular Combinations Include
Art, Graphic Design, Art History and the following:
- Advertising
- English
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Business Administration
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Marketing
- Journalism
We’ve seen students combine Art with Engineering, Art History with Chemistry, and Studio Art with Wildlife Conservation. We’ve even had students pair Art with pre-health tracks. Your creativity doesn’t have to exist in just one world!
Graphic Design at UF
In the BFA in Graphic Design, students learn how to be creative, conceptual, and process-oriented in addition to aesthetically and technologically sophisticated. Built around a core of design thinking, design process, and creative investigation, the graphic design program is grounded in the exploration of research, concepts, critical thinking, and the contemporary discourse in the graphic/communication design discipline. We teach the skills and abilities you need to build a creative career in a dynamic and changing world. Graduates of our program are prepared to enter a competitive market and embark on careers in areas they choose, such as branding, experience, UX/UI, and other areas of design. As a program, our core values focus on building community; fostering independent, critical, and design thinking; and empowering students to be leaders in design.
Want to see what Graphic Design students actually create? Each year the Graphic Design student organization, Vox Graphis (the voice of graphic design!), puts together an annual design symposium (Ligature!) with visiting designers who lead lectures, workshops, and a juried exhibition of student work.
And you can learn more about the graphic design program here.
Studio Art at UF
We take a contemporary, interdisciplinary approach to art practice and research. Students experiment with a wide array of media and ideas across the first two foundation years of study, as well as through more advanced upper-division coursework. We offer courses in Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Ceramics, Sculpture, Creative Photography, and Art + Technology (digital imaging, video, animation, installation, AI).
Learn More About SA+AH Art Programs
Painting
Every blank canvas is an opportunity. A dream. A vision. A story to tell. Translate your imagination with paintbrush and palette.
Drawing
Drawing is your true calling since you first picked up a pencil. Now it’s time. Refine your perspective. Expand your visual language.
Printmaking
No two prints are exactly alike. Those subtle differences are what inspire you. Printmaking has its own unique history, function and aesthetics. Do the research. Revel in the process and the practice.
Ceramics
Work with the oldest of materials while making the newest form of art. Explore a world of knowledge, aesthetics, technical approaches and invention.
- UF Ceramics Instagram
- HOT Clay is the student group supporting ceramics at UF.
Sculpture
Sculpture is a practice that evolves with each realization. Start with a material foundation. Incorporate other non-traditional media, such as video and performance. Let your sculpture shape you.
Creative Photography
We are an international faculty of contemporary artists working with innovative students on the campus of UF to build and utilize the power and excitement of media images!
Art + Technology
You are innately technological, so Art + Technology is there to develop your conceptual, critical practice. Whether it is installation, film and video, computing, networks, performance, social practice, participatory media: it’s all fair game!
Digital Arts Media Network (DAMN) is the student group supporting Art + Technology at UF.
WARP (ART1803c Workshop in Art Research and Practice)
WARP is our multi-faceted, 6-credit foundations course that every Art and Graphic Design student must take in their first year. BFA Art students usually take WARP in the fall semester, while Graphic Design students take WARP in the spring (and enroll in two separate design courses during the fall). Some BA Art students take WARP in the fall, and others in the spring.
WARP is designed to expose students to a variety of styles, approaches, and debates in contemporary art and design. Students are expected to take risks, explore unconventional points of view, and develop original ideas to solve problems. While primarily studio-based, the course also includes a lecture component. It’s an exciting and unique experience that will stretch your comfort zone (in a good way!) and help you think more deeply about the visual world—so you can create amazing work that makes a difference.
On the Fence? Start with Art (and Design)!
It’s very common for first-year students to be unsure of their major. Here’s our best advice: if you’re even thinking about art, art history, or graphic design at UF—Start with Art! Here’s why:
- Our advisors are specifically trained to help you create a schedule that keeps Art, Graphic Design, or Art History open as possibilities, alongside any other majors you’re interested in exploring.
- Taking the first semester’s required Art or Graphic Design courses gives you hands-on experience to help decide if these majors are right for you.
- It’s much easier to switch out of Art or Graphic Design into another major than the reverse. Our intensive coursework starts right away in your first semester!
- If you decide Art or Graphic Design isn’t for you after your first semester, the coursework from your that semester can still count toward an Art minor.
- And remember: majoring in Art or Graphic Design doesn’t mean you’re locked into a career in those fields. Your major does not have to define your career path. These programs build valuable skills like creative problem-solving, visual communication, giving and receiving feedback, project management, and more—skills that translate across many careers!
PaCE Admits
If you have been admitted to UF through the PaCE program, you likely have a lot of questions! We have a unique exception within the PaCE program: our Art and Graphic Design majors are able to (and must) take their studio art and design classes on campus—even in their first semester. About 30% of our students began with us in the PaCE program, and it’s been working out great! They really appreciate the high-touch, on-campus engagement of the art and design courses, balanced with the flexibility of online general education and elective courses.
Learn more about how PaCE works for our SA+AH students
Advisors: Dana Myers and TBA (currently searching for a 2nd advisor)
Admissions and Advising Assistant: Sarah Joy
SAAHAdmissions@arts.ufl.edu
Students in these program must live in or near Gainesville in order to participate in mandatory studio art and design classes. All non-studio classes must be taken through UF Online before becoming eligible to transition to campus. Please consult as soon as possible with Dana or Sarah, your admissions and academic advising team for the School of Art + Art History (SA+AH).
Bachelor of Fine Arts
BFA in Art
BFA in Graphic Design
Bachelor of Arts
BA in Art History **Our Art History major is the only SA+AH major that does not require students to live in or near Gainesville until completing PaCE’s transition to campus requirements.**
BA in Art
BA in Art with a Certificate in Art Education
What Happens After Preview?
Mark your calendars for Convocation – the kick-off to your UF SA+AH Adventures! You’ll get a chance to meet some SA+AH Student Ambassadors, your fellow incoming students, advising staff – and get all your last-minute questions and anxieties addressed.
Convocation is Wednesday, August 20th; Meeting time TBA
Have Questions?
Contact your SA+AH Undergraduate Advisors at SAAHAdvising@arts.ufl.edu. One of them will be running your Small Group 2 session on Day 1 of your Preview Orientation this summer!
Connect with SA+AH Student Ambassadors!
Look out for messaging from your SA+AH Ambassadors this fall!