Fine Arts, B.A.

What You’ll Learn

All students majoring in art at Vermont State start in the B.A. in Fine Arts program. You will gain a strong foundation in a variety of artistic disciplines, including drawing, sculpture, media arts and art history.  

If you continue with the B.A. in art, you will select a concentration in either studio arts, media arts, photography, or art history. The Studio Arts concentration allows you to explore a variety of mediums while Media Arts and Photography are more focused. The Art History concentration allows you to focus more intently on historical and contemporary works by other artists. Each concentration has a senior portfolio or capstone project as a culmination of your studies. 

Outside the Classroom, In the Community

Art is meant to be shared. As a student, you’ll find abundant opportunities to reach beyond campus to build your resumé, network within the larger art community, and display your work: 

• Showcase your work at regional galleries such as The Castleton University Bank Gallery, the Christine Price Gallery and the Calvin Coolidge Library Gallery on the Castleton campus and the Visual Arts Center on the Johnson Campus. 
• Visit major cities to soak up arts and culture. You might travel to Boston or New York City for lessons in art history with your senior seminar. 
• Expand your community with the Student Art Club, a student organization, which sponsors visiting artists, film series, studio visits, and collaborative projects as well as trips. 
• Engage with world-class art within easy reach at venues such as the Hood Museum, Williams College Museum, Clark Museum, Mass MOCA, Middlebury College Museum, and Fleming Museum, to name a few. 
• Work as an assistant for local and regional artists and intern in galleries, museums, art organizations, public relations firms, graphic design firms, and professional studios. 
• Study abroad to fuel your creativity by exposure to art and culture in another country. Art students have studied in Canada, China, England, Greece, Holland, India, Ireland, Italy, Nepal, South Korea, Tibet and more. 

Special Facilities

You’ll find professional art facilities at each of our three campuses that host our Fine Arts program.  

• Castleton: Explore a variety of artistic mediums with major studio workspaces in the Fine Arts Center dedicated to printmaking, painting, sculpture and ceramics, drawing, and photography. The Wooldridge House provides a unique venue for woodworking, welding, carving, and outdoor sculpture installations. It also houses dedicated studio space for art majors to work on independent projects.  
• Johnson campus: Enjoy a hub of artistic endeavor in the Visual Arts Center. The large facility houses multiple studios for painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, woodworking, and photography. You’ll also find a computer lab for digital art, a quiet room for focused study, a dedicated community art room, and two public art galleries.