BFA in Painting

The BFA in Painting program promotes painting as a fundamental form of visual and artistic expression. The principal component of the Painting program is studio activity, and students explore various forms of painting in the first years of the major. Students also consider the roles of sight, insight, and perception in relation to processes of making from the foundation level onward. Critical dialogue and rigorous expectations about studio practice support work toward a young artistic vision in upper-level courses.

The sequence of seven semesters of Painting courses is intended to provide a solid base for postgraduate involvement in the larger art world. In the foundation year, observational studio work is combined with inventive assignments as a means for students to learn about medium, form, content, broader artistic concepts, and the kinds of questions they wish to address with their work. The post-foundation sequence includes Painting II and Painting III in the sophomore year, Junior and Senior Painting Studios, Painting Techniques, and three semesters of seminar courses. Students have their own studio spaces in the upper level and work in individual conversation with the professor and in group critiques with one another to develop a cohesive and ambitious body of work and to refine artistic voices. The BFA Painting major culminates in the BFA thesis exhibition, which includes a written component.

Students are also expected to develop a strong drawing practice and to verbally critique and write about their own and others’ work. Writing and visual research are strengthened during three semesters of Art History. A range of additional studio electives encourage students to see and make creative connections between diverse practices.

Learning Outcomes

All students graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting from the Boston University School of Visual Arts are expected to:

  • Develop a body of work that exhibits inventiveness, creativity, ambition, clarity of thinking, and an understanding of the importance of process.
  • Demonstrate proficiency in studio process including materials, tools, and techniques appropriate to the practice.
  • Demonstrate one’s ideas through a unique visual language.
  • Demonstrate spoken and written critical thinking and communication skills.
  • Apply appropriate models of interpretation based on historical and contemporary artistic knowledge.
  • Generate a collection of materials that sustain a professional practice: artist statement, CV, image documentation.
  • Demonstrate the ability to relate one’s own work with contemporary art.
  • Develop an independent parallel practice to complement the studio practice.
  • Demonstrate objective, non-objective, conceptual, and social visual literacy.
  • Develop an informed awareness of oneself and one’s creative practice in relation to a broader range of legacies, perspectives, and criteria.
  • Through research, critique, and group discussion, recognize and appreciate that every artist has a unique history and that these variable experiences guide their work, and are not necessarily universal.

Requirements

All BU undergraduate students, including both entering first-year and transfer students, will pursue coursework in the BU Hub, the University’s general education program that is integrated into the entire undergraduate experience. BU Hub requirements can be satisfied in a number of ways, including coursework in and beyond the major as well as through cocurricular activities. Students majoring in Painting will ordinarily, through coursework in the major, satisfy a number of BU Hub requirements in Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, the Individual in Community, Ethical Reasoning, First-Year Writing Seminar, Writing, Research & Inquiry, Writing Intensive, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration, and Creativity/Innovation. Remaining BU Hub requirements will be satisfied by selecting from a wide range of available courses outside the major or, in some cases, cocurricular experiences.

Painting Program of Study

The BFA requires 132 semester credits.

Visual Arts Foundation Requirements
CFA FA 100 Doing, Making & Knowing: The CFA Experience 2 cr
CFA AR 131 and 132 Drawing I 8 cr
CFA AR 141 Foundation Painting 4 cr
CFA AR 121 Foundation Sculpture 4 cr
CAS AH 111, 112 Art History 8 cr
Painting Major Requirements
CFA AR 241 and 242 Painting II and III 8 cr
CFA AR 341, 342, 345, 346 Painting Major Studios (minimum 4 semesters) 18 cr
CFA AR 547 or 548 Painting Techniques 2 cr
CFA AR 329, 331 Junior and Senior Contemporary Issues Seminars (2 cr each, fall of junior and senior years) 4 cr
CFA AR 332 Senior Painting Seminar (spring of senior year) 2 cr
CAS AH 393 Contemporary Art History (fall only) 4 cr
CFA AR 236, 238, 239, 250, 251, 270, 318, 425, 431, 447, 448, 450, 451, 452, 469, 500, 501, 517, 518, 527 Drawing and Printmaking electives 14 cr
CFA AR 221, 222, 223, 224, 327, 337, 338, 418, 419, 470 Sculpture elective 4 cr
BU Hub Requirements Outside Major and Electives
BU Hub requirements outside the major, including First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CAS WR 120) and Writing, Research & Inquiry (e.g., CAS WR 151/152/153) or equivalent 32 cr
Additional BU Hub requirements and/or studio/general electives 18 cr
Total credits 132 cr