All Art & Design Majors will be required to meet with an advisor prior to registration each semester. A registration hold will be placed on student accounts until advising has been accomplished. Advising is optional for students exploring one of the minors in Art & Design.

Students can find out who their advisor is by looking in MyNKU.  You may contact your advisor individually by email, phone, or office to set up appointments.  It is important to note that most first time freshmen are advised in the HUB. After a successful first year, each student will move to Art & Design advisor.

• All students take the Foundations Core during their first year in the Art & Design Program. That includes Art, Visual Communication Design, Art Education, and Art History majors. Students will need to dedicate their lives to going to college, if they want to succeed long-term in the program. We do accept part-time students, but the programs and course-offerings are designed with full-time students in mind. For each studio class, students can anticipate approximately 15 hours of homework per week. The large majority of students take two studio courses each semester, which indicates a minimum of 30 hours a week to commit to out of class study and work time for projects.
• Students in the Art & Design Program also take between two and three general education courses each semester. In order to graduate on time, students must successfully complete five classes each fall and spring semester. Students should keep non-college related commitments to a minimum during their study in the Art & Design Program. It is highly recommended that students do not work outside of school. If it is required for a student to have an outside job, the program recommends limiting work hours to less than 20 hours per week.
• All first year students are invited on the semi-annual Chicago trip. Faculty and students travel to Chicago by bus and engage with the arts for 2-3 days.
• The Art & Design Program sponsors artist lectures, exhibition openings, student organizations, and juried exhibitions. It is especially important that first year students invest the time in these events to get a clear picture of the lives of working artists prior to graduation.

Foundations is the underpinning preparation for all majors in the Art & Design Program. The intent of Foundations is to provide beginning art students with the fundamental skills, knowledge, and experience necessary to continue an education that will help them realize their aspirations in art and design.

The Foundations curriculum enriches the studio experience through research and documentation of issues related to contemporary art practice. It offers activities that reinforce critical thinking, writing, and verbal articulation skills. Involvement in these activities inside and outside of the classroom will lend context and relevance to the art making process, as well as enhance students' awareness of themselves and the world around them.

Foundations Courses

ART 130 Creating Visual Form (3 credits)
To enhance the perception of visual form through observation, translation, and documentation using a variety of media. Emphasis on physical craft and skills of fabrication.
Co-requisites: ART 135 and ARTH100

ART 135 Creating Visual Order (3 credits)
Exploration of the visual elements and principle of art and design; investigation of basic skills, concepts, terminology, and processes for two-dimensional and three-dimensional art making. Emphasis is on personal organization, goal setting, craft, and time management.
Co-requisites: ART 130 and ARTH 100

ART 140 Building Meaning in Visual Art (3 credits)
Exploration of Idea development. Lectures/ presentations of how worthy ideas and a personal artistic voice are developed via visiting artists, research of contemporary artists and concepts of art and design, and attending exhibitions in galleries and museums.
Co-requisites: ART 130, Art 135 and ARTH 100

Upon completion of the Foundations Core at NKU students majoring in the Art & Design Program will:

• Gain an understanding through art creation, discussion, research, critiques, historical and contemporary analysis of the role of artists in society, and what constitutes an artist.
• Be able to understand and utilize the formal Elements and Principles of Design and the Principles of Gestalt in the art making process relative to our culture and the world in general.
• Develop critical thinking skills and creative problem solving skills through a variety of strategies.
• Clearly articulate verbally and visually what they are learning, how this builds on prior knowledge, and how they intend to expand that knowledge in the future.
• Develop an understanding of the art world and its historical and contemporary practice as it relates to their own work.
• Demonstrate and embrace a sense of curiosity, experimentation, and investigation through participation in short and long-term projects and involvement in all class activities.
• Understand the differences between BA, BFA, and MFA degrees related to career paths and how the art world functions as a separate entity and as a part of the whole of society.
• Have an awareness of the interconnectedness of the liberal arts education, the self, and real world experiences in relation to art making.
• Demonstrate active involvement in the art community and an ability to guide their own learning through attendance at art events and the Art & Design Lecture Series.
• Understand the variety of learning styles, where you as a student excel and how each individual can utilize aspects of other learning styles to continue success long term.
• Have a foundation in self-evaluation and investment in self-guided learning.
• Be able to see the world with an understanding of perception, utilizing the basic elements and building blocks of art making.
• Broaden your personal ability to pay attention, observe, and an internalization of goals prior to completion of projects.
• Have the ability to express internally and externally your personal voice and individual approach to art and process of self-discovery.

The Art & Design Program offers Bachelor of Arts degrees (BA) in Visual Communication Design, Art Education, Art History, Studio Art or a BS in Photography.

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degrees are offered in: Animation, Art History, Drawing, New Media Art, Painting, Photography, Spatial Arts (Ceramics + Sculpture), and Visual Communication Design. Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees are offered upon passing the Portfolio Review (Art 297) which is encouraged for students at the end of sophomore or beginning of junior year. 

Minors in Studio Arts, Photography, Spatial Arts (Ceramics & Sculpture) and Art History are also offered in Art & Design. Current program majors cannot pursue minors in Art & Design.

A Focus may be pursued by Non-Art Majors which include completion of 12 upper-division credits in courses with the same prefix. Students cannot mix course prefixes to complete an Area of Concentration.

• ARTV 101 Adobe Creative Cloud: Vis. Design Basics
• ART 100 Art Appreciation
• ART 130 Painting for Non-Majors
• ARTH 100 History of Art: Renaissance Modernism
• ARTH 101 History of Art: Prehistoric through Goth
• ARTH 304 Survey of Asian Art
• ARTH 321 History of Visual Communication Design
• ARTH 349 Women and Art
• ARTH 350 Ancient Art
• ARTH 351 Medieval Art
• ARTH 353 Baroque Art
• ARTH 355 Art of the Twentieth Century
• ARTH 357 Art of the Italian Renaissance
• ARTH 358 History of Photography
• ARTH 359 Arts and Crafts of Japan
• ARTH 360 African-American Art
• ARTH 394 Topics in Art History
• ARTH 452 Arts of South Asia
• ARTH 454 Art Now

In brief, the BA degrees are for a breadth of study. Students have flexibility in what studio classes to take and can spend more time studying outside art and design while in college. The BFA degrees are the nationally accepted professional degrees in art and design. These degrees are restricted and carry a high level of expected growth and involvement on the student’s part. BFA students are not required to earn a minor outside of art and design, so spend more time studying in studios. BFA Visual Communication Design majors are required to complete a one-semester internship to qualify for graduation. All BFA Majors are guaranteed a senior exhibition at Northern Kentucky University, while BA candidates must exhibit through juried opportunities. Students are strongly encouraged to discuss degree tracks with their advisor and other faculty members in order to make the decision that is right for each student.

For a full-time traditional student (non-transfer) a BA degree can be earned in four years of study. In order to graduate in four years, students must dedicate themselves to successfully completing 5 classes every fall and spring semester. This amount of work is necessary to fulfill university graduation requirements of 120 total credits earned and 45 of those credits must be at the upper-division level (classes listed at the 300-400 level). Students with a BA in Studio Arts, Art History, and Visual Communication Design are required to complete an area of concentration or minor outside of the Art & Design Program.

The BA in Art Education is designed as a five-year degree. Students pursuing a BA in Art Education are admitted as pre-majors and must apply to the College of Education after 48 hours earned at the university and successful completion of the Praxis I exam. BA Art Education majors are not required to earn a minor or area of concentration outside of art.

The BFA Studio Arts degrees are designed for a four-year course of study. In order to graduate in four years, successfully completing 5 classes every fall and spring semester. Students pursuing any BFA degree are only admitted after a successful Portfolio Review (Art 297). It is important to select a desired degree path early (beginning of sophomore year) in order to continuously progress with studio courses in the students desired area of study. 

The BFA in Visual Communication Design typically takes 4.5 years to complete the degree. The Visual Communication Design Capstone is only offered in the fall semester.   

For transfer and part-time students an individualized timeline can be created upon meeting with an advisor. Visual Communication Design and some studios in other areas are only offered during particular semesters. Thus, students must be aware of rolling course offerings when creating an estimated graduation timeline.

Study in any arts field requires a commitment and dedication to a constructive learning environment and continuous practice. The Art & Design Program holds a required attendance philosophy. At the beginning of each semester the professor will present their attendance policy to the class. By remaining registered for the course, students agree to the attendance policy laid out by the professor.

A Focus consists of 12 credit hours at the 300-400 level in one area of study. Students are not permitted to have a Focus in the same department as their major.

A track is the area of art in which you would like to study, typically referred to as the student's major. Options for tracks for Art & Design Majors include: Animation, Art Education, Art History, Drawing, New Media Art, Painting, Photography, Pre-Art Therapy, Printmaking, and Spatial Arts. BA and BFA candidates are encouraged to choose an Area of Emphasis by the beginning of sophomore year.

Interested transfer and new students can contact Candice van Loveren Geis with additional questions or to discuss their personal college education.

Office: FA 330
vanloverec1@nku.edu | (859) 572-1521