What Does it Mean to Study Art?
The University at Buffalo’s Department of Art is housed within New York State’s premier public university.
Work by Stacy Robinson, UB MFA, 2015
The Department of Art programs offer a unique convergence of contemporary art, technology, and critical discourse.
Our programs combine rigorous studio art training with cutting edge technology and an interdisciplinary reach that few universities can match. In 2024, the U.S. News and World Report's National Universities rankings put the University at Buffalo as a top public university in the nation (76th rank). Within the context of a wide-ranging university education, art students at UB benefit from combining the studio curriculum with the study of art history and contemporary critical art theory. With the aid of our renowned research community and one-on-one faculty advising, students in the department of art escape the traditional boundaries of art and design.
Our school is home to the acclaimed Coalesce Center for Biological Arts. We also have rich collaborative relationships with several of UB’s centers, including The Genome Environment and Microbiome Community of Excellence, The UB Center for Sustainability, and interdisciplinary event collaborations with the UB Center for the Arts. Students have access to state of the art studios, galleries, and libraries.
We are one of the most affordable Public universities, and we offer the most valuable merit scholarships in the SUNY system. In a typical year, UB administers about $370 million in financial aid and scholarships (more info on UB costs on the Admissions webpage here).
Our MFA programs offer exceptional funding, resources, and real-world teaching experience, with 24/7 lab access for those students.
Our annual Fall Visiting Artist Speaker Series includes nationally and internationally renowned artists who engage in studio visits with MFA students, and a lecture series for all students and the public. This series explores the who/what/when/where and how, of successful contemporary artists, that can be sources of inspiration and influence for our current students.
Over the course of its history, Buffalo has been home to radical movements in art, media studies, and poetry, and the University at Buffalo programs in the arts are integrated with this scene.
Come study at Buffalo, come explore the chaos of the visual world.