Undergraduate Overview

Two students with textiles.

The Department of Art at the University at Buffalo is dedicated to developing the technical and conceptual that will prepare you for a life-long career in the professional world of art and design.

Each customized course of study at UB provides the foundation for a creative practice that connects you to the city of Buffalo and to the global art community. The Department of Art at the University at Buffalo offers innovative undergraduate degree options in Fine Art and Art History, as well as a minor in Studio Art.

Undergraduate Director

The Department of Art offers the following undergraduate degree programs: Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA)BA in Studio Art and BA in Art History, as well as a Minor in Studio Art, with concentrations in general studios, emerging practices, graphic design, painting, photography, print media and sculpture.

Our Faculty are nationally and internationally renowned for their research and teaching. They bring their expertise in creative problem solving, skill building, and innovation to the classroom. As practicing artists, makers, scholars, researchers, and activists, our faculty offer expert guidance in today’s creative fields. IWith a 13:1 student/faculty ratio, our faculty mentor students individually to help them discover their own creative voices and harness the culturally transformative power of  art and design.

Faculty honors and distinctions include fellowships and awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Warhol Foundation, the Fulbright Fellowship, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Capital Foundation, the Pollock Krasner, the MacDowell Colony, the Corporation of Yaddo, the Chalmers Arts Fellowship, the Aperture Foundation, the Zentrum Moderner Orient of Berlin, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Science Foundation, the Prix Ars Electronica, the FILE Prix Lux Art, the Vilcek Foundation, the MIT Council for the Arts, the Canada Council for the Arts and the TED Conferences LLC.

Our Alumni qualify for a range of professions that include art galleries, museums, alternative spaces, and auction houses where alumni work as directors, curators, preparators, installers, and art handlers. 

Our former students include independent artists who exhibit nationally and internationally, execute commissions, and receive national and international awards. Others are assistants, collaborators, and project coordinators to world-class artists. Our students have become professors and lecturers at leading colleges and universities, and teachers at community colleges, secondary schools, and arts-in-education programs throughout North America. They work as art therapists in hospitals, schools, community centers, and correctional facilities. They are also employed as graphic and web designers. Art alumni publish fine art editions, run galleries, printing firms, custom framing businesses, fine art publishers, and casting foundries.

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