BFA Visual Arts

Studying the fine arts enables students to develop their talents while learning transferable skills such as critical thinking and collaboration. As a Fine Arts student at Marshall University, you’ll produce and exhibit visual works that integrate core art and design principles, and demonstrate your skills in working with advanced concepts and media.

As a Fine Arts student, you also will develop your art and design vocabulary and communication style, and will be prepared to talk about and present your work to various audiences. You’ll also benefit from being part of the arts community at Marshall University’s School of Art and Design, as well as in the city of Huntington, West Virginia.

As a Visual Arts major in our Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree program, you can choose from these areas of specialization to shape your best creative path:

The School of Art and Design’s interdisciplinary curriculum at Marshall University includes both traditional and digital courses that are rigorous and relevant. Class sizes in the school are kept small so you will receive thorough instruction and plenty of personal attention.

Incoming Fine Arts students complete a unique first-year experience consisting of five Foundations studio art classes and one Visual Culture lecture course. The Foundations studio courses will offer you the opportunity to explore the various emphasis areas of study offered through paired half-semester sessions. After completing the Foundations curriculum, B.F.A. students can choose to concentrate in the following emphasis areas: Ceramics, Fibers, Graphic Design, Painting, Photography, Printmaking or Sculpture.

Marshall provides B.F.A. students with excellent facilities to learn and create. The School of Art and Design is located in two buildings: The Visual Arts Center in the heart of downtown Huntington and the Art Warehouse, which is home to the Ceramics and Sculpture areas of emphasis.

Overall employment of craft and fine artists is projected to grow 6 percent through 2026, about as fast as the average for all occupations, reports the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The job outlook for B.F.A. graduates depends largely on students’ emphasis areas. But possible careers in arts-related fields offer many pathways, including:

The median annual wage for fine artists, including painters, sculptors and illustrators, was $49,380 in May 2018, according to the BLS. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $22,020, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $101,400.

In May 2018, the median annual wages for craft and fine artists in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:

Marshall B.F.A. graduates who choose to go on for advanced degrees study at such institutions as: Carnegie Melon, Tyler School of Art, George Mason University, Radford University, Claremont Graduate College and Oregon State University.

The Visual Arts Center (VAC) is a six-story, 66,000-square-foot building located in the heart of downtown Huntington, six blocks from Marshall University’s main campus. The VAC houses the Art Education, Art History, Fibers, Graphic Design, Painting, Photography and Printmaking programs of study.

Each floor of the VAC offers various specialized facilities for our programs of study:

The second-floor Fibers area contains nine jack-type looms, five table looms and two tapestry looms. The Fibers dye lab allows students to explore dye and textile pigment through projects for immersion dye, silk paint, batik and silkscreen print.

The second floor also has the Art History lecture room with seating for 50 students, a short-throw HD projector and a computer teaching station.

The VAC’s third floor houses the Photography darkroom and Printmaking facilities, which contain three etching presses, two large lithographic printing presses, one cylinder letterpress, one poster press, one proofing press, type cases, a ventilated room for acid / salt etching and solvents, a mobile ventilation unit, a separate screen printing area with an exposure unit, dark room, wash out room and printing stations. The facilities also support study in the book arts with a bookbinding finishing room housing a precision paper cutter and book press. Students have access to three shop computers and technical support from digital printing labs. The Photography facilities include a darkroom with 16 enlargers, processing sink, circular washer, linear washer, paper dryer, silver recovery unit, film processing station, film loading rooms, advanced darkroom and UV exposure room.

The fourth floor contains facilities shared by Graphic Design, Photography and Video Production majors, including two Mac labs (16 and 18 workstations), two 44″ large format printers, 3-D printer, lighting studio, an equipment room with 18 camera outfits, lights and sound equipment for student checkout, and a drafting studio.

The Art Education classroom is located on the fifth floor and contains a flexible classroom / studio space with a SMART board and PC teaching station. The fifth floor also contains a large drawing studio with standup easels.

The sixth floor contains a large studio with painting easels.

Marshall B.F.A. students also study in our 15,000-square-foot Art Warehouse, which houses the Ceramics and Sculpture emphasis areas.

The Green Machine is the Marshall shuttle that connects the art facilities to campus. Many students choose to walk or bike to and from campus, as well. Fourth Avenue (Old Main Corridor) is the typical route: The local art store is one of the many shops along the way.

The School of Art and Design offers numerous resources to support student success. Faculty advisors / mentors are assigned to guide students through the curriculum and help prepare them for their future careers. The school also offers annual tuition waivers and scholarships, and supports student participation in summer art residences / workshops. The faculty at the School of Art and Design understand the importance of educational experiences that extend beyond the classroom. This includes partnering with community organizations, an annual trip to New York City and a summer study abroad program in Florence, Italy.

Marshall’s hometown of Huntington, West Virginia, is a community of 50,000 located in the southwest corner of the state within sight of Ohio and Kentucky. Huntington also is a Certified Arts Community, recognized by the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. The city offers many cultural and arts settings, including the Huntington Museum of Art; the Huntington Arts Summit, which brings together various arts organizations in the city; the Marshall Arts Series and more.