BA Art & Design

The Art and Design department prepares students to become artists and designers who are knowledgeable, educated, compassionate and responsive to social and civic obligations in an ever-changing world. Sacred Heart’s ideal location––near New York City and within the world-class design community of Fairfield County––provides students with unprecedented support and inspiration. Internships and a career-launching senior portfolio night give students the experience and connections to find continued success in art.

All students in the art and design program take foundational coursework in digital visual communication design and traditional fine arts. Students may choose a major or minor from the following concentrations:

Students prepare to join the modern profession that demands designers be capable of organizing highly complex clusters of digital creation tools in order to make the non-visual aspects of communication into visible solutions through print, internet, social media and digital delivery systems. Beyond the solid base established in the department’s foundation programs are five semesters dedicated exclusively to graphic design. Some topics covered are: 

The field of illustration reflects and helps define the cultural trends of society using the vocabulary of images unique to a given period. Students concentrating in illustration develop strong critical thinking skills and hone their application through visual communication. Additionally, students will develop a variety of skills in descriptive and expressive techniques utilizing a wide range of media. Emphasis is placed on the study of key illustration principles such as conceptual problem solving, composition and textual layout. Students are encouraged to develop a personal style to give them a competitive edge in the ever-changing field of contemporary illustration.

Our sequential curriculum provides students with the highly developed skills and knowledge necessary for a professional visual arts career in drawing, design, painting, illustration, art history, mixed media, computer programs and web design. Students in the program begin with the fundamentals of drawing, design and art history. As students master visual language and its vocabulary, they progress to color theory, figure drawing and painting, relying on principles they learned in their foundation year. Students are introduced to illustration and web design while continuing studies in painting. Exploration of aesthetic approaches, ideas and cultural themes in student work is integral to the studio art program. 

The culmination of the studio art program is a capstone class in which students create a professional body of work that will be exhibited at the university. This exhibition is an artistic statement of the students’ education and contributes to professional portfolios to utilize in the pursuit of exhibiting professionally.