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A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine, or performing arts. [1] [2] It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree differs from a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in that the majority of the program consists of a practical studio component, as contrasted with lecture and discussion classes.
A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree will often require an area of specialty such as acting, architecture, musical theatre, game design, animation, ceramics, computer animation, creative writing, dance, dramatic writing, drawing, fashion design, fiber, film production, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, interior design, metalworking, music, new media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, stage management, technical arts, television production, visual arts, or visual effects. Some schools instead give their students a broad education in many disciplines of the arts. [1] [3] [4]
Although a Bachelor of Fine Arts is traditionally considered a four-year degree, [2] a BFA program may take shorter or longer to complete because of the amount of studio course work required. After completing this degree, the learner may acquire postgraduate degree: Master of Fine Arts.
A typical BFA program in the United States consists of two-thirds study in the arts, with one-third in more general liberal arts studies. For a BA in Art, the ratio might be reversed. [2] The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), which accredits Bachelor's of Fine Arts programs in visual art and design in the United States, states that "the professional degree (BFA) focuses on intensive work in the visual arts supported by a program of general studies," whereas "the liberal arts degree (BA) focuses on art and design in the context of a broad program of general studies." [5]
In the United Kingdom, BA Fine Arts is equivalent to BFA. Specific degrees such as the Bachelor of Dance or Bachelor of Drama are used by some performing arts institutions in Australia , the US, and much of Europe. [6] [7] [8]
In India, a Fine Arts undergraduate degree may also be known as BVA (Bachelor of Visual Arts). [9] It is usually a four-year program in which the first year is preparatory session. By the second year, learners have a specialization such as Painting, Photography and more. However, some institutions have 3 year curriculum in which students are already opted for their specialization. Specializations such as Acting, Dancing, Singing, etc. would come under Bachelor of Performing Arts (BPA).
In some countries such a degree (BFA) is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts (BCA). [10] [11]
Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufacture or production of the product. Industrial manufacture consists of pre-determined, standardized and repeated, often automated, acts of replication, while craft-based design is a process or approach in which the form of the product is determined personally by the product's creator largely concurrent with the act of its production.
A Master of Fine Arts is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts administration. It is a graduate degree that typically requires two to three years of postgraduate study after a bachelor's degree, though the term of study varies by country or university. Coursework is primarily of an applied or performing nature, with the program often culminating in a thesis exhibition or performance. The first university to admit students to the degree of Master of Fine Arts was the University of Iowa in 1940.
Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD) is a college of art and design located in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) is the school of architecture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It offers 20 undergraduate and graduate degrees in five departments: architecture, art, urban planning, real estate, and design technology. Aside from its main campus in Ithaca, AAP offers programs in Rome, Italy and in New York City, New York.
The Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is an art school of Willamette University and is located in Portland, Oregon. Established in 1909, the art school grants Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and graduate degrees including the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) and Master of Arts (MA) degrees. It has an enrollment of about 500 students. The college merged with Willamette University in 2021.
The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design is the professional art school of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1878, the school is housed in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the oldest private cultural institution in Washington, located on The Ellipse, facing the White House. The Corcoran School is part of GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and was formerly an independent college, until 2014.
A low-residency program is a form of education, normally at the university level, which involves some amount of distance education and brief on-campus or specific-site residencies—residencies may be one weekend or several weeks. These programs are most frequently offered by colleges and universities that also teach standard full-time courses on campus. There are numerous master's degree programs in a wide range of content areas; one of the most popular limited residency degree programs is the Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. The first such program was developed by Evalyn Bates and launched in 1963 at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont.
The Royal Academy of Art is an art and design academy in The Hague, offering programs at both the HBO bachelor's and master's levels, as well as PhD programs.
The Carnegie Mellon School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a degree-granting institution and a division of the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts. The School of Art was preceded by the School of Applied Design, founded in 1906. In 1967, the School of Art separated from the School of Design and became devoted to visual fine arts.
The College of Fine and Applied Arts (FAA) is a multi-disciplinary art school at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
The Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) is a non-profit consortium of art and design schools in the United States and Canada. All AICAD member institutions have a curriculum with full liberal arts and sciences requirements complementing studio work, and all are accredited to grant Bachelor of Fine Arts and/or Master of Fine Arts degrees. To qualify for AICAD membership an art school must be: a free-standing college specializing in art or design; a non-profit institution; grant BFA and/or MFA degrees; and have accreditation from both the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and the relevant academic accrediting organization in their region.
The New Hampshire Institute of Art (NHIA) was a private art school in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and was a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD). NHIA offered the Bachelor of Fine Arts as well as Master of Fine Arts and Master of Arts in Teaching.
The Yale School of Art is the art school of Yale University. Founded in 1869 as the first professional fine arts school in the United States, it grants Masters of Fine Arts degrees to students completing a two-year course in graphic design, painting/printmaking, photography, or sculpture.
A Master of Design is a postgraduate academic master degree in the field of Design awarded by several academic institutions around the world. The degree level has different equivalencies; some MDes are equivalent to Master of Fine Arts and others to a Master of Arts or Master of Science postgraduate degree in alternative disciplines. It often follows a Bachelor of Design degree and requires around two years of study and research in design.
The New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University is a school of fine arts and design located in Boston, Massachusetts. The school offers undergraduate (BFA) and graduate (MA) degrees, as well as continuing education courses and programs. The School of Art & Design is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). The BFA program in Interior Design and MA program in Interior Architecture & Design are accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA). Suffolk University is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
The USC School of Dramatic Arts —formerly the USC School of Theatre, is a private drama school at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is ranked one of the top 10 dramatic arts schools in the world, according to The Hollywood Reporter's Top 25 Drama Schools. The school offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre and visual & performing arts; Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in acting, design, sound design, stage management and technical direction; and Master of Fine Arts degrees in acting and dramatic writing.
The University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts is composed of four academic units: the School of Art and Visual Studies, the Department of Arts Administration, the School of Music, and the Department of Theatre and Dance. The Singletary Center for the Arts, the college's performing arts facility, supports the School of Music. The University of Kentucky Art Museum has a collection of more than 4,500 objects.
NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts is composed of three schools. The college also administers several university programs including, the NIU Art Museum, the NIU Community School of Arts, and NIU Huskie Marching Band.