San José State University is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
The School of Art and Design offers an exceptionally comprehensive program for the study of art and design. Studying art in the intellectual setting of a university is an important feature that contrasts the SJSU School of Art and Design to art schools whose offerings are exclusively professional or primarily vocational. The arts give meaning to perception; students from all areas of the university are invited to learn from direct participation in art activity, as well as from study of the history and theory of art and design.
The BFA program in Art is for the student seriously interested in a career as a professional artist. It combines a general background in art with an intensive preparation in an area of specialization such as animation/illustration, digital media art, pictorial arts, photography or spatial arts.
The BA degree program in Studio Practice is for students who wish to pursue a general study of art and design to understand their meaning and purpose, their historical development and social role. The required studio work is intended to intensify awareness of the formal and expressive qualities of art and design and to introduce students to a variety of technical processes. All Art and Design students initially enroll in the BA degree in Art and may minor in design fields.
The School of Art and Design is rich in its variety of choices. Art history classes range from survey courses in western and Asian art to advanced seminars of special focus. Concentrated study of the large variety of art history courses provides the foundation for graduate study and prepares students for careers in college teaching and research, or curatorial and administrative work in a museum. Art education offerings prepare students for secondary or elementary school teaching credentials. Pictorial Arts courses include painting, drawing and printmaking. They cover a variety of stylistic approaches in media ranging from oil paint to aqueous media, as well as intaglio, lithography, serigraphy, and monotype processes. Spatial arts courses include sculpture, ceramics, glass, textiles, jewelry/metalsmithing as well as performance and installation art. A BA concentration in photography explores new media as artmaking process.
The university provides extensive facilities for art study, including fine arts and design production shops, offices, galleries, large, well-equipped ceramics studios and a metal and outdoor sculpture facility, impressively equipped for all major techniques of metal casting and fabrication. These facilities set the stage for intense professional study, and students graduate highly accomplished in production abilities. Electronic media equipment is present in many fields and all students in the School are required to have laptop computers. See ad.sjsu.edu for the laptop computer requirements and other information about the School of Art and Design. Special arrangements have been made with Apple, Microsoft, and Adobe along and other companies to facilitate this. The School of Art and Design galleries present both student work and exhibitions of regional and national importance. These university shows are a natural link to a growing number of downtown galleries and enhance the cultural character of the Santa Clara Valley.
| Concentration in Art History |
| Concentration in Design Studies |
| Concentration in Studio Practice |
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