Visual Arts
Create, innovate, communicate
As a visual artist, you create, innovate, and communicate. You share beauty, you share experiences, you share thoughts and feelings that help people to connect. In the College of Arts and Architecture, we’ll help you hone your skills, nurture your creativity, and prepare you for the next step.
Undergraduate
Degrees
B.A. in Art
The B.A. in Art offers visual artists the opportunity to find their artistic voices in an environment that fosters individuality and prepares graduates for an impactful career in the arts.
B.F.A. in Art
The BFA prepares visual thinkers who work with hands, heart, and head to be leaders in the contemporary art world.
B.S. in Art Education
The B.S. in Art Education degree program prepares knowledgeable, skilled, and creative leaders to teach social and environmental justice in educational contexts such as schools, community settings, and cultural institutions.
B.A. in Art History
The B.A. in Art History offers an opportunity for students to explore and examine art while developing a deep understanding of how and why it brings the world closer.
B.Des. in Digital Arts and Media Design
The B.Des. in Digital Arts and Media Design is on the cutting edge of a rapidly growing discipline that prepares students to develop digital technology in art, gaming, simulations, web-based design, and much more.
B.Des. in Digital Multimedia Design
The wholly online B.Des. in Digital Multimedia Design program prepares students to impact the ever-changing visual art, information science and technology, and communications digital media landscape.
B.Des. in Graphic Design
The B.Des. in Graphic Design empowers students to become innovators that meet the growing demand for branding, storytelling, visualizing information, user experience, and user interface designs.
B.A. in Integrative Arts
The B.A. in Integrative Arts offers the unique opportunity for students to work successfully as innovative and dynamic artists, designers, and performers in an increasingly interdisciplinary world.
B.Des. in Professional Photography
The B.Des. in Professional Photography prepares students to realize the power of photography while training them to professionally capture the beauty and complexity of the world.
Undergraduate
Minors + Certificates
Art Minor
The Art minor will help you develop the skills and knowledge to understand and integrate a range of art and design methods and content into your broader academic interests.
Art History Minor
Explore art from ancient to contemporary times, in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. This minor relates visual images to the big questions of humanity.
Digital Arts Certificate
Blend classroom and online learning in this 15-credit certificate program that will help you develop artistic knowledge and technical skills that can be applied across industries and professions.
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor
Become a leader in the arts or design. Engage in a start-up venture. Leverage your art or craft. Create alliances. Meet social or business needs. Craft ideas and make art work.
Graphic Design Minor
The Graphic Design minor is intended for students interested in augmenting their academic major with the physical, technological, aesthetic, and conceptual skills associated with a design discipline.
International Arts Minor
Expand your perspective. Become a well-traveled citizen of the world. A minor in International Arts will provide a deeper understanding of how art and design permeate cultures around the world.
Museum Studies Certificate
Learn the fundamentals of museum studies. Explore the history, theory, and practice of institutional collecting and conservation. Engage in a technical investigation of art.
Photography Minor
Acquire technical and conceptual photographic capabilities for documenting, expressing, and sharing information, ideas, views, and cultural perspectives. Learn to communicate in a visual language.
Graduate
Degrees
M.F.A. in Art
The Penn State M.F.A. in Art offers concentrations in ceramics, drawing and painting, graphic design, new media, photography, and sculpture – all to elevate your art and impact.
M.S. in Art Education (+Dual M.S.)
The M.S. in Art Education and Dual M.S. in Art Education + Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Penn State explore the making of art and curriculum as the making of ideas that matter.
Ph.D. in Art Education (+Dual Ph.D.)
The Ph.D. in Art Education – plus the Art Ed + African American and Diaspora Studies and Art Ed + Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies dual-title degrees – position you to make a lasting impact on the art education profession.
M.A. in Art History
The M.A. degree in Art History transforms a passion for the arts and cultural history into a career path. Through the completion of a master’s paper or thesis, foreign language...
Ph.D. in Art History (+Dual Ph.D.)
Advanced study of visual arts spanning periods, cultures, and geographies. The Art History Ph.D. program – with Asian Studies or Visual Studies dual-title options – can deepen your expertise and advance your Art History career.
Alumni Spotlight
While I’m still dreaming bigger and bigger, I always think about the incredible foundation that my Penn State education has provided for me.
Alumni Spotlight
Devan Shimoyama
B.F.A. in Art 2011Devan’s award-winning art uses painting, sculpture, and photography to challenge gender stereotypes and confront racial and cultural injustice with a vibrant, modern edge. He has exhibited at the Andy Warhol Museum and in numerous major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Paris.
Instagram
devanshimoyama
Galleries, Studios & Workshops
Sketch. Stitch. Saw. Fabricate. Create. Display. We have spaces for it all.
See All Galleries, Studios & Workshops
Patterson Gallery
Located in the second floor lobby of the Patterson Building, the Patterson Gallery showcases undergraduate student research and creative work, mainly spotlighting senior thesis Learn More
SoVA Makerspace
The School of Visual Arts Makerspace is a hub of creation and fabrication, and contains 3D scanning and printing equipment, robust computer workstations, as Learn More
SoVA Wood & Metal Shop
The School of Visual Arts Wood and Metal Shop is an exceptionally well-equipped and maintained facility located on the 1st floor of the Visual Learn More
Zoller Gallery
Located on the entrance level of the Visuals Arts Building, the Edwin W. Zoller Gallery is a 2,200 square foot exhibition space. Founded in Learn More
See what we mean?
From photography and printmaking to sculpture, drawing, painting and other studio arts to digital and dimensional, the range of visual arts at Penn State is stunning!
Faculty Spotlight
Amara Solari
Professor of Art History and Anthropology
Amara Solari teaches courses in Latin American art from the pre-Columbian through the colonial period. Her research focuses on processes of cultural, visual, and theological interchange between indigenous groups and Spanish settlers of New Spain. She recently received a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in support of her research project, “Maya Christian Murals of Yucatán: Indigenous Catholicism in Early Modern New Spain,” which focuses on fragile religious murals painted by Christianized Maya artists in Yucatán, Mexico, between 1550 and 1750.
Nov 30
MM Final Recital: Annabelle Lecy, cello
Music I 130 Recital HallEvents
Go. Explore.News from A&A
Shostrom’s “Hippolyta” sculpture on display at SUNY Adirondack
"Hippolyta" is a six-foot tall, mixed-media sculpture named after the Greek mythological figure who had a magical girdle given to her by the god of war, Ares.
As part of the interdisciplinary exhibition “SALLY,” Penn State School of Visual Arts faculty member Ann Shostrom’s sculpture “Hippolyta” is on display at SUNY Adirondack through January 2022. Curated by
Guerrilla Girl Frida Kahlo returns
The Art History Department welcomed "Frida Kahlo" founding member of the Guerrilla Girls Collective back to campus to receive her Arts & Architecture Alumni Award. The art activist discussed her
Read More
Visual arts professor Helen O’Leary has solo exhibition at San Francisco gallery
Helen O'Leary has a one-woman exhibition, “Writing the Unwritable Novel,” at the Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, November 6–December 31. Read More