School of Art

Overview

From an idea to a concept to the finished piece, the School of Art is made up of a tight-knit community of makers who ideate and create one-of-a-kind art. Whether it’s using 3D printers, charcoal and a sketch pad, or a pottery wheel, students use cutting-edge technology and traditional methods to produce stunning work that culminates with a gallery exhibition in their senior year. The school is led by award-winning faculty members who exhibit in galleries and juried shows around the world. The breadth and depth of the facilities and studios are unmatched by our peers. Graduates have a solid foundation for a career as a professional artist — producing, marketing, and selling their work or other opportunities such as teaching, advertising/marketing, or arts administration.

Pre-College Portfolio Preparation Workshop

The School of Art's annual Pre-College Portfolio Preparation Workshop is a two-week visual arts class designed to prepare the portfolios of rising high school juniors and seniors for admission to college art programs. 


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16

A maximum class size of 16 ensures students receive individualized attention.

15

The School of Art routinely welcomes more than 15 visiting artists each year for in-person or virtual demos and lectures.

100%

Every student studying an option in the studio arts program exhibits their work at least once in an RIT gallery spaces.

Latest News

  • May 8, 2023

    a Polaroid photo of a bus shelter held over a Polaroid of the space where the shelter was built, on top of a Google map.

    Helping Flower City bloom

    Over the last year, RIT students, alumni, faculty, and staff have worked to give back to the Rochester community by leveraging art and design. From providing creative outlets for young students to making a shelter to protect residents from the weather, RIT community members are dedicated to giving back to the city where they blossomed into the professionals they are today.

Featured Work

Featured Profiles

Undergraduate Programs

The School of Art offers professionally oriented degree programs in studio arts (options in ceramics, expanded forms, furniture design, glass, metals and jewelry design, non-toxic printmaking, painting, and sculpture), illustration, and medical illustration. The studio arts degree is studio intensive and allows you to immerse yourself in a concentration, developing both technical and creative skills. The highly sought-after medical illustration BFA is one of only a few offered in the country. Medical illustrators transform complex information into visual images that communicate with a variety of audiences from patients to doctors to scientists. Graduates of the illustration program work for publishing companies, advertising firms, and corporate art departments, as well as create and design concept area for cinema, games, and animation.

Spend up to a year exploring RIT’s art programs before you declare a major.

Learn more about the Art Exploration program 

The ceramics degree option lets you explore your artistic expression in a dynamic environment. The curriculum focuses on intellectual development and practical knowledge within the context of art, craft, and design. You will learn the fundamental processes within ceramics, such as wheel-throwing, hand-building, mold-making, glazing, and material science. Individual critiques and group discussion will develop your personal aesthetic and enhance your critical thinking skills. RIT’s ceramics degree option prepares you with the professional and practical skills needed to establish a career in your field. This option is part of the Studio Arts BFA program.

Learn more about the Ceramics Option - Studio Arts BFA program 

Artists have always challenged the definition of art. These challenges have pushed art into new realms of expression and the public into new ways of seeing. The expanded forms option, like the wider art world, extends beyond the traditional forms of painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Artists have expanded the possibilities for expression. Object making goes hand-in-hand with performance, installation, computer art, and multi-media displays. Students are encouraged to explore the full spectrum of experimental and non-traditional artistic expression. This option is part of the Studio Arts BFA program.

Learn more about the Expanded Forms Option - Studio Arts BFA program 

The furniture design option engages you in pursuit of your creative interests while providing a comprehensive technical background in contemporary woodworking. It focuses on technical expertise, freeing you to investigate a full range of creative expression and professional interests. This option is part of the Studio Arts BFA program.

Learn more about the Furniture Design Option - Studio Arts BFA program 

Through a rigorous and diversified curriculum, the glass option cultivates artists who are as versatile in their making as they are in their thinking. Studio instruction in glassblowing, flame-working, hot and kiln casting, cold-working, kiln-forming, glass imaging processes, and three-dimensional digital technologies help inform each student’s creative potential with glass. An emphasis on research, idea development, material exploration, execution, and presentation equips students with the skills needed to succeed as professionals. This option is part of the studio arts BFA program.

Learn more about the Glass Option - Studio Arts BFA program 

An illustration degree that mixes traditional drawing skills, the latest digital imaging technologies, and sculpted dimensional methods for effective visual communication.

Learn more about the Illustration BFA program 

In RIT’s medical illustration degree, you’ll take complex scientific and medical information and distill it into stunning visual images.

Learn more about the Medical Illustration BFA program 

The metals and jewelry design option provides a stimulating space for students to learn metalsmithing and design techniques. You will learn key processes as you work to find your personal artistic voice. This option is part of the Studio Arts BFA program.

Learn more about the Metals and Jewelry Design Option - Studio Arts BFA program 

Students selecting this option engage in contemporary visual art practice through a personal exploration of painting techniques. The comprehensive curriculum covers traditional methodologies as well as contemporary visual art practices. Rigorous studio practice and critical discourse encourage the development of a strong personal language that allow for effective individual expression. This option is part of the studio arts BFA program.

Learn more about the Painting Option - Studio Arts BFA program 

Printmaking focuses on concepts and techniques. Organized to offer a flexible experience, this option targets the development of problem solving and skill building within the context of printmaking. The curriculum addresses a wide variety of media, tools, and both traditional and technological techniques, as well as theoretical concepts to facilitate skill development and experimentation processes. This option is part of the studio arts BFA program.

Learn more about the Printmaking Option - Studio Arts BFA program 

The sculpture option engages students in the exploration of three-dimensional art-making. Traditional sculptural processes are introduced, such as bronze casting, stone carving, steel fabrication, and mold-making, within a curriculum that focuses on both formal and conceptual development. Working with a broad variety of materials, ideas, and practices, students are prepared to engage in the dialogue of contemporary sculpture. Over the course of the major, students develop the technical, visual, and intellectual skills required to develop a sophisticated body of work. This option is part of the Studio Arts BFA program.

Learn more about the Sculpture Option - Studio Arts BFA program 

Acquire the conceptual and technical skills to succeed as a creative professional in ceramics, expanded forms, furniture design, glass, metals and jewelry design, printmaking, painting, or sculpture.

Learn more about the Studio Arts BFA program 

Graduate Programs

The fine arts studio MFA is a two-year program made up of immersive studio courses chosen from painting, sculpture, printmaking, and expanded forms. The program culminates with a thesis and an exhibit in the college’s Bevier Gallery. The Master of Science for Teachers in visual arts-all grades (art education) program prepares students to become certified to teach kindergarten up through 12th grade in New York state.

This master’s in fine arts explores the role of contemporary art through painting, printmaking, sculpture, and expanded forms.

Learn more about the Fine Arts Studio MFA program 

An art education master's degree that sharpens your artistic abilities as you prepare to teach the next generation of artists and creators.

Learn more about the Visual Arts–All Grades (Art Education) MST program 

Minors and Immersions

The 2D studio arts minor allows students to develop and refine the practices inherent in the production of two-dimensional fine art forms, including drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography. Students develop conceptual, analytical, and technical skills in these media while learning to connect inspiration and ideation to creative visual expression in two dimensions. Once the two required introductory courses are completed, students may use elective courses to explore diverse two-dimensional media, such as painting, printmaking, and photography, or they may choose to work more intensively within one medium.

Learn more about the 2D Studio Arts Minor program 

In the 3D studio arts minor students develop and refine the practices required for the production of three-dimensional art in various media. Students develop conceptual, spatial, analytical, and technical skills while working through the process of art making from ideation to the production of creative visual expression in three dimensions.

Learn more about the 3D Studio Arts Minor program 

Explore the history of art and architecture across multiple cultures and eras. Art historians examine a culture’s artistic production, analyzing form, content, and creative context to better understand how art expresses the intent of the artist, the interpretation of the viewer, or particular cultural values and ideals. Students will use art historical methodologies to evaluate works of art, formulate a history of artistic style, analyze art in relation to its historical context, and engage with the world of contemporary art.

Learn more about the Art History Immersion program 

Explore the history of art, architecture, craft, design, photography, and aesthetic theory across multiple cultures, eras, and intellectual perspectives. Art historians examine a society’s artistic production, analyzing form, content, and process to better understand how art expresses meaning within specific cultural contexts. Students completing this minor will be able to use art historical and related methodologies to evaluate works of art, formulate a history of artistic styles, analyze art in relation to its historical setting, and engage with the world of contemporary art. The minor's emphasis on writing and critical thinking complements any academic program while the inclusion of visual analysis, historical context, and theoretical approaches to artistic production make this a useful addition for students seeking careers in areas such as the fine arts, education, design, communication, game design, museum and gallery work, or digital humanities.

Learn more about the Art History Minor program 

Students will develop knowledge of specific media, including wood, metal, ceramics, glass, and textiles. They also will study the material properties of these media and hone technical skills while expanding and applying critical thinking skills as they work through design process from ideation to fabrication. Students will also learn about expected working practices within collaborative studio spaces and within the discipline more broadly.

Learn more about the Craft and Material Studies Minor program 

The glass minor provides students with an opportunity to diversify their voice and vision through an extensive experience in all glass working processes supported by the glass studios in the College of Art and Design. Aside from developing a breadth of technical understanding in working with glass, the minor culminates in a portfolio of work demonstrating a diversified approach to glass making and glass thinking. Completing the glass minor will further amplify students' creative potential and supplement each student’s overall education at RIT.

Learn more about the Glass Minor program 

The metals and jewelry design minor gives you an opportunity to immerse yourself in a creative environment of problem solving and to develop traditional and contemporary metals and jewelry design skills. Through a personal investigation of traditional metal techniques and material processes for the fabrication of small objects and jewelry, you will develop a personal design aesthetic and vocabulary. This will be demonstrated through the creation of a portfolio of work.

Learn more about the Metals and Jewelry Design Minor program 

Student Resources

For internal College of Art and Design resources such as academic information, forms, FAQs and more, visit inside.cad.rit.edu. For information about academic advising, visit here.