Studio Arts Exploration
Spend up to a year exploring RIT’s studio art options.
Overview for Studio Arts Exploration
Explore which studio arts option bests fits your career goals and aspirations.
Spend up to a year taking courses without impacting your time to graduation.
If you want to pursue studio arts but are still determining which discipline best matches your interests, the studio arts exploration option is for you. The School of Art offers a BFA degree in studio arts with options in ceramics, furniture design, glass, metals and jewelry design, printmaking, painting, or sculpture and expanded forms. In your first year, you will work closely with your academic advisor to select courses that best align with your interests.
The studio arts exploration option requires the submission of a portfolio. View our Portfolio Requirements for more information.
* The BFA programs in medical illustration and illustration are not part of this exploration program.
Featured Work and Profiles
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Visiting Artist: Corey Pemberton
Corey Pemberton spent three days embedded in the RIT College of Art and Design's creative community in February 2025, leading an artist talk, studio visits with MFA candidates, glassblowing demos, and...
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Silkscreen print selected for juried exhibition
Kas Gaviola ’27 (painting option - studio arts BFA) created a silkscreen print that was selected for the prestigious Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibition at Memorial Art Gallery.
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Drawing II Course - Self-Portrait
Denton Crawford Foundations students in Denton Crawford's Drawing II course complete vibrant self-portrait drawings with expressive colors.
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Intro to Sculpture Course
Christina Leung Get an inside look at the welding assignment in faculty Christina Leung's Intro to Sculpture course. Majors from across RIT's College of Art and Design welded metal sculptures that were publicly...
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Molten Glass 3D Printer
RIT's glass program hosted the artist/designer/engineer team behind Evenline as artists in residence for the spring 2023 semester. The innovative company stationed its only-one-of-its-kind molten...
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Drawing Projects
Emily Glass A survey of projects by first-year students in Senior Lecturer Emily Glass's Drawing 1 class. The foundations course is an introduction to the visualization of form, thought, and expression through...
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Curriculum for 2025-2026 for Studio Arts Exploration
Current Students: See Curriculum Requirements
Admissions and Financial Aid
First-Year Admission
A strong performance in a college preparatory program is expected. This includes:
- 4 years of English
- 3 years of social studies and/or history
- 3-4 years of mathematics
- 2-3 years of science
- Studio art experience and a portfolio of original artwork are required. View Portfolio Requirements for more information.
Financial Aid and Scholarships
100% of all incoming first-year and transfer students receive aid.
RIT’s personalized and comprehensive financial aid program includes scholarships, grants, loans, and campus employment programs. When all these are put to work, your actual cost may be much lower than the published estimated cost of attendance.
Learn more about financial aid and scholarships
Related News
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September 24, 2025
New School of Film and Animation director, faculty roles for 2025-26
Ricky Figueora taking over as the new director of RIT's School of Film and Animation headlines exciting promotions and additions to the College of Art and Design faculty.
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August 14, 2025
Recent alumna thrives in professional role at jewelry shop
As a young professional, Cece Plympton '25 is carrying out responsibilities that align with the initial goals they established at RIT as a sales associate at J. William Jewelers.
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August 7, 2025
A month of making sets stage for faculty's solo exhibition
A New Year's Resolution turned into a staunch commitment to research for Associate Professor David Schnuckel, whose solo exhibition "redundancies" is on view at the Museum of American Glass through Dec. 28.
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School of Art