TCNJ Home / Explore Programs / Fine Art
Fine Art
Degree
BFA in visual arts
School
Department
At a Glance
Explore your passions, hone your skills, and prepare for a successful future in fine art. In this flexible, interdisciplinary program, you’ll gain technical skills informed by ideas as well as a firm grounding in art theory, conceptualization, creation, and criticism. Students who specialize in fine art are also encouraged to develop a strong studio practice supporting the creation of images; objects; and multimedia-based, four-dimensional experiences. After graduation, you’ll be ready to excel in your career or to pursue graduate studies.
Undergraduate Program Options
MAJOR
Fine Art Specialization
within visual arts
MINOR
Fine Art Minor
(available only to students in other majors)
You’ll Benefit From:
- Small, highly engaged classes led by dedicated faculty-mentors
- Intermediate and advanced courses spanning a variety of media and techniques
- State-of-the-art facilities with dedicated studios, critique rooms, and computer labs
- Collaboration spaces, student exhibition galleries, and a professional art gallery
- Exposure to current trends and issues, plus traditional concepts and techniques
- Internships, exhibition opportunities, and experiential field trips
- Proximity to museums, galleries, and collections in New York City; Philadelphia; and Washington, D.C.
Careers
Graduates have landed jobs and internships at an impressive array of regional and national museums and galleries ranging from Grounds for Sculpture, the International Sculpture Center, and the Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation to the David Zwirner Gallery, The Frick Collection, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Our fine art graduates have also been accepted by some of the nation’s most prestigious graduate programs, such as those at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, Savannah College of Art and Design, and the University of Pennsylvania.
#2 Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools in New Jersey
— College Factual, 2024
Illustration
Practice in traditional and digital mediums to improve your hands-on, technical illustration skills. Fine art courses such as Drawing 1, Drawing 2, Painting, and Printmaking, paired with graphic design courses, can help you understand the business and communication applications of illustration. Several students have designed their own majors in medical illustration, taking both biology and studio art courses.
Core Courses
The BFA in visual arts with a specialization in fine art is grounded in a set of core courses that allow you to narrow and intensify your focus as you acquire more diverse skills and mature as a professional artist.
Capstone Course Sequence
Students’ practices are shaped by integrating art theory and criticism and through an awareness of contemporary art issues. In your last three semesters, you’ll take an intensive capstone course sequence (Theory and Practice, Professional Practice, and Thesis) emphasizing critical thinking, writing, and research, culminating in a portfolio of independent work and a senior thesis exhibition.
State-of-the-Art Facilities
Students create, contemplate, and curate art in our 70,000-square-foot Art and Interactive Multimedia Building. It’s home to drawing, painting, and printmaking studios as well as a wood shop, plaster area, metal fabrication area, ceramics area, digital arts labs and studios, photography studios, and student exhibition spaces. The AIMM Building also houses the TCNJ Art Gallery and Makerspace. View our facilities and venues, and come visit in person.
