Fine Arts & Illustration Bachelor’s Degree
Build a serious studio practice across drawing, painting, ceramics, photography, and digital art — then go deep in the medium that fits your work.
Program Overview
The Studio Arts Bachelor of Fine Arts provides you with an opportunity to pursue a diverse degree with a broad set of studio experiences. Students in the program are able to widen their understanding of different art mediums and opportunities within the art field.
In extensive hands-on coursework, you will develop an understanding of a high level of aesthetic theory, development process, and technical skills in a focused studio area of your choice.
The Studio Arts program gives you a diverse approach to studio arts, allowing you an understanding of multiple art disciplines while learning from professional faculty artists.
A degree in Studio Arts allows you to develop the skills needed to manage studio entrepreneurship in a focused studio arts area that gives you the confidence and understanding of showcasing your artistic abilities.
Available Tracks
- Fine Arts
- Illustration
Career Outcomes
How to Apply
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Start your application
Free, takes about 15 minutes.
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Send transcripts
Have your high school guidance counselor send them to admissions@shawnee.edu
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File the FAFSA
School code 009942. Required for Free Tuition.
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Get your decision
Most decisions in under 7 days.
At A Glance
Fine Arts & Illustration Bachelor’s Degree
Degree
B.F.A.
Format
On Campus
Length
4 years (typical)
Class Size
12:1
Location
Main Campus
Why Study Fine Arts & Illustration Bachelor’s Degree at Shawnee University
You'll build a broad foundation — drawing, two- and three-dimensional design, digital tools, art history — and then specialize. Studio Arts gives you the time to find the medium that fits your work.
You'll choose between two tracks. Fine Arts focuses on painting, drawing, and traditional studio practice. Illustration leans into concept art, digital paint, and visual storytelling.
Both feed a strong portfolio. You'll get 24 credit hours of upper-level studio electives to shape your degree around what you actually want to make.
You'll work with faculty who are practicing artists. Critiques are real, expectations are clear, and you'll learn how to talk about your work — not just make it.
You'll graduate ready for the next step, whether that's running your own studio, applying to an M.F.A., or moving into adjacent fields where visual problem-solving is paid work.
Coursework opens with foundations — art history, two- and three-dimensional design, creative process, and digital foundations — and then moves into eight focused studio courses tied to your chosen track (Fine Arts or Illustration). You'll choose from drawing, life drawing, painting, photography, illustration, concept art, and digital paint, then build out the degree with 24 credit hours of upper-level Art Studio electives.
- Art History Survey I and II
- Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Foundations
- Creative Process and Digital Foundations
- Eight focused track courses (Fine Arts or Illustration)
- 24 credit hours of upper-level Art Studio electives
- Senior studio work and a final body of work for exhibition
Studio time is the work. You'll spend much of the degree making, critiquing, and revising — alone in the studio, in group critique, and with faculty mentorship. Internships and practicum opportunities are available on campus and through community partnerships, and you can exhibit work through campus shows and student exhibitions.
- Use the tools and techniques of a working art practice with confidence
- Cultivate strong observation skills and command of art and design principles
- Make a cohesive body of work that is intentional, considered, and presentable
- Speak the vocabulary of art critique — present your work, take feedback, and explain your decisions
Classes meet on the Shawnee State campus in Portsmouth, Ohio, in the Department of Fine, Digital and Performing Arts studios — drawing, painting, ceramics, photography, and digital labs.
A B.F.A. opens paths in studio practice, applied creative fields, and graduate study. Graduates work in:
- Studio artist or independent maker
- Illustrator (editorial, book, concept art)
- Gallery or museum staff and arts administration
- Art educator (with appropriate licensure pathway)
- Designer in adjacent creative fields (graphic, product, surface)
- Photographer, printmaker, or ceramicist
- M.F.A. or graduate program candidate
Studio Arts graduates work in galleries, museums, schools, design studios, publishing, and freelance practice — anywhere people pay for visual problem-solving and craft.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Shawnee State’s tuition is among the lowest in Ohio, and the Shawnee Advantage Tuition Guarantee keeps your rate flat for four years. Scholarships including Choose Ohio First and the Pell-Eligible Free Tuition Program may also apply.
Fine Arts & Illustration Bachelor’s Degree Frequently Asked Questions
Fine Arts emphasizes painting, drawing, and traditional studio media. Illustration emphasizes concept art, digital paint, and visual storytelling. You can shape either with the 24 credit hours of Art Studio electives.
A portfolio isn't required for admission to the major. You'll build the portfolio across foundation and studio coursework and finish the degree with a body of work.
Yes. The Art Studio electives let you take courses across drawing, painting, ceramics, photography, printmaking, and digital media so your degree reflects how you actually want to work.
Program handbook
Program requirements are available by contacting the Department of Fine, Digital and Performing Arts at (740) 351-3118.
Accreditation
Shawnee State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). No program-specific accreditation is listed for the B.F.A. in Studio Arts.
