Crafts - B.F.A. Download to print

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Crafts prepares students for professional careers in the visual arts by developing technical competency, creative/independent problem solving and conceptual understanding necessary for the challenges of a creative professional practice in their chosen specialization or further study in graduate school. Through study of sophisticated design concepts, mastery of skills and technologies, and critical analysis of historical and contemporary issues, students learn to analyze and evaluate visual art and apply this knowledge to their own creative practice. This knowledge will culminate in a capstone experience in the form of a senior thesis exhibition: the production of a cohesive body of work which is evaluated by a panel of faculty reviewers. The program is comprised of concentrations in Ceramics, Glass, Jewelry/Metals/Enameling and Textile Arts. Though a student concentrates in one discipline, interdisciplinary explorations are encouraged.

Study Abroad/Study Away Opportunities:

• Travel/Study to: New York,Chicago, London and Paris, and Tunisia
• Study Abroad in Florence, Italy, China; Semester in Italy or the Summer Art and Culture trip

Artists held about 221,900 jobs in 2008. About 60 percent were self-employed. Employment was distributed as follows:

Art directors  84,200
Multimedia artists and animators  79,000
Fine artists, including painters, sculptors and illustrators  23,600
Craft artists  13,600
Artists and related workers, all other  21,500

Of the artists who were not self-employed, many worked for advertising and related services; newspaper, periodical, book, and software publishers; motion picture and video industries; specialized design services; and computer systems design and related services. Some self-employed artists offered their services to advertising agencies, design firms, publishing houses, and other businesses.

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers held about 52,100 jobs in 2008. About 21 percent of salaried jobs for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers were in retail trade, primarily in jewelry, luggage, and leather goods stores. Another 15 percent of jobs were in jewelry and silverware manufacturing. A small number of jobs were with merchant wholesalers of miscellaneous durable goods and in repair shops providing repair and maintenance of personal and household goods. Although jewelry stores and repair shops were found in every city and in many small towns, most jobs were in larger metropolitan areas.

Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers held 787,500 jobs in 2008.

Many manufacturing jobs can be found in California, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Jobs in reupholstering, shoe repair and custom leatherwork, and laundry and dry-cleaning establishments are found in cities and towns throughout the Nation. Overall, about 11 percent of all workers in textile, apparel, and furnishings occupations were self-employed; however, about 43 percent of all tailors, dressmakers, and sewers and about 29 percent of all upholsterers were self-employed.

(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
 

General Admission for Freshman Students: Admission Requirements at the Kent Campus: The freshman admission policy at the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon the following: cumulative grade point average, ACT and/or SAT scores, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum and grade trends.

The university affirmatively strives to provide educational opportunities and access to students with varied backgrounds, those with special talents and adult students who graduated from high school three or more years ago. For more information on admissions, visit the Admissions website for new freshmen.

For more information about admission criteria for transfer, transitioning and former students, please visit the admissions website.

Transfer students with more than two fine art or crafts courses should submit a portfolio of work for proper placement. The director of the School of Art may impose additional requirements considered reasonable and necessary. Transfer credits are evaluated consistent with the state Transfer Articulation Guidelines (TAGs), although each student will be evaluated individually in terms of his or her ability to perform within the program. Transfer students should make every effort to complete admission requirements before the deadlines and to see an advisor in the School of Art for an evaluation of the portfolio and for schedule planning before registration.

Minimum 120 total credit hours, minimum 39 upper-division hours. Minimum 2.000 cumulative GPA and a 2.250 GPA in the major. 
 

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Demonstrate ability (skill) to work within chosen medium, involving understanding materials and processes associated with that medium. Also, demonstrate an understanding of larger contemporary and historical contexts within which that body of work is created.
2. Demonstrate ability to express ideas concerning body of work presented in an oral defense for project committee (3 faculty members).
3. Present work in a coherent manner through the organization of an exhibition (BFA thesis show).

National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)