BFA Exhibition “America’s Most Wanted Artists”
With finals looming, many graduating seniors are facing the harsh realities of the “real world.” Students earning degrees in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program have the chance to overcome this obstacle through an art exhibition, which will begin Monday and run through May 5. An opening reception will be held April 20 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Graduating seniors hold an annual exhibition every year. In the BFA Exhibition, students show two or three selections of their best work from their years in the BFA program. The exhibition covers all the studio of arts areas of emphasis. They include art education, ceramics, drawing, graphic design, illustration, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture.
Director of the exhibition, Professor Tom Toone, has been in charge of the BFA Exhibition for the last two years.
“It’s nice to see the show come together,” Toone said, “and to see all of the students hard work pay off.”
Students and their faculty advisers choose which of their pieces will be displayed. The students’ work must go through strict scrutiny before it can get exhibited.
The BFA exhibition is unique among art exhibits. Everything displayed comes from the students. For example, they hang or construct things to display the pieces of art, they organize, produce and design the layout, write artist’s statements and provide the funding for a catalog describing the exhibition.
A BFA degree is different from a basic Bachelor’s degree in Art. The BFA degree requires an additional 20 semester credit hours. Among those credits students are required to complete the BFA course before they can graduate. In addition to an increased number of credit hours, BFA students must also maintain a GPA of 2.75.
Most students graduating with a BFA are either going to purse careers as professional artists or continue on to graduate school. A BFA degree is required for entrance into almost all graduate schools of Art.
“It’s kind of a capstone for these students to see their work exhibited,” said Craig Law, head of the art department.
Michelle Birch is a BFA student in photography. She photographs landscapes using natural light filtered by trees and other objects to define her subject.
“I’m a huge fan of the natural landscape and try to capture its present beauty, because it’s future is so uncertain,” Birch said.
Birch said at last year’s exhibition many people wanted to purchase the students’ work, but many students were unprepared for this. This year, organizers hope students will be able to sell their work.
The BFA degree became available through the art department 1967. Students wanting to graduate with a BFA degree have been required to exhibit their work since 1977. They’ve been including all the areas of emphasis from studio arts combined in one exhibition for about 5 years.