Advising Issues

Advice for students pursuing the BFA with a 2D or 3D emphasis

1. Be absolutely certain to take and complete ART 105 – Two-Dimensional Design, ART 106 – Three-dimensional Design, ART 111 – Basic Drawing and ART 112 – Figure Drawing I in your first year (Freshmen year at ACU). These are foundation courses that everything else is built on. Without these you are handicapped and will not have met the prerequisites needed for sophomore level classes. Successful completion, however, gives you the greatest flexibility for selecting classes in the future.

2.  Declare a major and emphasis/concentration as soon as possible. Whatever area you wish to emphasize or concentrate in should ideally be discovered in your sophomore year. The 2D/3D emphasis currently does not require a concentration. The only stipulation for the degree is that you must have 21 hours of 200-level courses and above in 2D or 3D disciplines. For example, those 2D hours could be spread among drawing, photography, printmaking, illustration, graphic design, or painting.

If you want a competitive BFA degree (professional degree) or especially an advanced degree (MA or MFA) in a studio art area, then it is critical that you take 5 courses in one discipline (Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics), the one you want to pursue in a graduate program. That would be ____________ I-IV and Advanced Studio Problems.

3. Best Practices: Take responsibility for your education and for your career options after college.

  • Take good quality digital photos of your finished work as you go along! Build a portfolio.
  • Take photos of process sketching, drawing, maquettes, etc. We want to see how you make decisions, what you abandon or neglect, what you change. We want to see judgment.
  • Keep/use a sketchbook and carry it with you wherever you go.

Each of these will help you be prepared for first and second year reviews. Part of this process is meant to help you take ownership for your work and to aid you in building a resume and portfolio throughout your time here. What you leave here with plays the greatest role in occupation and career. It won’t be your grades.

4. Think about your career goals: What do you want to do? Go to museums, art exhibitions, do study abroad, read art magazines or follow online periodicals, visit art websites. Explore Art Land.