RSU Announces New Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Arts

A new bachelor’s degree in visual arts to be offered at Rogers State University will prepare students to work in the traditional discipline of studio art, including drawing, painting and sculpture, and also will allow them to enter the burgeoning high-technology fields of graphic design, multimedia development and animation.

The bachelor of fine arts (B.FA.) degree in visual arts was approved on Oct. 25 by the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents, the governing board for RSU, at its regular meeting in Lawton. The new degree will be available at the RSU campus in Claremore beginning in the spring semester, pending approval by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

“This new degree in visual arts will be the only one of its kind in northeast Oklahoma, serving both recent high school graduates who are interested in studying art and potential transfer students who are enrolled in two-year art programs at area community colleges,” said RSU President Dr. Joe Wiley.

Students pursuing the new degree will be able to choose from three options in studio arts, graphic design and multimedia. Students also will be allowed to structure their own course of study within the degree to suit their individual career interests, said Gary Moeller, RSU professor and coordinator of the program.

“Students who complete this degree will be able to enter fields as diverse as advertising and corporate identity, graphic production, marketing, art preservation and art history, to name a few,” Moeller said. “New technologies have led to a wide variety of new career paths.”

The new program is interdisciplinary in nature and shares many course requirements in common with the new bachelor’s degree in game development, which combines visual art and software design, Moeller said.

All students who enroll in the program will begin with a solid foundation of basic core requirements that includes foundations of art, the traditional disciplines of drawing and painting, art history and theory.

The studio arts option within the degree is based on the traditional disciplines of visual art, including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and sculpture. In addition, courses in art history, art marketing and art theory will augment the program. The graphic design option will focus on the history and basics of graphic design, as well as the latest technology in advanced digital imaging, digital photography and consumer product package design. The multimedia option will incorporate elements of graphic design with digital three-dimensional art, animation and sequential art.

Seniors enrolled in each option will complete a “capstone” course in which they will develop a portfolio that they can utilize to obtain a professional position after graduation, Moeller said.

Seniors also will have the opportunity to earn credit for completing internships at art production studios, business and industry, or semester and month-long periods of study at museums and art institutes across the nation. A study abroad program focusing on visual art also in under development at the university.

RSU also offers as associate in arts (A.A.) in art, with options in general art, art history and graphic design, a two-year program preparing students for the workforce or to enter a bachelor’s degree program at RSU or another institution.

For more information on art programs at RSU, contact the Department of Communication and Fine Arts at (918) 343-7740.